Best regards, Andrew Stewart
Begin forwarded message: > From: H-Net Staff via H-REVIEW <[email protected]> > Date: April 18, 2021 at 6:23:30 AM EDT > To: [email protected] > Cc: H-Net Staff <[email protected]> > Subject: H-Net Review [H-Socialisms]: Wright on Fernández, 'The Young > Lords: A Radical History' > Reply-To: [email protected] > > Johanna Fernández. The Young Lords: A Radical History. Chapel > Hill University of North Carolina Press, 2020. 480 pp. $30.00 > (cloth), ISBN 978-1-4696-5344-0. > > Reviewed by Chris Wright (Hunter College, CUNY) > Published on H-Socialisms (April, 2021) > Commissioned by Gary Roth > > The Young Lords > > Johanna Fernández's _The Young Lords: A Radical History _could > hardly have been published at a more auspicious time. The fateful > year 2020 saw not only the outbreak of a global pandemic but also, in > the United States, a rejuvenation of Black Lives Matter and renewed > national attention to issues of racial and economic justice. The > pandemic and its economic consequences have further skewed a lopsided > distribution of income, with US billionaires gaining over a trillion > dollars in the last nine months of 2020 even as millions of people > were thrown out of work and wages continued to stagnate. Popular > resistance, in part inspired by Bernie Sanders's two presidential > campaigns, seems to be gaining momentum, as the nation continues its > headlong rush into an era of tumult likely reminiscent of both the > 1930s and the 1960s-70s. The memory of the Young Lords resonates in > our time of troubles. > > Others have written about the Young Lords, including members Iris > Morales (_Through the Eyes of Rebel Women: The Young Lords 1969-1976_ > [2016]) and Miguel Meléndez (_We Took the Streets: Fighting for > Latino Rights with the Young Lords_ [2003]), but Fernández's work, > which focuses on the New York organization, is an exhaustive study > grounded in archival research and extensive interviews with surviving > Lords. It covers every aspect of the group's history, not least the > social and political context that was able to radicalize so many > young people of color from Chicago (where the group began) to New > York (where it was strongest) to smaller cities around the country. > Not only scholars and students but also activists would benefit from > reading this book, for, aside from the fascinating history itself, > one can glean lessons on how to organize from the failures and > successes of the Young Lords. Indeed, Fernández concludes the book > by drawing a helpful list of such lessons. > > _The Young Lords_ is, in short, the definitive history of "one of the > most creative and productive expressions of the New Left," a group > that, for its brief existence of several years, was a highly > effective heir to the Black Power movement (p. 7). It may have failed > in its goal of sparking revolution among poor communities of color in > the US and in Puerto Rico, but its ambitious and militant campaigns > won significant reforms that helped push New York's postwar > liberalism to its outer limits before colliding with the conservative > backlash of the late 1970s and subsequent decades. > > The group's humble beginnings hardly foretold such future success. > The Young Lords started out as a small Puerto Rican gang in Chicago > in the early 1960s, no more "political" than any other local gang. > But by early 1969 it was transforming, under the leadership of José > "Cha Cha" Jiménez, into an activist organization addressing urban > renewal, police brutality, and welfare rights. Very quickly they made > connections with the Chicago Black Panthers, which led them to adopt > the Panthers' model of organization and its Ten-Point Program, in > addition to such practices as building a free health clinic, starting > breakfast and dental programs, publishing a newspaper, and even > occupying a church briefly in the summer of 1969. As Fernández says, > this bold move to emulate the Panthers "was precisely the example > that Puerto Ricans in New York needed to propel them into motion" (p. > 48). > > The New York group had very different origins than the Chicago group. > Its founders were not gang members but young activists and college > students, particularly from SUNY Old Westbury. Mickey Melendez, a > student there, had in January 1969 formed the Sociedad Albizu Campos > (SAC, named after the iconic leader of Puerto Rico's struggle for > nationhood), a small organization devoted to bringing young Puerto > Rican activists together. Members of the SAC traveled to Chicago in > the summer of 1969 to meet Cha Cha Jiménez after reading an > interview with him in the Black Panthers' newspaper. Inspired by what > Jiménez had created in Chicago, they returned to New York and set up > a Young Lords affiliate in East Harlem, complete with the same > Panthers-influenced structure and even similar regalia of purple > berets, black military fatigues, and combat boots. The core members > of the group, including Felipe Luciano (chairman), Pablo Guzmán, > Juan González, Denise Oliver, David Perez, and several others, had > already been radicalized by the racism and segregation they > encountered in the New York school system, and in some cases had > gained valuable training by subsequent work with the Community Action > Programs funded by Lyndon Johnson's War on Poverty. Fernández's > discussion of these individual backgrounds serves to situate the > Young Lords in the context of New York's explosive protests and riots > of the late 1960s. > > Once the Young Lords Organization (YLO)--later called the Young Lords > Party--was formed in New York, it immediately launched its first > campaign: the so-called Garbage Offensive, an attempt to draw public > attention to the chronic crisis of poor sanitation and "epic garbage > accumulation" in East Harlem (which was by far the most densely > populated neighborhood in Manhattan) (p. 98). Conversations with > local residents had revealed that they saw this problem, rather than > police brutality or the independence of Puerto Rico or some other, > more "sensational" issue, as the most urgent matter to be dealt with. > So, in August 1969, the Young Lords organized a series of > direct-action protests: they and other residents piled huge heaps of > garbage (in some cases setting them on fire) at busy intersections to > block traffic, even overturning cars and casting old refrigerators > and other large items into the heaps. Very soon they captured the > attention of the city's elite press and political power-players, who > realized they could no longer ignore the festering sore of inadequate > sanitation in the city. At length, extensive reforms were introduced > that did much to alleviate the crisis and make conditions in the > city's poorer and darker neighborhoods more livable than before. > > Fernández's account of the Garbage Offensive sets the pattern for > her discussion of all the other campaigns the YLO embarked on in the > following years. Rather than simply giving a factual narrative of > what happened, she weaves into her analysis a discussion of the Young > Lords' ideological self-understandings, as formed against the > backdrop of the tumultuous global politics of that era. For instance, > in accord with the group's Maoism (and Leninism), the very name > "Garbage Offensive" recalled the Tet Offensive of 1968. The young > activists saw themselves as applying to the urban context the tactics > of guerrilla warfare, such as "flexibility, mobility, surprise and > escape" (e.g., by discarding their uniforms and blending into the > crowd as soon as police showed up) (p. 106). They were at war, > fighting for the national liberation of an internally and externally > colonized people--in fact, for the liberation of Blacks, Asians, and > Native Americans as well. But their war would not be fought through > armed struggle; it was fought through community organizing, > issue-based campaigns in the neighborhood, and an effort to build a > cadre organization that soon attracted hundreds of young people as > volunteers, members, and staff (for the Young Lords rented out an > office where they printed a newspaper and other material, manned the > phones, planned press conferences, etc.). > > A whirlwind of activity ensued for years after the Garbage Offensive. > The Young Lords were quick to join the welfare rights movement, for > instance offering security at civil disobedience actions. Together > with the Black Panthers, they collected clothing and distributed it > to poor welfare mothers, in addition to establishing a free daily > children's breakfast program. Regular political education classes, > where classic revolutionary texts (by Mao, Lenin, Ho Chi Minh, Frantz > Fanon, Fidel Castro, Che Guevara, and others) were read and > discussed, "raised the consciousness" of members and residents. In > the fall of 1969 the YLO got heavily involved in campaigns to reform > the community's health infrastructure, from protesting impending cuts > to staff and health services at Metropolitan Hospital to writing and > publicizing (with the assistance of doctors) a Ten-Point Health > Program that envisioned such radical changes as a publicly funded > healthcare system, direct democratic governance of Metropolitan by > staff and residents, and "the creation of small, neighborhood-based > clinics" that would facilitate "a comprehensive, 'door-to-door' > project of medical care and social services that prioritized care for > drug users, prenatal care, childcare, and care for the elderly" (p. > 142). These proposals were inspired by the Cuban Revolution's mass > expansion and democratization of healthcare delivery. > > Out of this campaign emerged the Young Lords' "most enduring legacy," > the militancy they brought to "a preexisting campaign against > childhood lead poisoning that pressured city hall to take action on a > silent public health crisis" (p. 135). Fernández notes that in the > 1960s, 43,000 old housing tenements that had been deemed "unfit for > human habitation in 1901" continued to house Black, Puerto Rican, and > Chinese tenants, whose children were consequently at grave risk of > lead contamination. Various groups had brought attention to the > issue, but it was the Young Lords' Lead Offensive in late 1969 that > finally catalyzed change. They were able to secure two hundred > lead-testing kits, after which they conducted door-to-door screenings > that revealed high rates of contamination. With the help of media > publicity, the city government was thus shamed into action. Almost > immediately, the Department of Health created the Bureau of Lead > Poisoning Control, as well as launching the Emergency Repair Program > to remove lead paint from tenement walls. In a campaign reminiscent > of the Young Lords' community-based healthcare plan, the city even > sent teams of doctors into neighborhoods to test for illnesses and > give sickle cell, rubella, and measles immunizations. > > Within a few months, in short, the Young Lords had made a name for > themselves in New York City. They were about to gain much more > notoriety, however. While searching for a new location for their > children's breakfast program in the fall of 1969, they came across > the First Spanish United Methodist Church. Since its facilities were > unused every day of the week except Sunday, it seemed like an ideal > candidate to host the program. Unfortunately, the Cuban pastor and > the church board adamantly disagreed, and for weeks continued to > reject the Young Lords' arguments that they only wanted to help the > church fulfill its Christian calling of serving the poor. At last, > after an attempt one Sunday to publicly appeal to the congregation > resulted in a "police riot" _within the church_--"nightsticks flying > all over the place," as one witness recalled, "blood all over the > church"--the young activists decided they had no other recourse but > to stage an occupation (p. 166). So on a Sunday late in December they > occupied the building, nailing shut all the doors but one and > announcing they would leave only after they were granted space for a > "liberation school," a daycare center, and the free breakfast program > that had originally provoked the conflict. > > Fernández's discussion, as usual, brilliantly contextualizes the > YLO's Church Offensive, setting it against the backdrop of liberation > theology, the teachings of the philosopher of education Paulo Freire, > debates between liberal and leftist Americans over the causes of > poverty, and the generational conflict between young Puerto Ricans > (who tended to support the Lords' militancy) and their elders (who > were more wary, though frequently sympathetic). At press conferences, > leaders of the occupation calmly and persuasively explained their > goals, in fact so compellingly that clergymen, elected officials, and > pop stars were driven to express their support. For ten days inside > the church, the activists worked with professionals and community > residents to feed children, provide free medical services, and run a > liberation school that featured lessons on US imperialism and Black > resistance. In the evenings, things loosened up: the strict > discipline of the daytime "surrendered to creative revelry" that was > audible from a block away, in which participants would perform Puerto > Rican folk music, spoken word poetry, and dance. The People's Church > thereby "destabilized traditional conceptions of cultural production > and one of its major assumptions: that people of color produce lower > forms of art" (p. 183). This was the first public staging of the > "Nuyorican" identity that was later institutionalized in sites on the > Lower East Side, the Bronx, and elsewhere in the city. > > The People's Church could hardly last forever; it was impressive, > indeed, that it lasted as long as it did, almost two weeks. The Young > Lords' attorneys could at best postpone the inevitable arrests. > Eventually the church dropped charges and agreed to activists' > demands for a daycare center and a drug rehabilitation clinic--though > it never followed through on its promises. At least Governor Nelson > Rockefeller, directly influenced by the Young Lords and the Black > Panthers, started a breakfast program for 35,000 poor children in the > city. > > By 1970 the Young Lords were expanding significantly, opening > branches in the South Bronx, the Lower East Side, Philadelphia, > Boston, and other cities. With this expansion it became necessary to > deal with issues around race and, especially, gender. Fernández's > nuanced account shows that the latter was much more problematic than > the former. While racial prejudice and conflict was hardly unknown > within the Young Lords--for many Puerto Ricans had absorbed dominant > racist fears of Black men--the group was effective in promoting an > inclusive and solidaristic understanding of race, as shown by the > fact that 25 percent of its membership consisted of Black Americans. > Non-Puerto Rican Latinos were also welcome, though they constituted a > small minority of about 7 percent. > > Relations between men and women were more fraught. The YLO was almost > entirely led by men, even though by early 1970 approximately 40 > percent of its members were female. It was not as if the men were > oblivious to feminism: in the group's founding political document, > Point 10 read, "We Want Equality for Women. Machismo Must be > Revolutionary ... Not Oppressive." The problem, as Fernández notes, > is that machismo by its nature entails male dominance. Sexism, both > subtle and overt, was rife within the organization, as women > frequently adopted female-typical ("background") roles and were > inappropriately propositioned or disrespected by men. A women's > caucus, inspired by white feminists' consciousness-raising circles, > was formed in the spring of 1970 to embolden and empower female > members, and it had some success. As one young participant said > later, "Getting clarity helped me fight my own tendency to sit in the > background and bite my tongue and be ashamed to speak because what do > I know, you know, I'm just a woman" (p. 255). The Young Lords looked > askance at the mainstream of the women's movement, which they viewed > as too middle-class and inattentive to the oppression of Third World > women, but it heavily influenced them nonetheless. > > A men's caucus was formed later in 1970 to continue the process of > "reeducating" members, specifically to teach men--in the words of one > of the Young Lords' pamphlets--"to cook, to care for children, to be > open to cry and show emotions because these are all good > things--needed to build a new society" (p. 263). Point 10 of the > Thirteen-Point Program was rewritten to state, "Down with Machismo > and Male Chauvinism." Around the same time, in May 1970, Denise > Oliver was the first woman elected to the Central Committee. Soon > thereafter, the organization adopted the policy that sexist behavior > would be formally denounced and those engaging in it would be > charged, tried, and disciplined. The YLO even published a lucid and > sophisticated Position Paper on Women that demonstrated its > commitment to the goal of raising women's status and challenging > sexism, including the distinct forms of sexism in Puerto Rican > culture. The Young Lords, therefore, were unusual in the growing > Puerto Rican movement for their sincere attempts to address both > anti-Black racism and oppression of women. As leader Iris Morales > said years later, "Thinking on it now, the Lords made a real > contribution. We kept saying if we're gonna change society, we have > to change ourselves. I challenge you to study any of the movement > pictures of that time in terms of the other organizations and > especially the organizations in Puerto Rico, and you will see a total > absence of women and Afro-Puerto Ricans in leadership" (p. 265). > > The history of the Young Lords was, if anything, even more dense and > eventful during and after 1970 than in the organization's first year. > In addition to members' usual daily activities of selling the > newspaper, leafleting, attending speaking engagements, assisting > residents with advocacy at schools or welfare offices, testing > door-to-door for tuberculosis, and so forth, they launched several > major campaigns and suffered several tragedies that would contribute > to the group's eventual downfall. In the summer of 1970, they began a > months-long grassroots organizing effort at Lincoln Hospital in the > Bronx to expose the deplorable conditions there, the climactic moment > of this campaign being a highly public and effective day-long > occupation of the hospital. One of the upshots of this long effort > was a Patient Bill of Rights--including such demands as the right to > refuse treatment, to know what medicine is being prescribed and what > its side effects are, to choose your doctor, to have free daycare > centers in hospitals, and to receive free healthcare--that has, in > many respects, been replicated by hospitals across the country under > the same name. Fernández's chapter on this ambitious campaign is one > of the richest and most riveting of the book. > > Around the same time, there occurred a couple of events that > ultimately weakened the Young Lords Party. First, beloved chairman > Felipe Luciano was demoted to low-level cadre for having been on > "unauthorized leave" for one day. When, as a result, he quit the YLP > entirely, the organization lost the person best positioned to lead it > through the crises it was about to face. One such crisis happened > very soon afterward: the Lords again occupied the First Spanish > United Methodist Church--this time, however, _armed_, a highly > provocative move Luciano would have vehemently opposed. The decision > to brandish arms was, at least, understandable: member Julio Roldán > had just committed suicide (or, according to his comrades, been > murdered) in the Manhattan House of Detention because of his > barbarous treatment. As Fernández relates, in these years young > people of color across the city and the country were rising up, often > explosively and violently, against epidemic brutality inside and > outside prison walls. "We are armed," stated a YLP flyer, "because we > must defend ourselves, and we advise all Puerto Ricans in New York to > begin preparing for their defense. The U.S. government is killing us, > and now we must defend ourselves or die as a nation" (p. 324). > > The problem with the armed church occupation was that it increased > government surveillance and repression, frequently conducted under > the auspices of the FBI's COINTELPRO. The occupiers were able to > escape immediate legal consequences by surreptitiously sneaking their > weapons out of the church before police had a chance to confiscate > them. But in the meantime, they had intensified the state's > hostility. > > A more damaging move, however, was the YLP's decision in early 1971 > to shift many of its resources to organizing in Puerto Rico for > national independence. In the end, this campaign not only proved > largely fruitless--organizers often did not even speak Spanish, and > they faced fierce repression and logistical challenges--but it also > contributed to a climate of demoralization, internal party > squabbling, and the loss of several crucial members who disagreed > with the focus on Puerto Rico. Mass membership began to decline, the > YLP offices in East Harlem and the Lower East Side closed (even as > the party newspaper continued publication), and the Central Committee > grew more authoritarian and intolerant of dissent. COINTELPRO's > infiltration and disruption heightened trends of paranoia and > factionalism, tendencies that in fact were common to groups on the > left at this time. Fernández also faults the Young Lords' > ever-strengthening Maoism, including its belief--which motivated, for > example, the Puerto Rican misadventure--that "sheer will, dedication, > and hard work among small groups rather than classes form the motor > force of change," in addition to the Lords' hypercentralization and > disconnection from the grassroots beginning in 1971 (p. 375). The YLP > straggled on into 1974 (under a new name: the Puerto Rican > Revolutionary Workers' Organization), but it had drastically shrunk > in size and influence. > > Such, then, was the ignominious demise of what had once been "a > profoundly effective, beloved, and exciting socialist organization > that fueled the power of the New Left and made a lasting impression > on U.S. consciousness and history" (p. 377). _The Young Lords _does > ample justice to this history, not least in its extremely sympathetic > and even-handed treatment of the vicissitudes and failures the > organization experienced. One might have wished the author had said > more about the Young Lords' history in cities outside New York, but > this would have increased the book's length to a truly mammoth size. > > The book's useful coda summarizes the Young Lords' achievements and > contributions, from helping bring about the construction of a new > building at Lincoln Hospital to "anchor[ing] a renaissance in Puerto > Rican art and reclaim[ing] the Afro-Taino roots of their culture" (p. > 383). As mentioned earlier, Fernández also summarizes some lessons > for organizers: for example, "Bold direct action that stops the > normal functioning of municipal life captures the attention of media > and the public, shifts the terms of political debate, and broadens > the public's understanding of social problems" (p. 384). The Lords > were expert at direct action, and at communicating with the public. > Activists today would do well to study their strategies, tactics, and > messaging. > > The United States is now entering an era of turbulence that in many > respects parallels the 1960s. Struggles around class inequality, > racism, police brutality, prison reform, urban housing, the > healthcare industry, and US imperialism promise to become as > prominent in the years ahead as they were fifty years ago. _The Young > Lords _will help to ensure that memory of that earlier time continues > to inform the seemingly endless fight for human dignity. > > Citation: Chris Wright. Review of Fernández, Johanna, _The Young > Lords: A Radical History_. H-Socialisms, H-Net Reviews. April, 2021. > URL: https://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=55947 > > This work is licensed under a Creative Commons > Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States > License. > > -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Groups.io Links: You receive all messages sent to this group. View/Reply Online (#8072): https://groups.io/g/marxmail/message/8072 Mute This Topic: https://groups.io/mt/82189074/21656 -=-=- POSTING RULES & NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly & permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. #4 Do not exceed five posts a day. -=-=- Group Owner: [email protected] Unsubscribe: https://groups.io/g/marxmail/leave/8674936/21656/1316126222/xyzzy [[email protected]] -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
