The Young Lords Organization in Chicago

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Darrel Wanzer-Serrano
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Social Movement ◽  
Black Panther Party ◽  
Street Gang ◽  
Social Movement Organization ◽  
Movement Organization ◽  
Young Lords ◽  
History Of ◽  
Lincoln Park ◽  
Black Panther

This chapter examines the formation and lifespan of the street-gang-turned-political-entity, the Young Lords. Founded as a turf gang in the Lincoln Park neighborhood of Chicago in 1959, the group shifted focus and purpose in 1968 under the leadership of José “Cha Cha” Jiménez. This brief history of the Young Lords Organization examines their emergence as a social movement organization, Jiménez’s influences for transforming the group, the group’s activism, and the group’s connections with the Young Patriots Organization and the Black Panther Party under the label of the Rainbow Coalition. The original Chicago chapter granted charters to form branches in New York, Milwaukee, and elsewhere; but the Young Lords Organization in Chicago was largely defunct by 1972.

“You Have Living Legends among You”

2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sara Awartani
Keyword(s):  
Social Movements ◽  
East Coast ◽  
Puerto Ricans ◽  
Black Panther Party ◽  
Self Determination ◽  
Community Members ◽  
Multiple Generations ◽  
Young Lords ◽  
History Of ◽  
Lincoln Park

In late September 2018, multiple generations of Chicago’s storied social movements marched through Chicago’s Lincoln Park neighborhood as part of the sold-out, three-day Young Lords Fiftieth Anniversary Symposium hosted by DePaul University—an institution that, alongside Mayor Richard J. Daley’s administration, had played a sizeable role in transforming Lincoln Park into a neighborhood “primed for development.” Students, activists, and community members—from throughout Chicago, the Midwest, the East Coast, and even as far as Texas—converged to celebrate the history of Puerto Ricans in Chicago, the legacies of the Young Lords, and the promises and possibilities of resistance. As Elaine Brown, former chairwoman and minister of information for the Black Panther Party, told participants in the second day’s opening plenary, the struggle against racism, poverty, and gentrification and for self-determination and the general empowerment of marginalized people is a protracted one. “You have living legends among you,” Brown insisted, inviting us to associate as equals with the Young Lords members in our midst. Her plea encapsulated the ethos of that weekend’s celebrations: “If we want to be free, let us live the light of the Lords.”

The Role of Spatial Organization in Resurrection City and Other Protest Camps

Contention ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 28-48
Author(s):  
Fabian Frenzel
Keyword(s):  
Social Movements ◽  
Social Movement ◽  
Spatial Organization ◽  
Hierarchical Structures ◽  
Spatial Dimension ◽  
Social Movement Organization ◽  
Organization Studies ◽  
Movement Organization ◽  
The Social ◽  
Mass Organization

Social and political organizing and organization has a spatial dimension, and there is increasing interest in academic studies of organization to understand better how space and organization relate, interact, and conflict. There is a range of studies that look at business and workplace organization, but little evidence from social movement organization or what is sometimes referred to as alternative organization studies. This article addresses this gap by observing and analyzing the effects of spatial organization in social movements. It focuses particularly on protest camps, a form of social movement organization in which spatial organization is particularly important. It looks at the Resurrection City protest camp of 1968 to identify the development of spatial organization practices. They are carried onwards across social movements, as they resolve organizational desires for the social movement organization, such as enabling mass organization without resorting to formal membership or hierarchical structures. In summary, the article provides insight into the relationship between spatial and social organization.

Ideology, Strategy and Conflict in a Social Movement Organization: The Sierra Club Immigration Wars

2008 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 45-61 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leslie King
Keyword(s):  
Social Movement ◽  
Immigration Policy ◽  
Structural Factors ◽  
Sierra Club ◽  
Social Movement Organization ◽  
Movement Organization ◽  
Using Data ◽  
Online Sources ◽  
Newspaper Articles

What cultural and structural factors allow conflict in a social movement organization to persist over long periods of time? Using data gleaned from interviews, archival materials, newspaper articles and online sources, I examine the Sierra Club's conflict over immigration policy, an issue which has persisted for decades without clear resolution. I argue that ideology accounts for some activists' position on club policy, while others based their stance on strategic concerns, which were linked in part to forces external to the club. At the same time, the democratic structure of the Sierra Club has allowed factions to continue working towards their own agendas. This case reveals a more complicated connection between ideology and strategy than previous studies have indicated and illuminates how intense conflict may not necessarily be associated with dramatic outcomes.

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