Comments on: Who are the Young Lords?

By: (Not4)Prophet

(Not4)Prophet — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 15:42:40 +0000

As a Puerto Rican (from NYC) musician whos parents were not Young Lords, but were Puerto Rican nationalist/liberationists in the 1970s, yeah, i find this white-boy-privileged appropriationists-cultural thievery pretty offensive, disrespectful and just plain ig’nant to boot!…..

Good thing is that as a fellow musician in New York City, there’s a good (or bad) possibility that i will run into these pseudo-rockers at some point (if i should decide to start frequenting any of them hipper-than-thou hot spots that seem to infest Brooklyn these days), and get an opportunity to “teach” them the history of the real Young Lords (and Puerto Rican/Nuyorican struggle politics in general), and “encourage” them (and any of their would-be fan-addicts) to maybe come up with a new. more appropriate Hip white-dude kinda name!!!!

maybe the Young Boreds would do?

By: Lee

Lee — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 23:26:12 +0000

I was in a band from 1988-1993 called The Young Lords, and we knew exactly where it came from (by the way we are all white). Who gives a crap. It’s a great name. If you’re going to split hairs over color, you’re missing the whole F’N point of the organization to begin with. P.S. Did you know that The Police weren’t really cops ?!

By: Kerry

Kerry — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 05:53:22 +0000

Racism goes both ways. To refer to a group as “some white guys” is a step backward. If they were black, would you call them “some black guys”? Neither is fair and involves prejudgement based on skin color.

Before you say “fuck you” to them, at least contact them to ask about what’s making you angry, since you already went through the effort of checking out their MySpace page. They deserve to at least make a statement in regards to your concern. This band is not well-known, but outside of certain circles, neither is the revolutionary Young Lords, and even if they did discover the group at some point, they may not have been made fully aware of what it stands for and its true importance. Stop before you judge. At the very least, give them a chance before you swear them off.

Introducing anyone by their skin color is a step backwards. Don’t do it.

By: Jack

Jack — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 16:31:53 +0000

Thanks for the (worthwhile) comments, folks - sorry that this thank you comes so late.

Thank you especially to Denise - it was an honor to get a response from you on this issue. I know that the time it’s taken me to respond to you wouldn’t indicate that I feel honored and really appreciate your response, but I do. I’ve thought about needing to respond to you on an almost daily basis; funny how sometimes thoughts do not translate into action in the midst of the rest of one’s life! But again - thank you.

By: susurro

susurro — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 00:07:14 +0000

al - davis was a panther, she went to jail for her membership in and radical activism w/ the panthers.

the things is Jack, hipster hate is all the rage. They appropriate but then they claim it is irony, or satire, or homage and that makes the whole thing ok. Forgive me for getting professorial but its something Jameson said about hegemonic processes during late capitalism . . .

anyway, I feel you. I guess I’ve just hit that tired place that comes from living in the middle of gentrification surrounded by dread locked blonde kids, and zipped up abercrombia and fitch anorexics lamenting the “commercial” while eating $15 tacos at the restaurant that shoved out the mom and pop place that sold them for $2 for 50 years . . .

By: Denise Oliver-Velez

Denise Oliver-Velez — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 14:24:33 +0000

Thanks for this. As a former YLP member - it’s important to see that education about our history is continuing.

Denise

By: william

william — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 17:53:04 +0000

Interestingly enough, when I first tried looking for literature on the Young Lords Organization in Chicago (1968) I found more info on the Young Lords musical band which was not surprising but was indeed disappointing. I should add that there was also a now defunct group called the “Soledad Brothers” who also included the “Black Panther” logo in their drum kit. This band was a white blues combo who styled themselves with a New Orleans sound. I emailed them at the time and asked why they were using specific type of American history to promote their music even though they did not support or value that specific history. They responded by saying “there is no copyright infringement in our use of it.” This prompted me to ask if they would consider me using their parents first and last name for a porno video title. They understood my comment and the seriousness in set standards of values but they would not have if I had not reached out to them. The Young Lords on the other hand were a chicago street gang that radically shifted their presence and ideology towards progressive community development thus influenced the Young Lords Party in NY, Philli, CT and NJ. I think the coincidence of the anglo-rock band and the Latino organization “Young Lords” are just that and it might also be that this rock group was influenced by the last episode of Battlestar Galactica titled “The Young Lords” (1980). I think it is also fair to assume one can type “young lords” on any search engine and find all those said here and then some.

In my conclusion, we can only bring the concerns of appropriation, misuse, abuse and historical values to the forefront or we will continue to have blissful ignorance shopping around for “cool” names and faces to use for their personal gain. Can you imagine someone using images of starved humans in a German concentration camp to promote their car shop sale? I think not!

“palante, siempre palante”

-The Young Lords Party

By: Gordon Brownstone

Gordon Brownstone — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 21:24:52 +0000

Right. Then there are the English! I am sure a couple of young lords exist in England.

Oh, and it was probably more internal conflict than COINTELPRO that led to the organisation’s disintegration. Be honest, Jack.

By: Mark

Mark — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 19:08:27 +0000

PS it’s insulting that they refer to us many times as some “white dudes”. Whoever said revolution or social change had to come from brown skins. There are plenty of oppressed white dudes in America too. Probably more in number than puerto ricans if you wanna get down to the true demographics of America.
Stop living in the past companeros!!Viva La Revolucion!

By: R-B

R-B — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 05:06:11 +0000

thanks for this. i linked to it.. hope that’s alright…
my circle has taken to using a short hand for the term cultural appropriation…