Ideology and Goals of the Young Lords
As a banded group of poor, young, and working class Puerto Ricans in Chicago, mirroring the Black Panther movement led by African Americans. These young Puerto Ricans banded together with other minority groups, such as Latinos, African Americans, and “third world” descending individuals, bonding over the mistreatment and inequality they suffered together. The organization grew frustrated at their lack of voice and being unheard by those in power. In order to spark change, they opted to take action by creating bold public displays of protest through interactive demonstrations and activists movements.
They utilized bold strokes such as these, along with expressive propaganda, to emphasize the violence they see is being acted against them by the actions of society and present culture. In one piece of propaganda displayed on this page, we see “Young Lords Party” in bold, alongside a crest of their organization. Below this, we see four evenly spaced purple shotguns, each displaying a word which describes an area of inequality the Young Lords and all minorities face. The words read: “Health, Food, Housing, Education”. The gun in this image symbolizes aggression and violence, due to both the symbolism and capabilities of this object. By utilizing this propaganda, the Young Lords are emphasizing that acts of inequality can be as aggressive, hateful, and severe as gun-inflicted violence itself. The group argues that issues of health, hunger, homelessness, and lack of education can damage the future of individuals in the same way that violence would, mangling the minds and bodies of these people of minorities in a similar fashion. Keeping these resources and necessities of life away from minorities is an act of violence itself, and they beautifully and symbolically displayed this in their propaganda.
To demonstrate that one was a member of the Young Lords, they would wear a symbolic pin of membership. The background image of the pin is a representation of the Puerto Rican flag, which symbolizes the pride in nationality of the Young Lords Party as Predominantly Puerto Rican. In the foreground of the pin, the words “Young Lords Party” are scripted profoundly along the base of the pin. In the center lies a gun, representing the conflict they are willing to engage in to receive equality and similar rights to the majority in which surrounds them. This pin displays pride, homage to roots, and intention of pursuit, which coincides with and visually represents the ideology and goals of the Young Lords.
The baseline goals of the Young Lords movement were to prioritize equal treatment and access to basic human rights, that the majority did not have to fight for. These rights included fair work, food access, proper sanitation, quality education, medical care of quality distinction, and ultimately a safe, strong, and harmonic community for all, regardless of race or ethnicity. They wanted to be seen; they wanted their voices heard. I also believe one of their goals was to protest in a symbolic way, not with mere violence, slogans, and public outcry, but instead with representative tactics that demonstrated to onlookers what they were actually experiencing. They utilized symbolic protests in various formats to combat authoritative hate, while reclaiming the ways in which they were looked down upon by altering circumstances to their advantage.
Utilizing their goals and ideologies to craft their mannerisms of activism, that you have previously learned in the prior portion of our presentation, I believe the Young Lords Party was successful in its endeavor to take a small step forward in the path toward equality. By maintaining clear goals, educating the youth, using persuasive propaganda, and portraying symbolic protest, I believe the impact of the Young Lords will impact generations to come. Continue on with the presentation to hear more about the legacy and impact of the Young Lords.