Borinquen
Borinquen is the name of the mythological island of pre-colonial Puerto Rico. The idea was developed to provide Puerto Ricans and Puerto Rican-Americans with a sense of nationalistic identity. Originally, the myth of Borinquen was pre-colonial (that is, independent) Puerto Rico. In the early 1970’s, the Puerto Rican-American population was becoming increasingly composed of U.S. born people. To incorporate the experiences of the U.S. born people of Puerto Rican descent, the idea of Borinquen began to include Puerto Rican communities in the U.S., specifically East Harlem. To be sure, the idea of Borinquen was used mainly in criticizing U.S. involvement in Puerto Rico, and thus tends to be aligned with nationalistic independence movements. This nationalistic component of the idea of Borinquen caused internal conflict in the Young Lords Party, because it clashed with their fundamentally socialistic stance.
The Young Lords Party aligned itself politically with socialism. In the late 1960’s, when the Party was becoming increasingly involved in community activism and development, this socialist stance was expressed in the inclusiveness of the Party. That is, the reason the party was multi-racial, was non-exclusive on the basis of sexuality, and expressed the need for equal rights for women, was because all of the people of the communities were in the same state of marginalization. The Young Lords believed that to work for the benefit of the community, all members of the community must be included. Borinquen was used to instill a sense of unity within Puerto Rican communities by making reference to the proud history that all Puerto Rican-Americans share. As the Young Lords increasingly adopted the idea of Borinquen to unite community members, they adopted the sense of nationalistic pride that accompanied the idea of Borinquen.
Above is the cover of Palante , the publication put out by the Young Lords discussing the Young Lords and Puerto Rican-American communities. The image is from (8).
The Young Lords Party split ideologically in the early 1970’s, with some members wishing to retain the original purpose of providing grass roots community action projects, and other members wishing to pursue Puerto Rican independence. In the summer of 1972, after Young Lords members unsuccessfully attempted to construct a chapter in Puerto Rico, the Young Lords held a national congress. There, the Young Lords renamed itself the Puerto Rican Revolutionary Union. Various local chapters of the Young Lords persisted into the early 1980’s, though none achieving the notoriety or success of the Young Lords of the late 1960’s. The Puerto Rican Revolutionary Union aligned itself with labor unions, and attempted to aid in the creation of a socialist political party.