THROUGH THE EYES OF REBEL WOMEN: The Young Lords, 1969-1976
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is the first account of women members -- a "story within a story" told from the inside out. The Young Lords Organization emerged in the late sixties to fight poverty, racial and gender inequality, and the colonial status of Puerto Rico. Women joined to build a people's movement for justice and fought the "revolution within the revolution" believing that women's equality was inseparable from the society's progress as a whole. Written and edited by Iris Morales,
THROUGH THE EYES OF REBEL WOMEN
consists of essays, interviews, and primary source documents. Morales chronicles the revolutionary rise of the Young Lords, the role and contributions of women, the opening of branches in Puerto Rico, and the group's demise.
Personal interviews with former women members captured for the film
¡Palante, Siempre Palante!
The Young Lords
have been edited for the book. Photographs and articles from the early 1970s complete the narrative. The entire volume affirms that social movements do not develop in a vacuum but arise to spearhead solutions to the injustices occurring in society.
Dr. Edna Acosta-Belén,
distinguished historian and women's studies scholar, writes: "These women activists are ... the brave feminist warriors who battled for equality in intersecting (not isolated or separated) arenas of class, race, gender, ethnicity, and sexuality; part of that noble league of defenders of universal human rights."
Ericka Huggins,
human rights activist, former Black Panther Party member, and political prisoner, summarizes: "As I read this book, I was continually inspired by the history of the Young Lords and the great women within it. Iris Morales writes a story that parallels the story of the women in the Black Panther Party and women throughout the globe. The structural and interpersonal work we must do to uplift humanity always starts from the inside out!"
Through the Eyes of Rebel Women
is a must-read for everyone interested in the Puerto Rican and grassroots movements of the 1960s and 70s in the United States.