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- Notes:
- Carmen Tirado Reyes is married to Marcelo Jiménez, a proud Hacha Vieja, and uncle of José “Cha-Cha” Jiménez. In the 1940s they moved to Barrio Mula in Aguas Buenas, Puerto Rico, where “Tio Gabriel,” as he was called, had purchased a large farm, hired workers, and raised his many children. When work was slow, those children and workers came to Chicago, settling in La Clark in the late 1940s and early 1950s. One of Ms. Reyes’s sons became a leader of the Latin Kings. Ms. Reyes now lives in Puerto Rico.
- Date Created:
- 2012-05-12T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Notes:
- Ana Encarnación is from the San Juan metropolitan area of Puerto Rico and describes growing up there in the late 1930s and 1940s. She arrived in Chicago in the 1950s, settling in Old Town, along the border dividing Old Town from neighboring Lincoln Park. She lived on the south side of North Avenue, at the corner of Sedgewick. When the Young Lords decided in 1968 to start to defend the Puerto Ricans and the poor from being displaced, it was her dream come true to join the Young Lords Movement. She saw it as a way to help her people. Ms. Encarnación was in nursing and so she began to work in the Young Lords’ Emeterio Betances Free Health Clinic. Ms. Encarnación describes how the volunteer staff, including herself, not only provided many long hours of free services to the Puerto Ricans and poor of Lincoln Park but when money was low, they also donated from their own personal savings to keep the clinic afloat.
- Date Created:
- 2012-07-10T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Notes:
- 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.
- Date Created:
- 2012-08-23T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Notes:
- 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.
- Date Created:
- 2012-03-27T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Notes:
- 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.
- Date Created:
- 2012-05-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Notes:
- 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.
- Date Created:
- 2012-05-14T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Notes:
- America Sorrentini was born in Puerto Rico. She moved first to Boston and then to Chicago, arriving in the 1970s. Ms. Sorentini's parents were prominent organizers and activists in the struggle for Puerto Rican self-determination, working primarily in and around Santurce, Puerto Rico. Ms. Sorrentini, or “Mecca” as she is known, began her own community activism in Boston working on a variety of issues including housing. By the time Ms. Sorrentini arrived in Chicago she was already aware of the work of the Young Lords and remained in solid contact with the Young Lords. She, and the Chicago Puerto Rican Socialist Party, assisted with the Jiménez aldermanic campaign and later the Harold Washington campaign. When the Young Lords celebrated their official founding date, which is September 23rd the same day as the Grito de Lares or Puerto Rican Independence Day, they selected Ms. Sorrentini to be their keynote speaker.
- Date Created:
- 2012-05-11T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Notes:
- Dimas Rodríguez Flores grew up since the 1930s in Barrio San Salvador of Caguas, Puerto Rico and continues to live there in the Lao Frío side of the barrio. He is a twin brother with Encarnación Rodríguez Flores. They have another eleven siblings, including their youngest sister, Eugenia Rodríguez Flores. Although Mr. Rodríguez has always lived in Puerto Rico, like many Puerto Ricans his life is connected to cities across the United States mainland through family; many of his children live in the United States. A veteran of World War II, Mr. Rodríguez is now retired. He enjoys his parakeets, cooking his vegetables, and eating the fruits of his land.
- Date Created:
- 2012-06-21T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Notes:
- Marie Merrill Ramirez is a long-time community activist from the Milwaukee chapter of the Young Lords. She was actively involved with many neighborhood issues both on the north and south sides of the city, focusing especially on supporting of bi-lingual education efforts. She now lives in Mayagüez, Puerto Rico where she continues to advocate for Puerto Rican self-determination.
- Date Created:
- 2012-05-16T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
- Notes:
- 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.
- Date Created:
- 2012-03-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Grand Valley State University. University Libraries
