“We have the numbers! We Latinos can now decide who will win and who will lose this election year.” During the 2012 census year, the US Bureau announced a 40 percent increase in the Hispanic population since 2000—one of the largest surges in growth the demographic had seen within the history of the census. The report concluded that Hispanic children would soon make America a majority-minority country. Activists and community leaders quickly capitalized on the bureau’s announcements by appearing on Spanish-language media to discuss the political implications of the Hispanic census figures. Univision, the nation’s largest Spanish-language television network, also broadcast a series of news segments and special programs designed to showcase the size and scope of the Hispanic vote and to mobilize political participation among viewers. The 2012 Latine community response to the US Census and political implications is one of the more recent moments of mobilization for activists and organizers, and it should come to no surprise that Latines have a rich history of visionaries and revolutionaries who, out of moments of injustice and inhumanity, sought to change the future of their community. The Chicano Crusade for Justice organization Puerto Rican Young Lords Party are two of the many groups who sought to capitalize on communal power in pursuit of a more promising future.
Crusade for Justice Organization
Founded by Rodolfo “Corky” Gonzales in 1966, the Crusade for Justice offered the Chicano community such benefits as job training, a food bank, and a bilingual school for children that encouraged cultural pride. Crusade for Justice also protested against police brutality, racism in the media, and employment discrimination. The Crusade for Justice also joined other civil rights organizations in national movements such as the Poor People’s Campaign and the National Farm Workers Association. The organization upheld “El Plan Espiritual de Aztlán” (The Spiritual Plan of Aztlán–the ancestral land of the Aztecs that the United States annexed from Mexico under the treaty ending the Mexican-American War in 1848) as a key document that encouraged Chicanos to strive for economic, cultural, and political freedom and, ultimately, self-determination. The First National Chicano Youth Liberation Conference, which Crusade for Justice hosted in 1969, chose the plan as the Chicano Movement’s manifesto.
The “El Plan Espiritual de Aztlán” contained action steps necessary to stoking future Chicano nationalism and included: awareness and distribution of the plan; a national walk-out by all Chicanos of all colleges and schools in perpetuity until the educational system procured met the needs of the community; self-defense against the occupying forces of the oppressors; community nationalization and organization of all Chicanos; an economic program to control their own production through cooperative effort; and the creation of an independent local, regional, and national political party. Actions were aligned with the organizational goals, which included the enduring statement. “where we are a majority, we will control; where we are a minority, we will represent a pressure group; nationally, we will represent one party: La Familia de La Raza!”
Young Lords Party (Organization)
While “Corky” was working to ignite Chicano nationalism, José “Cha-Cha” Jiménez established the Young Lords Organization at Lincoln Park, one of the most impoverished barrios of Chicago, Illinois. Originating in 1968, the organization was modeled and inspired after the Black Panther Party, and evolved from a Puerto Rican street gang to a community-based organization involved in advocating for minority access to healthcare, education, housing, and employment. The Young Lords was multiethnic and inclusive to African American, Latines, women, and LGBTQ membership, self-identified as “revolutionist nationalists” who rallied for Puerto Rico’s independence and power to the people, and adopted a 13 Point Program and Platform—a set of policies, responsibilities, and principles the organization lived by. The organization expanded to other cities, including New York City, where a group of college students established a chapter and renamed it the Young Lords Party.
Under Jiménez, the Young Lords formed coalitions with other groups and expanded to New York’s East Harlem, where a group of first-generation college students headed an independent chapter. The New York City chapter aroused national headlines during their Garbage Offensive. In retaliation to the city’s poor sanitation services, members led a week-long neighborhood cleanup and burned a garbage pile in the middle of a street intersection, causing the arrival of the police and fire department at the scene. In New York and in Chicago, members led a series of protests and building occupations, held free breakfast programs for children, which helped standardize the current federal children’s nutrition program, established free medical clinics, and created Puerto Rican cultural centers, celebrating the history and heritage of all Puertorriqueño/as. In addition, both chapters published a monthly newspaper to promote community services and events.
Similar to the Crusades for Justice Organization’s “El Plan Espiritual de Aztlán,” the Young Lords oriented their work around the thirteen-point program. Written in English, the document presents the Young Lords Party platform calling for the liberation of all oppressed people. Some of the points that stand out from the list, include a call for the self-determination of Puerto Ricans, Latinos, and Third World people; an end to racism and male chauvinism; and freedom for political and war prisoners. Furthermore, the party positioned themselves as revolutionary nationalists who opposed racism, sought true education of Creole culture and Spanish language, and claimed community control of institutions and land. The platform also supported international socialism and the belief in armed struggle as the only means to liberation.
The Language of Futurity
While both organizations were built upon the representation of their respective cultural identities, leaders of the Chicano Crusade for Justice and the Young Lords developed close ties. As Gonzalez states, in a joining interview with Jiménez, “There are no formal treaties, no formal signings, we just come together in a common cause” (1970). The extent of the connection between the two organizations go beyond common interest in their collective actions towards justice for their communities, and is even recognizable in the patterns of and expression present in speeches, poetry, and art.
Poetry
Gonzales’s “I Am Joaquín (Yo Soy Joaquín),” which was published in both English and Spanish in 1967 turns its attention to Mexican and Mexican American history and outlines the struggles that Chicanos have endured in their quest for a cultural identity and equal rights. In its entirety, the poem describes the then modern dilemma of Chicanos in the 1960s trying to assimilate with American culture while trying to keep some semblance of their culture intact for future generations. In the poem, for example, the speaker, Joaquin, traces both his ancestry to the Spanish conquistadores and the Aztecs they "conquered"; he also identifies with revolutionary figures of Mexican history. The poem creates a "multivalent identity" in the figure of Joaquin, one that serves as a "collective cultural identity that contains within it a call to action."
Throughout the epic, Gonzales’s use of anaphora unites the multiple identities his narrator claims ancestry, including both colonizers and the colonized, and which culminate within him. The poem follows the pattern of exploring lineage through detailed description of previous generations’ experiences, actions, glory, or pain, and, despite the didactical comparison of each story, ends with a common claim the likes of “I must fight/and win this struggle/for my sons, and they/must know from me/who I am”. The poem, though reflective of the past, makes continuous claims of moving into the future with: proclamations of change “The music of the people stirs the/Revolution”; determination to remain free of assimilation— “I am the masses of my people and/I refuse to be absorbed”; and at moments both “The odds are great/But my spirit is strong, /My faith unbreakable” (1967). The poem ends with a promise to futurity as the narrator vehemently pledges, “I SHALL ENDURE! /I WILL ENDURE!” (1967).
It is important to note that although Nuyorican poet Pedro Pietri had claimed ties to the Young Lords earlier in his artistic career, his poem “Puerto Rican Obituary” was not published until he had moved on from the political organization in 1973. Despite ideological differences to social change, his poem calls out many of the societal issues that the party sought to address in their platform. In the poem, Pietri "sketched the lives of five Puerto Ricans who came to the United States with dreams that remained unfulfilled. By turns angry, heartbreaking and hopeful, it was embraced by young Puerto Ricans, who were imbued with a sense of pride and nationalism"
Again, the poem relies heavily on anaphora to build an enduring feeling of hope from initial tones of darkness and remorse. The beginning stanzas make use of the repeated phrases “They worked…They died” to paint the scene of Puerto Ricans united only in their constant struggle to sustain life in the capitalist New York society. Throughout the poem, the line “All died yesterday today/and will die again tomorrow” reinforces the past and present pain, while also introducing the dreadful picture of futurity. The cycle is continuous as the characters in the story continue on “waiting for the garden of Eden/to open up again”, “dreaming” for the promises of the mainland to be fulfilled while their bodies become tired. By continuing the repetition of indefinite adverbs such as “always owing” and “never knowing”, Pietri continues to develop the notion of restriction and oppression especially as he completes each line by referencing the beauty and ancestral history that these allegorical characters will never know. The narrative voice turns to warning, building a litany of “if only” statements with the inclusion of tuning into “imagination” and using their “Latino souls” as “the religion of their race”. Pietri ends the poem by describing the paradise, which celebrates the Spanish language, cultural pride, and community, that could be built through Puerto Rican collectivism. With the final call “Aqui Que Pasa Power is what’s happening/Aqui to be called negrito/means to be called LOVE” (1971), Pietri creates a message that propels the audience into envisioning this possible future if they turn from capitalistic and individualistic values imposed by US assimilation.
Publications
Beyond policy and poetics, the presence of futurity persisted in the Latine activist ethos through the continued distribution of publications, such as newspapers and pamphlets. Young Lords leaders in Chicago and across the nation saw the production and distribution of independent newspapers as an important part of their political work as it presented a way to spread their message and grow their organization. Newspapers were viewed as an educational tool as they were a medium through which to: engage people in dialogue, raise the level of class consciousness, gaining new recruits, connect with outside activists, secure financial support, and strengthen bonds of solidarity. In 1969, the Young Lords Organization began publishing their newspaper, Y.L.O. which was intended to be a monthly publication with each issue containing articles, artwork, and photographs, in both English and Spanish. The content focused on a variety of local, national, and international struggles including issues of police brutality and the role of the police force in suppressing movements, city planned community destruction through “urban renewal” projects, and the promotion of the movement for Puerto Rican independence.
The inaugural edition includes an editorial entitled “Why a YLO newspaper?” which details the purpose and the intentions of the paper within the organization’s framework. The article states, “A newspaper is not merely a collective educator and a collective agitator, it is also an effective organizer,” and elaborates by including, “groups who are clarifying their strategies, and developing goals must be constantly aware of their actions and motives, and develop forums for discussion and criticism of their strategies and goals” (1969). Furthermore, the first issue features articles written in both Spanish and English on the demand for a new director of welfare, the organization’s occupation of a local police station, and a pocket lawyer of legal first aid. By bringing these issues front and center, the editorial team is able to highlight the demands and actions the organization is making that align with their tenants. In this way, they inspire fellow activists to consider joining future political actions.
As the organization spread across the states and local chapters began to vary in ideologies, more publications were produced to vocalize these nuances. The New York chapter, renamed as the Young Lords Party, released their newspaper P’alante (onward) and the YLO chapter of Milwaukee the El Young Lord: Latin Liberation News Service. While still devoted to similar communal goals, the publications sought to reflect the local concerns and challenges of Puerto Ricans and members of their pan-ethnic organization. Similarly, as the Crusade for Justice Organization grew overtime and began to change shape, neighboring Chicano activist organizations turned to publications to declare their perspective on their nationalist movement.
Perhaps one of the more notable critiques of the Crusade for Justice was published in The Reactionary Crusade for Justice...A Preliminary Study Pamphlet produced by the Colorado Organization for Revolutionary Struggle (CORS). The pamphlet begins by declaring the Crusade for Justice to be a reactionary organization that stands in opposition to working and oppressed people living within the United States. The proclamation launches into an examination of the wrongdoings of the intended, but not before delivering a rallying cry of, “LONG LIVE THE CHICANO STRUGGLE! /LONG LIVE THE MULTI-NATIONAL STRUGGLE! /DOWN WITH THE CRUSADE AND ALL REACTIONARIES! /AND DOWN WITH IMPERIALISM!” By inserting this call into the initiation of the study, CORS builds unity with Chicanos and pan-national communities in the determined goal of pursuing justice. In closing, the CORS reminds the people of their shared responsibility as revolutionaries, stating, “We must make sure that the fallen sons and daughters of the Chicano people have not died in vain. We must grasp correct political ideas and win the liberation of the people” (1978). The declaration moves to ignite a liberatory movement that mobilizes in pursuit of a better future for Chicanos.