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Sources vary on their origins, and matters are confused by the fact that there were several unlinked or loosely linked groups using the same name. At least one source says they started around 1960 as a Chicago turf gang [1]; however, all sources seem to agree that in January 1969, they were either created or reconstituted in an attempt to create a Puerto Rican equivalent of the Black Panthers, which became the Young Lords Organization, and eventually the Young Lords Party.

On June 7, 1969, the Black Panther newspaper announced an alliance called the Rainbow Coalition (no relation to the later organization of that name associated with Jesse Jackson). Besides the Black Panthers, and what was then the Young Lords Organization, the alliance also included the Young Patriots Organization , a street gang of white youths that had turned political. The Coalition sent representatives to the annual convention of Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), which, however, was falling apart by that time.[2]

External links

• ¡Palante, Siempre Palante!, an extensive site about the Young Lords
• Young Lords Party 13-Point Program and Platform
• E-text has numerous articles related to the Young Lords
• "The Young Lords and Early Chicago Puerto Rican Gangs" attempts to place the Young Lords in the context of ethnic Puerto Rican history and youth-gang history.