We believed that the women’s struggle for equality was the ‘revolution within the revolution.’ - Iris Morales

When I met Cha Cha Jiménez and other Young Lords, I was impressed with their political ideals and militancy–with their sense of urgency and need for action.

Still, others emerged committed to the principles we had embraced as Young Lords. In 1977, former members together with other activists brought international attention to the plight of Puerto Rican Nationalists in US prisons since the 1950s by occupying the Statute of Liberty and placing the Puerto Rican flag on her crown. Two years later, President Jimmy Carter pardoned the Nationalists who returned to Puerto Rico to a triumphant welcome. Former Young Lords also organized for the freedom of another generation of political prisoners, who were released in 1999. Many former members joined to expel the US Navy from Vieques, an island off Puerto Rico's east coast used for bombing exercises. Countless others helped to form the National Congress of Puerto Rican Rights in the United States, and several built educational institutions and women's organizations. Former Young Lords organized grassroots movements against police brutality, demanding justice and supporting victims' families. Others became labor organizers providing leadership to national campaigns for a living wage and immigration reform, or become health care workers. A few became journalists or reporters. Many former women members became educators and professors in public schools and universities, or lawyers, judges, and doctors. Former Young Lords also continued to organize public events to commemorate important dates in Puerto Rican history and celebrate Puerto Rican culture.

On all levels, women were changing the politics, practices, and image of the Young Lords...Among the most important activities spearheaded by women in the Young Lords were reproductive rights campaigns. We demanded access to birth control options, safe and legal abortions; an end to sterilization and experimentation on our bodies; and access to affordable and quality health care.