CHICAGO, IL – Award-winning scholar, historian, and author Jacqueline Lazú announces the release of her highly anticipated book, The Young Lords Speak: Building Revolution on the Streets of Chicago. Featuring a foreword written by founder José “Cha Cha” Jiménez just before his passing, The Young Lords Speak tells the story of Chicago’s Young Lords in their own words through a collection of articles, essays, interviews, and speeches.
Iris Morales, activist, educator, former Young Lord in New York, and author of Revisiting Herstories: The Young Lords Party, offered high praise for the book: “The Young Lords Speak delivers an in-depth exploration of the Young Lords Organization from its origins as a street gang in Chicago to its transformation into a powerful revolutionary force. Professor Lazú expertly curates the first collection of primary sources, filling a critical gap in the historical narrative of the Young Lords. The anthology illuminates the ideals and actions that ignited a radical social justice movement within the Puerto Rican diaspora in the late 1960s and continues to inspire the ongoing struggle for Puerto Rican liberation.”
Rooted in a Chicago-based street gang, the Young Lords grew into one of the most dynamic revolutionary community organizations of the late 1960s and early ’70s. In their field jackets and signature purple berets, using militant tactics like building takeovers and mass education, the Young Lords mobilized their community for liberation and against gentrification, poverty, racism, and police brutality. Forging a Rainbow Coalition with Fred Hampton and the Black Panther Party, the Young Lords expanded from their Chicago headquarters into the Puerto Rican and Latino barrios of New York City and elsewhere, demanding an end to the US occupation of Puerto Rico and self-determination for oppressed communities everywhere.
Helen Shiller, former Chicago city council woman and author of Daring to Struggle, Daring to Win, emphasized the book’s significance: “Each of us engaged in the struggle for a more just society do so standing on the shoulders of those who went before. Knowing that history and sharing it is our path to building the sea for future change makers to swim in and be successful. For an important piece of that history, this book is a must read.”
The Young Lords Speak is available in hardcover, ebook, and paperback formats via Haymarket on Bookshop.org, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and independent bookstores nationwide.
Order now at The Young Lords Speak | HaymarketBooks.org.
Book Details
Publisher: Haymarket Books
Cover Art: Shane Ramos
Publish Date: March 17, 2026
Pages: 304
Language: English
About the Authors
Jacqueline Lazú is a professor of Spanish and Latin American studies at DePaul University. A recognized historian and author of numerous scholarly articles on the Young Lords in Chicago, she maintains an active portfolio on her website jlazu.com.
José “Cha Cha” Jiménez (1948-2025) was one of the founders and leaders of the Young Lords in Chicago. As an infant, he moved with his family from Puerto Rico to a migrant work camp near Boston before settling in Chicago’s Lincoln Park neighborhood. State repression, along with the police murders of Black Panther leaders, forced Cha Cha underground. He eventually returned to Chicago to continue his political and organizing work.