THROUGH THE EYES OF REBEL WOMEN: The Young Lords, 1969-1976 iTHROUGH THE EYES OF REBEL WOMEN: The Young Lords, 1969-1976 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-Beln, 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.

Iris Morales is an educator and lifelong community activist. She brings her legacy of social justice activism to projects with young people, teachers, and media producers promoting racial and gender justice, and the decolonization of Puerto Rico. Ms. Morales has built organizations dedicated to grassroots organizing, education, and media. Currently, as founder and executive editor of Red Sugarcane Press, she publishes books dedicated to the diasporic history and culture of Puerto Ricans, Blacks, Indigenous, and other people of color in the Americas. Ms. Morales is an attorney, a graduate of New York University School of Law, and earned an MFA in Integrated Media Arts from Hunter College in New York.

PREFACE INTRODUCTION - Unveiling and Preserving a Puerto Rican Historical Memory, EDNA ACOSTA-BELÉN PART 1. HERSTORY OF THE YOUNG LORDS - The Young Lords' Early Years, 1969-1971: An Overview, IRIS MORALES - Women Organizing Women, IRIS MORALES - Thirteen-Point Program and Platform (1970) - New Directions to Shattered Dreams, IRIS MORALES PART 2. PALANTE SIEMPRE REFLECTIONS - The Excitement Was in the Streets! DENISE OLIVER-VÉLEZ - Woman, Dominican, and Young Lord, MARTHA ARGUELLO - From Young Lord to Union Organizer, MINERVA SOLLA - Philadelphia Young Lords and the Role of Women, GLORIA M. RODRÍGUEZ - The Final Days and the Struggle Continues, DIANA CABALLERO PART 3. FROM THE FRONTLINES - Power to the People! - The Revolution within the Revolution - Racism And Colonized Mentality - Changing Directions AFTERWORD - Berets and Barrettes, LENINA NADAL - On the 40th Anniversary of the Young Lords in Chicago, IRIS MORALES Appendix Acknowledgements Notes Contributors Index About the Author and Editor About Red Sugarcane Press