Luis Acosta video interview and transcript
Young Lords (Organization)
Puerto Ricans--United States
Civil Rights--United States--History
Lincoln Park (Chicago, Ill.)
Mexican Americans--Personal narratives
Social justice
Community activists--Illinois--Chicago
Mexican Americans--Illinois--Chicago--Social conditions
Race relations
Social conflict
Cultural identity
Black Panther Party. Illinois Chapter
Oral history of Luis Acosta, interviewed by Jose “Cha-Cha” Jimenez on October 25, 2012 about the Young Lords in Lincoln Park. In the video, a Latino man in a dark sweater sits in front of a bookshelf facing the camera, while speaking to the interviewer who is off camera.
Acosta, Luis
Young Lords in Lincoln Park collection (RHC-65)
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives
Audio Transcription Center (transcriber)
In Copyright
Cathy Adorno-Centeno video interview and transcript
Personal narratives
Interview of Cathy Adorno-Centeno on August 24, 2012 by José "Cha-Cha" Jiménez and Melanie Shell-Weiss (identified in the transcript as "F1"). In the video, a Latina woman sits facing the camera and speaks to the interviewer who is off camera. Cathy Adorno-Centeno is the daughter of Angie Navedo-Rizzo, a Young Lord who also founded “Mothers and Others,” a sub-group within the Young Lords that organized around women’s rights issues. Born in Chicago, Ms. Adorno-Centeno describes growing up surrounded by Young Lords and in a home that was a central gathering for pot luck family dinners for members of the organization and their supporters. Following the brutal death of her Young Lord father Jose “Pancho” Lind, Ms. Adorno-Centeno and her brothers and mother went underground; staying at a rented farm near Tomah, Wisconsin that would become the Young Lords’ Training Camp. Her most vivid childhood memories are of the warmth and support she enjoyed as a member of the Young Lords community. It included block parties, farmworker pickets, demonstrations and social events held near or in the Young Lords headquarters on Wilton and Grace streets. She also spent time at Rico’s Club (which her mother owned) and enjoyed company for the Sunday pasta dinners in her home.
Adorno-Centeno, Cathy
Howard Alan video interview and transcript
Interview of Howard Alan on August 22, 2012 by José “Cha-Cha” Jiménez. In the video, a man in glasses sits in front of a bookshelf and speaks to the interviewer who is off camera. Howard Alan is an architect who specializes in organic architecture, passive and active solar and alternative energy conservation. He grew up in Chicago and first learned architecture in high school before going on to attend the School of Architecture at the University of Southern California. In 1969, Mr. Alan invited and brought the world renowned architect, Buckminster Fuller, to the People’s Church to meet with Mr. José “Cha-Cha” Jiménez and the Young Lords. The Young Lords and the Poor People’s Coalition of Lincoln Park (which Mr. Jiménez was also their president) hired Mr. Alan to draw up plans for a multi-unit, affordable housing complex, as a concrete cooperative alternative to Daley’s Master Plan; a plan which was displacing Latinos and the poor from across Chicago’s near-downtown and lakefront neighborhoods.
Alan, Howard
Vicente “Panama” Alba video interview and transcript, interview 1
Panamanians--Personal narratives
Puerto Rico--Autonomy and independence movements
Vicente “Panama” Alba is a Young Lord who was born in Panama, immigrated to New York City in 1961, and now lives in Puerto Rico. He worked many years as an organizer with Local 108 (L.I.U.N.A.) of the AFL/CIO, advocating for immigrant and undocumented workers in the solid waste and recycling industry. During the Attica Rebellion, September 9, 1971, he supported the inmates in their negotiations. Mr. Alba has been involved in two takeovers of the Statue of Liberty, first supporting the occupation and the planting of the Puerto Rican flag on the Statue as part of a campaign to free the Puerto Rican Nationalist prisoners and the second in support of the struggle of the people of Vieques. A fervent admirer of Ernesto “Che” Guevara, Mr. Alba continues to advocate for self- determination for Puerto Rico and has been involved with the Nationalists and other parties, including several community organizing campaigns to free political prisoners, including Oscar López.
Alba, Vicente
Vicente “Panama” Alba video interview and transcript, interview 2
Vicente “Panama” Alba is a Young Lord who was born in Panama, immigrated to New York City in 1961, and now lives in Puerto Rico. He worked many years as an organizer with Local 108 (L.I.U.N.A.) of the AFL/CIO, advocating for immigrant and undocumented workers in the solid waste and recycling industry. During the Attica Rebellion, September 9, 1971, he supported the inmates in their negotiations. Mr. Alba has been involved in two takeovers of the Statue of Liberty, first supporting the occupation and the planting of the Puerto Rican flag on the Statue as part of a campaign to free the Puerto Rican Nationalist prisoners and the second in support of the struggle of the people of Vieques. A fervent admirer of Ernesto “Che” Guevara, Mr. Alba continues to advocate for self-determination for Puerto Rico and has been involved with the Nationalists and other parties, including several community organizing campaigns to free political prisoners, including Oscar López.
Maria Aviles video interview and transcript
Oral history of Maria Aviles, interviewed by Jose 'Cha-Cha' Jimenez, on 09/27/2018 about the Young Lords in Lincoln Park.
Aviles, Maria
Young Lords collection (RHC-65)
Sijisfredo Avilés video interview and transcript
Puerto Ricans--Personal narratives
Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Draft resisters--United States
Sijisfredo Avilés is the first Puerto Rican in Chicago to publicly oppose the Vietnam War draft during the middle 1960s. He quietly served three years in jail for refusing induction in 1968. Born in Puerto Rico, Mr. Avilés’ family moved to Chicago in the early 1950s, settling around Chicago Avenue and Noble Avenue, just west of Ogden Avenue and downtown. Mr. Avilés has been a lifelong advocate for the poor, Latino self-determination, and human rights and worked closely with the Young Lords.
Avilés, Sijisfredo
Wilfredo Aviles video interview and transcript
Oral history of Wilfredo Aviles, interviewed by Jose 'Cha-Cha' Jimenez, on 09/27/2018 about the Young Lords in Lincoln Park. Wilfredo Aviles was Born in Manati, Puerto Rico. He arrived in the US on July 1955 to Chicago, IL at Clark and Division Streets or La Clark Neighborhood. His Parents were Angelina Tirado Aviles & Sixto Aviles, and he has three siblings. He lived in old town/Lincoln Park for about 10 years, then moved to the Lake View area. His work experience included the U.S. Army, and retail in the family owned business, The Gaslight Men's Shop, and eventually became the owner (43 years). He retired in 2008. Wilfredo was also a civic leader. He was the first Latino President of Erie Family Health Center Board (2 years); Treasurer of the Puerto Rican Parade committee (5 years); Puerto Rican Chamber of Commerce- Treasurer (5 years); and the Chicago Avenue Business Association-President (5 years). He was a member of the Caballeros de San Juan. During his youth he belonged to one of the many sports clubs which often played baseball in Lincoln Park. A few times members of his group joined with other Puerto Rican youth to protect themselves from roving white ethnic gangs which had existed in Lincoln Park previous to Puerto Ricans arriving there.
Aviles, Wilfredo
Luis "Tony" Baez video interview and transcript
Community activists--Wisconsin--Milwaukee
Luis "Tony" Baez arrived in Chicago from Barrio Borinquén of Caguas, Puerto Rico in 1969 and soon became Minister of Education of the Young Lords. In Puerto Rico, Dr. Baez was also active with the Puerto Rican Independence Party (PIP), the electoral component of the broad movement in Puerto Rico, fighting for Puerto Ricans to regain back control of their nation. By 1970, Dr. Baez moved from Chicago to Milwaukee and set up a Young Lords chapter. They maintained a community office and distributed the Young Lords Newspaper (that Dr. Baez had also helped to publish while in Chicago), focusing primarily on neighborhood organizing, community-based programs, and bilingual education.
Baez, Luis
Carol (Coronado) Blakely video interview and transcript
Oral history of Carol (Coronado) Blakely, interviewed by Jose 'Cha-Cha' Jimenez, on 10/19/2012 about the Young Lords in Lincoln Park. In the video, an older white woman in a blue top speaks while looking towards the interviewer who is off camera. In the interview, Carol discusses growing up on the north side of Chicago, and her involvement as a young adult in the Young Patriots Organization, which organized a health clinic for underserved Chicago residents. She also discusses collaborating with members of the Young Lords and Black Panthers on community organizing. The transcript file includes a detailed biographical note about the subject.
Blakely, Carol (Coronado)
John Boelter video interview and transcript
John Boelter was one of the Chicago Teachers Union members on strike in September 1968 at Waller High School, known today by its new name, Lincoln Park High. Today he is a Professor of Biology at Chicago State University. In 1968, a prominent Young Lord, Ralph “Spaghetti” Rivera returned from Puerto Rico and subleased a room from Dr. Boelter. Mr. Rivera, who grew up in Lakeview, wanted to be closer to the Young Lords who were then hanging out in front of the Armitage Avenue United Methodist Church which later to become the People’s Church, on the corner of Dayton Street and Armitage Avenue. In Puerto Rico, Mr. Rivera had been hanging out with M.P.I. (Movimiento Pro Independencia) and F.U.P.I. (Federacion Universitaria Pro Independencia) their student auxiliary, at University of Puerto Rico campus in Rio Piedras. He was going through a political transformation. Upon arriving in Chicago, Mr. Rivera soon discovered that his Young Lords colleagues were also going through a transformation. They had been reorganized once again by Mr. José “Cha-Cha” Jiménez and the members were struggling with each other on whether to remain apolitical as just a gang or to become a human rights movement. Mr. Rivera joined in fully to help Mr. Jiménez, and they together designed the original Young Lords button that read, “Tengo Puerto Rico En Mi Corazón ( I have Puerto Rico in my heart) with a green map of Puerto Rico in the center, and a brown arm and fist holding a rifle. The initials YLO, which stood for “Young Lords Organization,” was at the bottom. They had added organization to their name, to make it clear that they were now involved in a class struggle, fighting for Latinos, the poor, and for Puerto Rican self-determination. Mr. Rivera became one of the Young Lords’ first P.E. (political education) class teachers, as these sessions were being held in the different homes of members including. LP Records of speeches by Malcom X, Fidel Castro, Don Pedro Albizu Campos, Mao Tse Tung’s Little Red Book, the National Question, Panther films, and Saul Alinsky strategies were being used as tools for study. It was in Mr. Boelter’s and Mr. Rivera’s house where Chicago Black Panther Party Chairman Fred Hampton and the Panthers first arrived on Dayton and Armitage. They were led from the corner to the house to meet Dr. Boelter, Mr. Rivera, Mr. Jiménez, and the Young Lords. The Black Panthers broke bread and drank Wild Irish Rose (Fred Hampton did not drink or use drugs) on ice, smoked some weed, and joked a little, cementing a relationship that has lasted to this day. On a different day within a few weeks at the same location, it was informally agreed to join together with the Young Patriots. BPP Field Marshall Bob Lee was working with them. The three groups, who were already major players within their own communities, became the original members of the alliance known as the Rainbow Coalition. This was followed by several press conferences announcing the Rainbow Coalition, including one where Congressman Bobby Rush, appears in a photo with the Young Lords, Young Patriots and other Black Panthers but where Mr. Jiménez and Mr. Hampton were unable to be present. The Rainbow Coalition was strongly woven together to the credit of the organizations that took part in it. They all were committed and followed the same vanguard ideology of the BPP. But it is significant to note that the Rainbow Coalition was more symbolic than a structured organization. It was the mass way for all the grassroots organizations to find common ground and to join together for support of each other’s struggles, and it soon spread to other movements and groups like Rising Up Angry, the Intercommunal Survival Committees, Red Guard, Brown Berets, S.D.S. and many other groups in many cities. After the Young Lords went underground and the Puerto Rican and low income residents of Lincoln Park were completely removed by Mayor Richard J. Daley and his patronage machine, Dr. Boelter moved south to Morgan Park. Dr. Boelter also joined the Progressive Labor Party. The Progressive Labor Party had left the Communist Party years before, because their belief was that “they want to skip the Dictatorship of the Proletariat and go right into utopia.” They are against racism and respect workers, but do not want to cling on to leaders or unions, preferring to organize the masses. They have been accused of “catering more to the petty bourgeoisie and the aristocracy of labor.” Then they rejected the Black Panthers and Young Lords use of Nationalism as an important step. They also had become part of S.D.S. and by 1969 were their largest faction. Dr. Boelter today is still a member. These political discussions on all sides were part of the Lincoln Park era in the late 60s and 70s.
Boelter, John
Billy “Che” Brooks video interview and transcript
African Americans--Personal narratives
Hampton, Fred, 1948-1969
Youth--Illinois--Chicago
Billy “Che” Brooks is Deputy Minister of Education of the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense (BPP) and Director of YouthLAB@1521 through the Better Boys Foundation. In 1969, Mr. Brooks was very close to Chairman Fred Hampton who was the main spokesman of the Black Panther Party in Illinois. As one of the primary leaders of the BPP, Mr. Brooks was under constant, daily harassment by the Chicago Red Squad and Gang Intelligence Unit. He also worked closely with the Young Lords through the Rainbow Coalition.
Brooks, Billy
Elaine Brown video interview and transcript
Oral history of Elaine Brown, interviewed by Jose 'Cha-Cha' Jimenez, on 5/10/2013 about the Young Lords in Lincoln Park.
Brown, Elaine
Alfredo Calixto video interview and transcript
Urban renewal--Illinois--Chicago
Alfredo “Freddy” Calixto and his family were among the first Puerto Rican families to move to Chicago in the early 1950s. Born in Caguas, Puerto Rico, Mr. Calixto lived through the displacement of Puerto Rican families from La Clark to the Lincoln Park Neighborhood where he grew up. Mr. Calixto describes struggling with discrimination in Lincoln Park and how these early experiences inspired him to commit himself to advocating for Latino youth.
Calixto, Alfredo
Rafael Cancel-Miranda video interview and biography
Oral history of Rafael Cancel-Miranda, interviewed by Jose 'Cha-Cha' Jimenez, on 11/19/2013 about the Young Lords in Lincoln Park.
Cancel-Miranda, Rafael
Young Lords (Organization) History
Puerto Rican Civil rights
Puerto Rican Social conditions
Chicago (Ill.)
Civil rights movements
Community activists
Press release from Citizens for Jose Cha-Cha Jimenez about his endorsement for alderman by the 46th Ward I.P.O. (Independent Precinct Organization).
Citizens for Jose Cha-Cha Jimenez
Letter to friends and neighbors about José Cha-Cha Jiménez's campaign for 46th Ward Alderman.
José Cha-Cha Jiménez Campaign Finance Disclosure
Press release from Citizens for Jose Cha-Cha Jimenez regarding Jiménez' campaign finance disclosure and calls for opponents to do the same.
Campaign flyer for José Cha-Cha Jiménez speaking engagement on February 11, 1975, in English.
Campaign flyer for José Cha-Cha Jiménez speaking engagement on February 11, 1975, in Spanish.
"Jose Jimenez calls for city and state action on housing crisis in testimony before State Spanish Speaking Study Commission," press release of Citizens for Jose Cha-Cha Jimenez.
Eldelmira Cruz video interview and biography
Spanish language--Personal narratives
Puerto Ricans--Illinois--Chicago--Social life and customs
Eldelmira Cruz is from San Lorenzo, Puerto Rico. She migrated to the Chicago Lincoln Park neighborhood in 1969 and lived right by the People’s Church. Her memories of her early days in Chicago include the work the Young Lords were doing as they grew into a human rights movement. Ms. Cruz recalls the fight in the courts for the Free Community Day Care Center, the Free Breakfast for Children Program, and the Ramón Emeterio Betances Free Health Care Clinic. She and her children also used these resources. Ms. Cruz describes a culture shock as she says she grew up all her life in the countryside in Puerto Rico. Ms. Cruz participated and volunteered in the Young Lords People’s Church.
Cruz, Eldelmira
Primitivo Cruz video interview and transcript
Arts, Puerto Rican--Illinois--Chicago
Primitivo Cruz is a Young Lord at heart who studied at DePaul University. He has researched and written several poems and papers on the Young Lords. Mr. Cruz performed several of his poems and songs at the Young Lords 40th Anniversary, celebrating the official founding of the Young Lords on September 23, 1968. Most of his work is political by nature, focusing on the Puerto Rican experience, the right to Puerto Rican self-determination, as well as the rights of new immigrants.
Cruz, Primitivo
Dennis Cunningham video interview and transcript
Oral history of Dennis Cunningham, interviewed by Jose 'Cha-Cha' Jimenez on 10/23/2016 about the Young Lords in Lincoln Park.
Cunningham, Dennis