RADICALISM - REVOLUTION - RESISTANCE

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With war raging in Vietnam, a resistance movement spread to the streets of Chicago and New York circa 1968. Streets ridden with garbage, abandoned vehicles, boarded-up buildings wrapped in graffiti and placards of anti-war messages frame the neighborhoods housing the poor and working-class families, the people of color, and those of Latinx heritage.

 

The Children are readily exposed to lead poisoning, access to public health services and emergency treatment is limited at best and health inequality runs rampant.

 

Police brutality is the norm and racism and prejudice rule the day, with local government officials turning a blind eye. The grand scheme to control the undervalued neighborhoods by increasing rents by over 400%, forcing mom-and-pop stores to close, including sending the Latinos “back” to their islands of origin. These conditions set the stage for the birth and organization of the Young Lords and their crusader of social justice and one-time gang member Cha-Cha Jimenez.

 

The Young Lords – The Musical ©– is a stage play that tells Jimenez’s story and that of his organization Young Lords comprised mainly of Puerto Rican and Latinx members. It follows Jimenez from the time he is incarcerated and introduced to the writings of Malcolm X, and Martin Luther King Jr. to the Young Lords' revolutionary takeover of Lincoln Hospital in the Bronx in 1969.

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It was written over several years, and I struggled with rewrite after rewrite to blend these two distinct cities to develop a consistent message.  The play contains 22 original music scores. As the author, I need your help with donations to see this play in production.

 

The play's historical and educational significance adds a new dimension to society's perception of these young radicals.

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