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US Latinx Activism and Protests: From the Farm to the (Legislative) Table Main Menu Collection Media Thumbnails Hashtag Description Art produced during the Chicanx Movement Abstract: In the midst of change, The Chicanx Movement was a monumental time for Mexican Americans in the United States during the late 1960s. The movement addressed the social, economic, and political inequalities experienced by Mexican Americans across the nation. Aimed to celebrate and acknowledge cultural pride and identity, the movement also sought to reclaim and celebrate Mexican and Mexican American history, art, and culture. The Chicanx Movement played a significant role in shaping the Latino identity and influencing subsequent social justice movements, and the artwork produced during this time allowed for many to voice their opinions on the political and social climate of the U.S during the time. Chicano Moratorium Examining the causes, events, and leaders of the Chicano Moratorium #chicanx #feminism #movement LA Demonstrations During the Chicano Movement Abstract: The Chicano Movement was a movement that involved Mexican-Americans all over the United States and was a crucial component to establishing civil rights for Latinos. While Chicanos living in the United States were at the focal point of discrimination in society, they figured that it was best to come together and establish a sense of familiarity in order to combat these racial remarks and disadvantages. To spark attention to their cause and movement, many Chicanos participated in numerous demonstrations and while many were peaceful, many considered them as radical. By Steve, Lexi, and Ricardo Bracero Program In this project we will be analyzing a number of facets of the Bracero Program with a specific focus on the causes, on both sides of the border, which culminated in the agreement. Consequently, we will explore the historical context of the US and Mexico of the first half of the twentieth century, including the impact of the Mexican Revolution as well as the dire situation brought about by the second world war. By utilizing this basis we will then analyze the “migration aspect” entailed by the program, travel from Mexico to the US and various territories. Not only as an in depth look at the agreement, but also as a necessary foundation. One which will permit the Bracero Program to be positioned in history, while simultaneously deepening the exposition and understanding of a largely forgotten case of large-scale abuse and exploitation. We anticipate this will form the backbone of the examination of bracero experiences: first-hand accounts and testimonials.. By Fernando, Joy and Lizeth Migration in the United States The United States has often been called a "nation of immigrants," here we observe specific instances of migration policy within the United States and how certain themes regarding immigrants have changed or been maintained. By: Zulema Arguello, Sofia Perez Valles, and Natalie Manzo-Silva Guatemalan Genocide & Its Dark Truth This page will focus on the Guatemalan genocide, a period of brutal violence that brought tremendous adversity to those indigenous communities residing in the rural areas of Guatemala. It will provide details regarding the atrocities that the Mayan people experienced, the trauma that was left behind, and the hardships that they continue to face today. Furthermore, it will demonstrate how this heinous period of history fostered activism and social movements in Guatemala. By Paola Chavarria and & Aurora Nieves Chicano Farm Worker Movement In this project, we will be discussing about the Chicano Farm Worker Movement and how it brought change to not only farm workers but to society as a whole. We will be focused on the working conditions of farm workers prior and after the movement, notable or influential leaders, and the communities that were fueling the movement. By examining their struggles, successes, and legacy, we wanted to provide a better understanding of the process needed to advocate and bring forth social change for a marginalized group of people. Last, we wanted to remove stereotypes and other misconceptions about the movement in creating a more equitable society. Por: Justin Bui, Kristi Kang, Jenniffer Young Las "Brujas" Feministas: Magazines, Art, and Television This project intends to provide a comprehensive analysis of women's representation in different mediums such as art, television, and fanzines. In this way, the goal is to understand the gender stereotypes that women have had to overcome from a feminist perspective. Through this discussion, the hope is to amplify women's voices to promote inclusive and equitable representation in society. By Claudia Mejia, Janet Landa, Diana Andrade Young Lords Party The Young Lords Party was founded at the peak of the 1960s political and civil rights movement in the United States. With a focus on empowering Puerto Ricans while embracing other Latinx communities, the Young Lords Party sought to effect change and fight systematic oppression faced by marginalized groups. By Isha Das, Hayden Holliman, Carli Meinert & Elise Oliver Walkouts and Protests in Los Angeles On our page, we will discuss the walkouts and protests that took place within schools and communities across Los Angeles. The school protests happened because Latino students wanted to see a change in the education system. Some of the changes Latino students wanted to see implemented were hiring more Chicano professors and administrators, having more Chicano Studies classes in higher education, and overall being treated better without discrimination or judgment. In the 1960s, high school students faced racism and discrimination, which included a lack of education and insufficient school buildings in comparison to those of white students in the area. Walkouts famously took place at Roosevelt High School in Los Angeles, where there was a large population of Latino students. In 1993, college students also faced a lack of Chicano education when budget cuts put the Chicano classes at UCLA at risk of being shut down. This led to a hunger strike, where UCLA students protested and ultimately helped to establish the UCLA César E. Chávez Department of Chicana/o Studies. In the years leading up to 1965, Latino and Black communities also protested because they wanted to see a change in the way they were treated. The Black community finally had enough in 1965 and the Watts Riots happened, which in the end led to positive changes in their community. By Sydney Schwinger, Vanessa Harris, Jazmin Chavez

Young Lords Occupying X-Ray Unit

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Young Lord Berets Elise Oliver
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1. Young Lords Occupying X-Ray Unit
X-Ray Service Vehicle Elise Oliver
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1. Young Lords Occupying X-Ray Unit

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Media Thumbnails Elise Oliver
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1. Anti War Demonstrators: UCLA Library Digital Collections
2. Photograph of a Young Lords Party Rally at Queens County Jail
3. Bracero Program
4. Bracero Worker in Camp
5. Cesar Chavez on March from Mexican border to Sacramento with United Farm Workers members in Redondo Beach, Calif., 1975
6. Chicano Moratorium- Chicana Power
7. Chicano Riots
8. Jailed Protesters and Rioters
9. Mecha protest in Los Angeles
10. Mexican migrant worker
11. Mural by Judith Baca
12. President Nixon's Chicano Approval Rate
13. Rally at Olvera Street
14. Roosevelt High School Walkout
15. Roosevelt High School Walkouts
16. Young Lords, Overseeing the Program
17. A Right to Justice - A Video of the Guatemalan Genocide
18. Aerial Shot of the South Central Farm (1999)
19. Aerial view of two buildings on fire on Avalon Blvd during the Watts Riots of 1965
20. Artwork made from riot debris displayed at Watts Renaissance of the Arts in 1966
21. Bracero Bus
22. Bracero shaving
23. Bracero Workers in California, 1960
24. Chicano Moratorium: A Question of Freedom (1971)
25. Braceros off to work_
26. Braceros loading their belongings onto a bus for trip home to Mexico, El Centro, 1965
27. Chicano Moratorium Committee antiwar demonstrators
28. Chicano Power
29. The Great Wall of Los Angeles
30. Conoce a "La Bestia", el tren que transporta a miles de migrantes
31. A Bulldozed South Central Farm (2006)
32. Exterior of Mechicano Art Center
33. Separation of Children at Border (cover page)
34. The victims
35. UFW logo
36. Children in Detention Centers
37. Unearthing the Truth
38. US expelled over 2.8 mn migrants under Title 42: Mexico
39. We Are Not A Minority
40. Women working in the Fields
41. Women's movement
42. Graffiti painted on a gate in the border wall at Friendship Park, in Playas de Tijuana.
43. People guarding local stores
44. Protesters in Distress (2006)
45. Chicana movement
46. Farmers Sharing Seeds (2006)
47. Separated: Children at the Border (full documentary) | FRONTLINE
48. Separated: Children at the Border (full documentary) | FRONTLINE
49. Flowers zoomed in
50. Free Barrio Clinic Signage
51. Hispanic American Veterans Share Their Experiences in Vietnam
52. America Tropical (Now)
53. An untold story
54. Chicano Farm Movement
55. Chicano Movement Art
56. David Alfaro Siqueiros: Self-Portrait (1945)
57. Dolores Huerta (2015)
58. Cindy Montanez UCLA Hunger Strike
59. Felipe Luciano Sweeping Above is a cropped portion of an image of the Young Lord's co-founder Felipe Luciano, caught sweeping garbage along a sidewalk in El Barrio, which is located in East Harlem, New York City, New York. I chose to zoom in on the broom he was using and the act of sweeping as opposed to the environment or mass change that was occurring in order to note the heavy-hands-on role each member of the YLO played in their activist initiatives.
60. Gallo Wine (1973)
61. Human rights
62. Las Tres Marías
63. Migration Title
64. Poster for farm worker movement
65. Takeover: How We Occupied a Hospital and Changed Public Health Care | Op-Docs
66. The Bracero Program - Cruz Leon Martinez
67. The Bracero Program - Babe Wood
68. The South Central Farm Banner (2006)
69. The Young Lords: Puerto Rican Struggle in the US
70. Videopoema: Por qué grita esa mujer
71. Watts riot scene at Central Ave. and 43rd St., Los Angeles, 1965 Firefighters battle flames at Central Avenue and 43rd Street as fire and smoke come from buildings destroyed during the Watts Riot. Central Avenue is a major north-south passage in the central portion of the Los Angeles metropolitan area. From approximately 1920 to 1955, Central Avenue was the heart of the African-American community in Los Angeles, with active rhythm and blues and jazz music scenes. #losangeles #police #protest
72. March to UN
73. Young Lords Garbage Offensive Police Interactions
74. Young Lords Garbage Offensive
75. Pinback button for the People's Church
76. Young Lords Occupying X-Ray Unit
77. Young Lords Collage

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Activism and Organization Tactics of the Young Lords This page explores the radical methods used by the Young Lords in order to effect change in their local communities, particularly in New York. In order to draw attention to their cause, the Young Lords emphasized direct action and confrontation, evident in many of their protests, such as implementing the “Garbage Offensive,” barricading themselves in the First Spanish Methodist Church, and taking over Lincoln Hospital.
“At one point in every revolutionary’s life, you have to know when to take the sword and pound it into plowshares,” Felipe Luciano said. “You do it, and you do it in a progressive manner.”

Co-founded by activists such as Felipe Luciano, the Young Lords chapter in New York utilized a bold and confrontational approach to combat the social and economic inequalities faced by Puerto Ricans and other minorities in their local community.

Puerto Rican Flag
At the forefront of their efforts was a vivid display of their identity, with the intention of asserting their cultural heritage and calling for recognition for their community. In most, if not all, of their protests and demonstrations, the Young Lords showcased the Puerto Rican flag, at one point draping it from the crown of the Statue of Liberty during the landmark’s eight-hour occupation. In the image above, we can see the focus on the flag, held by several members of the Young Lords Party as they marched through the street. This suggests an emphasis on unity and collective action, furthered by the fact that they are linking arms in the image.
“So we’re on 110th Street and we actually asked the people, ‘What do you think you need? Is it housing? Is it police brutality?’" Luciano said. "And they said, ‘Muchacho, déjate de todo eso—LA BASURA!” [Listen kid, fuggedaboutit! It’s THE GARBAGE!] And I thought, my God, all this romance, all this ideology, to pick up the garbage?”
Garbage Offensive
In mid-1969, the Young Lords recognized the lack of sanitation services in their local community—disproportionately affecting the lower class—and took action, engaging in the notable “Garbage Offensive.” They formed an initiative to clean up dirty, neglected parts of the city, and ultimately, when their efforts were ignored by the government, they took matters into their own hands. In the act of civil disobedience, the Young Lords placed the uncollected garbage in the road, set it on fire, and showed they would no longer be disrespected. Unsurprisingly, this collective action brought national attention to the issue of "environmental racism," and as evidenced in the photo above, tense police interactions ensued—a common occurrence in an era marked by civil rights and social justice movements. Eventually, however, the government improved the garbage collection process in the community.

God is not dead. God is bread. The bread is rising! Bread means revolution. Organize for a new world. Make the church a people’s church. Wash off your brother’s blood. The streets belong to the people. And the church belongs to the streets. In the midst of occupied territory, The liberated zone is here. —The New York Lords, “Celebration for a People’s Church,” 1969

First Spanish Methodist Church
Seeing their success with the “Garbage Offensive,” the Young Lords continued to fight systematic oppression with creative—and often more violent—methods. In December 1969, the group forcibly took over the First Spanish Methodist Church, which they renamed the “People’s Church” for the 11 days they were inside (and it is widely known by this name even today). As they did before, the Young Lords provided basic services for the often forgotten community, offering daycare, health services, and a breakfast program. They demanded social justice and called for solutions to the problems faced by the low-income communities, once again using imaginative means to bring attention to the inequalities they faced.

Lincoln Hospital
About six months later, in July 1970, the Young Lords occupied Lincoln Hospital in the Bronx. As demonstrated in the archival video footage, they barricaded themselves inside in the early morning, and once again, displayed a Puerto Rican flag. Similar to the situation with the First Spanish Methodist Church, the Young Lords renamed Lincoln Hospital the “People’s Hospital,” and with their 12-hour occupation, they protested the inaccessibility of safe health care in the community. At the time, Lincoln Hospital was known as the “Butcher Shop,” and Gloria Cruz, a member of the Young Lords, was quoted saying, “Lincoln Hospital is only [a] butcher shop that kills patients and frustrates workers from serving these patients.” This community activism ultimately succeeded and led to the establishment of one of the first Patient’s Bill of Rights. It might be noted that this was not the only instance of a public health protest, as just a month earlier, they seized a mobile X-ray unit to test Harlem’s low-income community for tuberculosis.
Conclusions
Ultimately, the Young Lords implemented a variety of activism strategies and organizational tactics to draw attention to the inequalities faced by Puerto Rican and other minority communities in the United States. From the “Garbage Offensive” to the occupations of both the First Spanish Methodist Church and Lincoln Hospital, they aimed to show that radical action can produce radical change. They brought awareness to the oppressive systems in place in the United States, using collective action and an imaginative vision to ensure that they would no longer go unchecked.

WORKS CITED
Bernico, Matt. 2020. “The People’s Church.” Geez Magazine. December 30.
Breasted, Mary. 1977. “30 in Puerto Rican Group Held in Liberty I. Protest.” The New York Times. The New York Times. October 26.
Felipe Luciano.” 2022. National Museum of African American History and Culture. January 11.
Fernández, Johanna. 2021. “When the Young Lords Put Garbage on Display to Demand Change.” History.Com. A&E Television Networks. September 15.
“A Latinx Resource Guide: Civil Rights Cases and Events in the United States.” 2023. Research Guides. Library of Congress.
Lee, Jennifer. 2009. “The Young Lords’ Legacy of Puerto Rican Activism.” The New York Times. The New York Times. August 24.
Mthethwa, Nqobile. 2023. “July 14, 1970: Young Lords Occupy Lincoln Hospital.” Zinn Education Project. January 31.
“Pinback Button for the People’s Church / Iglesia de La Gente.” 2023. National Museum of African American History and Culture.
Roth, Jesse Steve. 1970. March to U.N. Photograph. New York City. Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture.
“Sept. 23, 1968: Young Lords Founded.” 2023. Zinn Education Project. February 13.
“Takeover: How We Occupied a Hospital and Changed Public Health Care | Op-Docs.” 2021. The New York Times. YouTube. October 12.
“Young Lords Occupy Lincoln Hospital in the Bronx.” 2022. History.Com. A&E Television Networks. July 22.
“Young Lords.” 2023. Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica, inc.
“‘Takeover’: New Doc Chronicles Historic 1970 Young Lords Occupation of Lincoln Hospital in the Bronx.” 2022. Democracy Now! January 26.

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Puerto Rican Flag

Garbage Offensive

First Spanish Methodist Church

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Conclusions

WORKS CITED