Who’s Telling Your Story? Critical Reflections by the Latinx Caucus
“The most powerful way to maintain oppression is for the oppressed to agree with the dominant narrative.”
–Dr. Samuel Cruz,
Afro-Boricua, Nuyorican, and
Associate Professor of Religion & Society at Union Theological Seminary
‘Young Lords logo on a building wall, December 27, 2003.’ Photo by Qzonkos. CC BY-SA 4.0.
Latinx Caucus Article Generates Public Discussion
On December 24, 2022, an article titled “Calling on Our Antepasados: Preserving & Institutionalizing Latinx History Through Mama Leo’s Legacy,” was published on Union Theological Seminary’s website. Written by the Latinx Caucus, the article recorded reflections from the historic Mama Leo celebration that took place on November 30, 2022.
Little did they know what impact this article–and, specifically, one word–would have. Less than a week after the article’s publication, the authors’ use of the word ‘gang’ to describe The Young Lords Party had generated an important response on Twitter.
Mariposa Fernández (@LaPoetaMariposa), writer, poet, and Professor of Women & Gender Studies/Africana Studies at CUNY, pointed out the inaccuracy of the term, and invited a revision of the piece.
A few weeks later, the Latinx Caucus co-chairs were made aware of Fernández’s tweets for the first time through conversations with Dr. Samuel Cruz, Reverend of Trinity Lutheran Church in Sunset Park and Associate Professor of Religion and Society at Union.
On this same day, Felipe Luciano, co-founder of The Young Lords Party in New York, approached Latinx caucus co-chairs Yarilynne Esther Regalado and Varada Sosaya about the article during their visit at Trinity Lutheran. After performing his poetry at the service, Luciano engaged the co-chairs in conversation and, together, generated an important discussion of how the word ‘gang’ was weaponized against a political movement guided by the values of Socialism and led by Black and Brown Puerto Ricans.
Taking their suggestions to heart, the Latinx Caucus at Union has elected to document the error on the original piece and publicly share their experience and learning since then. The following are critical reflections by the Latinx Caucus, both as a collective and as individual members.
The Impact of the ‘White Gaze’ on Historical Storytelling
Through our conversation with Felipe Luciano, Mariposa Fernández’s educational guidance via Twitter, and Dr. Jorge Rodríguez’s January course “Latinx Religious Activism in the 20th century,” the Latinx Caucus learned that describing the New York Chapter of the Young Lords Party as a ‘gang’ today is to degrade a justice-seeking political movement led by Black and Brown people for the wellbeing and self-determination of Black and Brown people in the same way that the media tried to in the 60s and 70s.
“What was meant to be an article that situated our predominantly white and Christian seminary into its setting of Black and Spanish Harlem by uplifting Boricua Pentecostal history, we, more specifically, I, inaccurately captured the history of the Young Lords Party by describing them through the lens of white-gaze from the 60s and 70s—that when Black and Brown people organize, it is because they are up to no good,” Yarilynne Regalado, co-chair of the Latinx Caucus and Dominirican, shared.
“What I thought would be an impactful reclaiming of the word “gang” actually triggered another historical memory of how that word was used in the context of the Black Civil Rights movement and when the Black Panther Party and the Young Lords Party were active in the late 1960s.”
Varada Sosaya, co-chair of the Latinx Caucus and New Mexican, reminds us that we must consider who is telling the dominant narrative.
“We tend to believe the dominant narrative, causing discord in our communities and among our gente. We believe the lies about ourselves because the narratives are so ingrained in us to the point where we do not even recognize who we are in the story.”
Varada further noted that “an inaccurate depiction co-opted by the white-gaze maintains and supports oppression, lies, and stereotypes about the subject,” in this case, the subject being a predominately Puerto Rican and Afro-Boricua led political party.
“These lies become infiltrated in the psyche of the subject and the oppressor, which in turn cause and promote annihilation among BIPOC communities.”
Combating the White Gaze: Reclaiming Latinx History at Union Theological Seminary
Our stories are absent from predominantly white academic institutions and when they are present, they are continued to be told through a dominant narrative—through the lens of the white gaze. This denies the opportunities for Latinx students to claim their own agency in these stories and define who they are.
The lack of space for historical self identification and self-definition is also felt at Union. For many of us, our first encounter with Latinx religious history was in Dr. Jorge Rodríguez’s ‘Latinx Religious Activism in the 20th Century’ class, offered during the 2023 January term.
“Taking Dr. Rodríguez’s course Latinx Religious Activism in the 20th Century was my first exposure to learning more deeply about the Young Lords Party,” Yarilynne remarked. “You can graduate from Union, a theological institution in Black and Spanish Harlem, and not know about the Black and Latinx theologians, activists, and leaders that made an impact on what normative and mainstream theology just feet away from Union.”
“Making my public scholarship piece on this issue—especially after learning about the YLP through Dr. Rodríguez’s course, visiting the First Spanish United Methodist Church, meeting and talking with Felipe Luciano and being made aware of Mariposa Fernández’s tweets, all within the same week—was the most relevant thing to do in order to reclaim parts of my own identity as a U.S.-born daughter of immigrants from the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico, as a white-passing Latina, and as a negotiator of identities and power.”
Yarilynne Esther Regalado’s Public Scholarship video assignment for Dr. Rodríguez’s January Course “Latinx Religious Activism in the 20th Century” focuses on the New York Chapter of the Young Lords Party through her experiences.
Another Latinx student, Leslie Martinez, stated that this class “was the first time [she] actually learned about [our] history, what happened to [our] people, in a land that used to be ours.”
“I had a visceral, physical reaction in Dr. Rodriguez’s Latinx Religious Activism class. It was the first time I realized that our history, our inherited trauma, lives in our bodies. I felt the pain of this history course through my body. Learning this so late in life, I felt rage but also empowered. It reminded me of the importance of history and storytelling. Knowing what our ancestors did and went through can equip us with the tools necessary to help our communities in the present and future. We must educate ourselves on our history and continue passing this information on to future generations.”
Documenting This For the Record: Building Capacity for Critical Memory
The current leaders of the Latinx Caucus want to ensure that our communities adopt a critical and contextual understanding of history by owning our identities, reclaiming agency in who we are, and by telling our own stories.
“You can graduate from Union, a theological institution in Black and Spanish Harlem, and not know about the Black and Latinx theologians, activists, and leaders that made an impact on what is considered normative and mainstream theology in the academy. It is disappointing to know that some students may not think or even know of theologians like Boff, Gutiérrez or Isasi-Diaz as normative theologians in the same way that Bonhoeffer, Tillich, or Barth are introduced into the ways we think about what theology is," Yarilynne remarks.
“Taking Dr. Rodríguez’s course Latinx Religious Activism in the 20th Century was my first exposure to learning more deeply about the Young Lords Party and seeing how theology was bigger. Theology is something that we do and a political party like the YLP called a religious institution into action because the church needed to do something and help its own people."
“We need a way for future Latinx Caucus members to remember these interactions so that they can cultivate a critical view of how history is told. To know who we are, we must be presently looking to the past as a way to educate ourselves on history related to our ancestry and identity. Our bodies are stories of the next theological jump of revelation and liberation waiting to be codified by the academy and made normative. Therefore, we must be most rooted in who we are and know the role we play within a community in order to understand how to be in solidarity with one another before someone else dominates and tries to tell our stories in a way that leaves us--our bodies, experiences, and identities--out of view. We must have the awareness to notice when the system we are in is lacking our stories so that we can be willing to advocate for ourselves and our communities."
Part of working towards remembrance includes documenting the learning that happens when mis-recognitions, mis-readings, and mistakes are recognized, named, and corrected in community. Keeping an institutional memory of mistakes is an important step for the future of the Latinx Caucus. Our communities need to continue to learn from each other across race, gender, class, sexuality and gender identity, religion and spirituality, disability, and age as we continue to build movements of justice and solidarity in the same way that the Young Lords Party became politicized through the example of the Black Panther Party.
“When we know the truth, the constructs of the dominant narrative can no longer oppress our gente. The truth disrupts social comfort that will bring rise to a revolution because we have claimed our agency and defined who we are in the narrative,” Varada states.
Continuing Latinx Religious History in New York City
From our friends at the First Spanish United Methodist Church:
“Once occupied by The Young Lords to demand services for the community, today, from food distribution to wellness programs to serving those seeking asylum, this church is a continuum of that legacy.
Last November we received word that our main funding partner would be cutting the church from its budget effective June 30th 2023. Now we need your help to keep the church open and alive!
Help us to raise $150,000 to stay open through 2024 as we strategize and plan for long term sustainability.”
Follow the First Spanish United Methodist Church (FSUMC) on Facebook and Instagram to know how you can get involved. Donate to FSUMC’s GoFundMe to keep this space alive in El Barrio and to allow them to strategize plans for long-term sustainability.
Connect
Thank you to Dr. Rodríguez for a robust history of the YLP through your course “Latinx Religious Activism in the 20th Century,” thank you to Mariposa Fernández, Felipe Luciano, and Dr. Samuel Cruz for your corrections, conversations, and critical review of history, and thank you to Rev. Dorlimar and the people involved in sustaining the revolutionary legacy of the FSUMC.
FSUMC The People’s Church (Instagram: @fsumc | Facebook: FSUMC)
Mariposa Fernández (Instagram: @lapoetamariposa | Twitter: @LaPoetaMariposa
Dr. Samuel Cruz (Twitter: @revdrcruz)
Dr. Jorge Rodríguez (Instagram: @jjrodriguezv | Twitter: @JJRodV | LinkTree: https://linktr.ee/Jjrodriguezv)
Video Sources
"Takeover": Young Lords' Juan González on Hospital Protest Doc. Shortlisted for Academy Award
Takeover: How We Occupied a Hospital and Changed Public Health Care | Op-Docs
The Young Lords: Exploring the Legacy of the Radical Puerto Rican Activist Group 50 Years Later
How the Young Lords revived community activism at The People's Church
“Takeover”: New Doc Chronicles Historic 1970 Young Lords Occupation of Lincoln Hospital in the Bronx
The Rev. Dorlimar Lebron Malave of FSUMC—The People’s Church
Articles & Books
*first three sources curated by Dr. Rodríguez on his UTS course “Latinx Religious Activism in the 20th Century”
1. Johanna Fernández, The Young Lords: A Radical History
Chapter 6: “The Church Offensive: Prefiguring the New Society at the People’s Church”
3. Ed. Felipe Hinojosa, Maggie Elmore, and Sergio M. González, Faith and Power: Latina/o Religious Politics since 1945
Jorge Juan Rodríguez V, “Lived Religion in East Harlem: The New York Young Lords Occupy First Spanish—The People’s Church”
3. Felipe Hinojosa, Apostles of Change: Latino Radical Politics, Church Occupations, and the Fight to Save the Barrio
Introduction: “The People’s Church”
Chapter 3: “The People’s Church in East Harlem”
4. “The People’s Church” by Matt Bernico published on Geez Magazine
5. “The Young Lords: Building Power Through Direct Action” by Johanna Fernández
6. A Latinx Resource Guide: Civil Rights Cases and Events in the United States, 1968: The Young Lords Organization/Party from the Library of Congress
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