1
12
1
-
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/d6088410ec752dbe6124264f091a9419.pdf
9671438748e80ef7edc9e946decd1fb1
PDF Text
Text
Young Lords
In Lincoln Park
Interviewee: Hy Thurman
Interviewers: José “Cha-Cha” Jiménez
Location: Grand Valley State University Special Collections
Date: 1/22/2012
Biography and Description
Hy Thurman arrived in Chicago when he was seventeen years old from a small farming town in eastern
Tennessee. He settled in Uptown. Most of his neighbors there were also southerners; many of them had
come from textile and coal mining regions that were losing their jobs due to mechanization. For many
workers from these “company towns,” losing one’s job also meant losing your home. In Uptown,
housing was dilapidated because just like in Puerto Rican La Clark -- where southerners also had settled
and lived next to, but segregated from, Puerto Ricans -- most of the housing was owned by absentee
landlords. Converted hotel buildings were infested with roaches and rats, and were frequently unsafe in
need of major repairs. Once urban renewal began, arson also became a problem as landlords would
seek to collect the insurance on their properties and force their tenants out rather than make repairs. In
the process, many poor residents lost their lives. There were few opportunities for children, as the city’s
focus was on increasing the tax base and many in the official neighborhood associations sought to
cleanse the areas of minorities and the poor, to raise their property values and profit margins. Mr.
Thurman recalls his experiences growing up in Uptown over this time. He also describes co-founding the
Young Patriots. In 1969, the Young Patriots became part of the original Rainbow Coalition, along with
the Young Lords and the Black Panther Party. It more like an alliance, as all three groups had already
been active within their own communities when they came to sit at the table. For example, Hy Thurman,
�Jack “Junebug” Boykin, William “Preacherman” Fesperman, and many of the Young Patriots had already
been involved with JOIN (Jobs or Income Now), a project run by Students for a Democratic Society, and
the Goodfellows, JOIN’s de facto anti-police brutality committee, for several years which is what led
them to form the Young Patriots. One of the Young Patriots’ main organizing efforts led to the
Summerdale Scandal which exposed the then accepted criminal activities of eight policeman and put
them in jail for burglaries, thefts, and extortions. This investigation also later led to the uncovering of a
similar scandal at the 18th Police District, then located on Chicago Avenue, now closer to Old Town and
Lincoln Park at 1160 North Larrabee Street. It was here that Commander Braasch, who daily picked up
and harassed the Young Lords and their supporters on false charges, eventually went to jail for extortion
of the local businesses in Old Town and in Lincoln Park. It was proven in court that he and an elite group
of his officers would sell car and widow sticker labels while making a personal profit by offering special
protection, “from the Young Lords and other gangs.” The Rainbow Coalition was symbolic in that it
encouraged other groups to coalesce but put more focus on organizing the grassroots proletariat within
their own their own communities and supporting each other. The participating groups also began to
show solidarity by participating in each other’s actions, including holding many press conferences,
speaking tours, neighborhood rallies, and demonstrations. Members of the Young Patriots participated
in the over 1000 member March and Caravan to Mayor Richard J. Daley’s home for Young Lord Manuel
Ramos, after he had been shot and killed by off duty policeman James Lamb. The Young Patriots and
Panthers also participated in the Manuel Ramos March to the 18th District Chicago Avenue Police
Station where gangs were used by the Gang Intelligence Unit to try to stop the March as it passed
through the Cabrini Green Housing Projects and where the police set fire to a garbage can to try to
instigate a riot in order to arrest the demonstrators. The Young Patriots and Black Panthers came to
dozens of court hearings in support of the Cuatro Lords who were arrested for making a citizen’s arrest
of Officer Lamb.The Concerned Citizens of Lincoln Park, Poor People’s Coalition, Rising up Angry, Black
Panther Party, LADO, Young Patriots and several other neighborhood groups, also participated with the
Young Lords led take-over or occupation of McCormick Theological Seminary. And at the Chicago Eight
Trial, the Young Lords daily organized hundreds of Puerto Ricans and Lincoln Park residents to support
the Chicago Panthers and Chairman Bobby Seale. Rising Up Angry and the Young Patriots were also
represented. Young Lords would travel on a regular basis to Uptown and to the West and South Side
Black Panther offices and vice versa. During the Jiménez for Alderman Campaign in 1975, since the 46th
ward included major parts of Uptown, the Young Lords continued to work with members and supporters
of the Young Patriots. Today, Hy Thurman has a B.A. in Cultural Anthropology, has conducted ethnology
interviews with a prominent anthropologist, worked for VISTA and for the Uptown People’s
Northeastern Illinois University Center, and has held benefits for community organizations via Bluegrass
Inc. He is also a teacher who specializes in Appalachian history and migration.
�
https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/cacff1bbc74fec3439c2e56374a98339.mp4
722ff5d48ae1108be32f9ab2fc2abdc0
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Young Lords in Lincoln Park Collection
Subject
The topic of the resource
Young Lords (Organization)
Puerto Ricans--United States
Civil Rights--United States--History
Lincoln Park (Chicago, Ill.)
Personal narratives
Social justice
Community activists--Illinois--Chicago
Description
An account of the resource
Collection of oral history interviews and digitized materials documenting the history of the Young Lords Organization in Lincoln Park, Chicago. Interviews were conducted by Young Lords' founder, José “Cha-Cha” Jiménez, and documents were digitized from Mr. Jiménez' archives.
The Young Lords in Lincoln Park collection grows out of the ongoing struggle for fair housing, self-determination, and human rights that was launched by Mr. José “Cha-Cha” Jiménez, founder of the Young Lords Movement. This project is dedicated to documenting the history of the displacement of Puerto Ricans, Mejicanos, other Latinos, and the poor from Lincoln Park, as well as the history of the Young Lords nationwide.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Jiménez, José, 1948-
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
<a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/491">Young Lords in Lincoln Park collection (RHC-65)</a>
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2017-04-25
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a>
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
video/mp4
application/pdf
Language
A language of the resource
eng
spa
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Moving Image
Text
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
RHC-65
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
2012-2017
Oral History
A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge.
Título
Spanish language Title entry
Hy Thurman vídeo entrevista y biografía
Sujetos
Spanish language Subject terms
Young Lords (Organización)
Puertorriqueños--Estados Unidos
Derechos civiles--Estados Unidos--Historia
Lincoln Park (Chicago, Ill.)
Narrativas personales
Justicia social
Activistas comunitarios--Illinois--Chicago
Campo a la ciudad migración--Illinois--Chicago
Pobreza--Illinois--Chicago
Young Patriots Organización
Source
<a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/491">Young Lords in Lincoln Park (RHC-65)</a>
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
RHC-65_Thurman_Hy
Title
A name given to the resource
Hy Thurman video interview and biography
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Thurman, Hy
Description
An account of the resource
Hy Thurman arrived in Chicago when he was seventeen years old from a small farming town in eastern Tennessee. Mr. Thurman co-founded the Young Patriots. In 1969, the Young Patriots became part of the original Rainbow Coalition, along with the Young Lords and the Black Panther Party. Hy Thurman, Jack “Junebug” Boykin, William “Preacherman” Fesperman, and many of the Young Patriots had been involved with JOIN (Jobs or Income Now), a project run by Students for a Democratic Society, and the Goodfellows, JOIN’s de facto anti-police brutality committee, for several years which is what led them to form the Young Patriots. One of the Young Patriots’ main organizing efforts led to the Summerdale Scandal which exposed the then accepted criminal activities of eight policeman and put them in jail for burglaries, thefts, and extortions. Today, Hy Thurman has a B.A. in Cultural Anthropology, has conducted ethnology interviews with a prominent anthropologist, worked for VISTA and for the Uptown People’s Northeastern Illinois University Center, and has held benefits for community organizations via Bluegrass Inc. He is also a teacher who specializes in Appalachian history and migration.
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Jiménez, José, 1948-
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives
Subject
The topic of the resource
Young Lords (Organization)
Puerto Ricans--United States
Civil Rights--United States--History
Lincoln Park (Chicago, Ill.)
Personal narratives
Social justice
Community activists--Illinois--Chicago
Rural-urban migration--Illinois--Chicago
Poverty--Illinois--Chicago
Young Patriots Organization
Language
A language of the resource
eng
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a>
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Moving Image
Text
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
video/mp4
application/pdf
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2012-01-22