[captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from pacifica, this is democracy now! to greet the pilgrims and the people of philadelphia when i come for the world meeting for families. i will be there. see you in philadelphia. pope francis arrives in washington dc in his first ever trip to the united states. how will his message about

humility, anti-consumerism, and combating climate change be received? one republican congressman has already announced plans to boycott his speech on the capitol hill. we will speak to a domestic worker who walked 100 miles to greet the pope in washington, as well as an indigenous leader opposed to his decision to canonize father junipero serra. then we look back. >> you have a big church, you are christian, the church is not open at all. what we ask you for his faith, that is all. you supply the manpower, the food. all you supply is the faith of the church. amy: from waging a garbage offensive, we look at the young lords founded by puerto rican activists took to the streets

demanding reform in health care, education, housing, and one, and policing. we will speak to one gonzalez -- .uan gonzalez the young lords in new york showing at three major new york cultural institutions. all that and more is coming up. to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. pope francis has kicked off his historic u.s. tour. you will share his message of compassion and simplicity with the world's richest country. president obama and vice president joe biden greeted him on the tarmac on tuesday with their families after his plane landed at joint base andrews near the capital. the first time the argentina native has ever set foot on u.s. oil. we will have more on his visit

after headlines. in egypt, the president has pardoned 100 prisoners including an al jazeera journalist. he and his colleagues were sentenced to three years in prison for spreading false news. he was tried in absent shia. stia.en fami is a canadian citizen and the only one of the three to be pardoned. bahir mohammed remains in prison. hillary clinton has come out against the keystone xl oil pipeline. she had repeatedly refused to take a stance, citing her former role as secretary of a and the state department's key role of reviewing the pipeline. bernie sanders and martin o'malley of both opposed the pipeline. hillary clinton broke her silence tuesday in iowa. hillary clinton: i think it is

imperative that we look at the keystone pipeline as what i believe it is, a distraction from the important work we have to do to combat climate change and, unfortunately, from my of, one that interferes with our abilities to move forward to deal with all of the other issues. therefore, i oppose it because i don't think it is in the best interest of what we need to do to combat climate change. amy: senate democrats have blocked a republican bid to ban abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy. a move toomes as defund planned parenthood threatens to shut down the government at the end of the month area -- month. a measure to keep the government open strips funding from planned parenthood. , whoor kelly ayotte

supports defunding planned parenthood, took to the senate floor to scold republican colleagues to threaten the government down again. senator kelly ayotte: i'm tired of the people on my side of the aisle pushing this strategy. they don't have the votes in the senate or the votes to override a presidential veto. therefore, they can't answer the question, what is the endgame if you feel usn passionately about these issues as we all do? amy: the new hampshire senators up for reelection next year. the european union has adopted a plan for member states to resettle 120,000 refugees through a quota system over the next few years. the vote was staunchly opposed hungary,ech republic, slovenia. to takehas refused part. instead, issuing its own plan to take in 20,000 refugees over five years.

speaking tuesday, the european commission vice president said the vote is a step forward. decision we took today is not going to solve the refugee crisis. but without this decision, i think we would not have been in the possibility to take the next steps to make sure that we do better at protecting our external borders, that we do better at registering people immediately when they arrive, that we do better at making sure that people have a right to who do not and those come a return to where they came from. amy: nearly half a million refugees fleeing violence averaged europe this year. in yemen, the u.s. backed saudi coalition bombed two houses in the capital. similar airstrikes killed 50 people on monday. the former yemeni president has returned to yemen to spend the

holiday, six months after he fled amidst an advance byhouthi rebels. the pentagon says a us-led airstrike killed a french-born militant to alleged links to al qaeda 2.5 months ago. he was killed on july 5. hasred general john allen stepped down, citing personal reasons. the obama administration's transfer of a guantánamo prisoner back to his native saudi arabia is complete after he launched a nine-year hunger strike. inlaunched a hunger strike 2006. his release leaves 114 prisoners at guantánamo, 52 of whom are cleared for release, many of

whom have been clear for more than a decade. in los angeles, california, mayor eric garcetti and members of the city council have declared a state of emergency over homelessness and have vowed to dedicate $100 million over the issue. the declaration comes just weeks after los angeles was chosen as the u.s. candidate to host the 2024 olympics. other news from california -- president obama has declared a major disaster for areas in northern california scorched by the valley fire. the valley fire has destroyed more than 1200 homes, making it the third most destructive wildfire in california history. governor jerry brown has connected the fires to climate change and california's historic drought saying, this is the future. the former hedge fund manager

who increased the cost of a life-saving medication by 5000% as backed down following a barrage of criticism. ae drug is used to treat parasitic infection, which is particular dangerous for people with hiv aid. head of theli, company, initially defended the decision to increase the cost from $13.50 to $750, but he backed down in an interview with abc news. martin shkreli: we have agreed to lower the price to a point that is more affordable and is able to allow the company to make a profit, but a very small profit. we think these changes will be welcomed. the he did not specify what new cost of the drug would be and has come under further criticism after it emerged that his previous drug company bought the rights to a decades-old medication for a rare disease and hiked the drug by nearly

2000% in price. hillary clinton issued a plan to curb price gouging, while rival bernie sanders touted his long-term push to lower the cost of prescription drugs. the governor of okinawa, japan has brought his plan to the human rights campaign. he was elected last year and a platform to stop the base. speaking tuesday, he urged the international community to oppose the new u.s. space as a violation of human rights and self-determination. as ay the issue of bases national security and human rights issue? okinawa under american jurisdiction. many things happened, including the rape of a girl, a jet crashing into a ground, and hit-and-run deaths by a u.s. soldier acquitted and sent home.

after the return, we found out there was a lot of aleutian -- pollution and an environmental issue. we cannot investigate that because it is not popular -- possible during the u.s.-japan agreement. depending --is defending its treatment of a transgender woman who said she down,peatedly pat harassed, and instructed not to record the ordeal because a full body scanner flagged her penis as an "anomaly." she ended up missing her flight. advocates say transgender people are often subjected to invasive airport screening. tsa agents calibrate the scanners male or female based on perception of the passenger. genitalia that does not conform may be flagged. an agent told her to get back in

the machine as a man or was going to be a problem, she said. tsa followed agents followed agency guidelines. more than a quarter of undergraduate women have been sexually assaulted during their four years of college. more than 27% of female college seniors reported some form of unwanted sexual contact carried out by force or by incapacitation from drugs or alcohol since entering college. those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. juan gonzalez. welcome to all of our viewers. pope francis has kicked off his historic u.s. tour. he is expected to share his message of compassion and simplicity with the world's richest and most powerful country. on tuesday, both president obama and vice president joe biden

honor the pope by personally greeting him on the tarmac after his plane landed at joint base andrews near the capital. this is the first place the argentina native has ever set foot on u.s. soil. hordes of devotees have flocks to washington dc in hopes of catching a glimpse of the pontiff during his stay. leader of thee world's 1.2 billion catholics will hold a formal meeting with president obama alone in the oval office for 45 minutes. pope francis will make history, becoming the first pope to address a joint session of congress. he will address the united nations general assembly before departing for philadelphia to deliver an open-air mass where one in 5 million people are expected to attend -- 1.5 million people are expected to attend. he called for a revolution of tenderness in cuba.

tuesday, he told reporters he hopes the united states will lift its five-decade old trade embargo on the island. the problem of the embargo is part of the negotiations. this is a public thing. both presidents have referred to this. this is moving along the path of the good relations. end upre is that they with a good result and reach an accord that satisfied both sides . with respect to the position of embargoes,and the popes before me have talked about this in other cases of embargo. there is a social doctrine of the church with regard to this, not just this one, which is so precise. juan: the pope's visit has not been without controversy. several republican catholic politicians have tried to distance themselves from the pope's comments on climate change.

-- onecan president republican representative announced a boycott of his congressional address. he wrote in a column, if the pope wants to devote his life to fighting climate change, he can do so in his personal time, but to promote questionable science out of catholic dogma is ridiculous. he has also come under criticism to canonize reverend junipero serra, a spanish born franciscan friar known for starting ninth -- missions in california -- nine spanish missions in california. groups are protesting saying he was part of the spanish conquest and genocide of indigenous populations. amy: for more, we are joined by julie byrne, author of "the other catholic." valetine lopez is also with us, chair of the tribal band.

he is leading efforts to oppose pope francis' decision to canonize father junipero serra. in washington dc, we are joined by esmeralda dominguez, a domestic worker part of a group of 100 women who just arrived in d.c. after marching 100 miles from a detention center to the capital in order to greet the pope. fromguez is recovering bone cancer and her primary caretaker is her husband who was undocumented. the march was organized by we belong together, cofounded by the national domestic workers alliance and the national asian pacific women's forum. we welcome you are to democracy now! let's begin with the significance of the pope's visit and what you mean by the other catholics. >> the pope visiting the united states is always a huge thing area that this pope is addressing a joint session of congress means that he is willing to take on all the

superstar power that is available to him that he has definitely cultivated. other catholics are catholics who are not affiliated with the roman church. people imagine that there are no catholics not affiliated with rome. if you are catholic, you are definitely under the pope. there are a small number of catholics who have decided, the pope is not crucial to catholicism and stand apart from him. with now, i'm concerned how this pope is addressing a quarter of the u.s. population who is roman catholic and manages to attract so many who are not catholic to his messages. juan: in terms of the pope's stance on issues relating to catholic women and ordination and abortion, what are your concerns even though he has been perceived -- received too much

praise for his progressive stances? thingss doing amazing with regards to the women of the world. in so far as his concerns for ,he earth, immigration, poverty runaway capitalism -- he really does lift so many women all over the world who are impoverished and in dire circumstances. however, he could do more and he is afraid of women in power in the church, namely being ordained to the ranks of clerical classes -- deacon, priest, bishop. other catholics do ordain women already. the roman catholic church, including this pope, is not willing to budge on that. amy: what about his position overall on reproductive rights? >>'s position is consistent with the roman catholic church on reproductive rights and that means no artificial birth control and certainly a pro-life

stance that is against legalization of abortion. u.s. bishops have been upholding that line for decades and made it an overweening concern of theirs. the pope, in his year of mercy letter, extend and indulgence to the women who might want to welcoming abortions, them mercifully back into the fold through the sacrament of confession to priests, rather than making them go through a longer process to bishops. this is a mercy. if you do believe that abortion is a sin, should not be legal, and is one of the gravest sins, in fact. juan: i want to do a you about the founder of the california missions and the controversial role he is seen as having played throughout history, yet the pope is talking now about the possibility of canonization. >> yes.

he will be canonizing junipero serra today, i believe, later today, here in washington. forpero serra was brutal the california indians. he was the first presidente. it was his role to develop a system and a regulation and the policies for capturing and carrying forth and holding the indians. would forcefully capture the indians and march them to the missions. once they got to the missions, they could not leave. they were a labor force for the missions, a slave labor force. wouldy ran away, they send out the soldiers to capture them and bring them back and they would be whipped repeatedly , sometimes for up to a month. times, themission

missions separated families, mothers from fathers from children. part of the reason was so parents could not pass on culture to the children. culturalcide of the indigenous people. the missions would you shackles and they used stocks on the indians. they separated the families, the women were repeatedly raped by the soldiers . there were no other women in california at that time. the men would go into the dormitories or barracks and just repeatedly raped them. those dormitories were locked, but the soldiers would go in and repeatedly raped them. the conditions of the missions were horrible. pot in theput a corner to use for the bathroom and that was all and they were not showering. they talked about the smell being horrible.

disease would, and it would go through like a wildfire. they would have 1200 indians dying at one time. in one of the missions, during that period of time, they were over 19,000 -- during a 36 year period of time -- 26 year period of time, over 4000 indians died. there were 30,000 indians at the beginning of the mission period. at the end of it, there were less than 100 in total. over 150 thousand california indians died under this system that junipero serra developed. was professor ruben mendoza invited to the vatican in april last part of a panel of experts to discuss the basis for father serra's canonization. he was not today, only a man of his time, he was a

man ahead of his time, and his advocacy for native people on the frontier. others have also defended the pope's choice for canonization. serra helpsher spread the love and mercy of god. >> the role of somebody like human flaws and difficulties in struggles and was set in his own time, yet had a vision and an ability to look into a place and say, we need to bring christianity here, share the love of god and the mercy of god with the people of this time. amy: if you could respond to these comments, valetin lopez. >> two things. when they were closing the mission, the last presidente said, we will be judged very harshly. all we have done is consecrated, baptize, and bury the indians.

there are no indians along the coast of california. they are all dead. they said, we need to come up with an alibi or excuse for what happened. the catholic church created the myth that junipero serra was wonderful to the indians, that the indians came involuntarily, that they came in for a better life, to learn agriculture, they came in to find god. they started teaching that. and the california schools, when they started developing curriculum for schools to teach the mission period, they went to the churches to find out about the mission period and that is what they learned. for generations, ever since the time beginning, that is what they taught, that junipero serra was a gentle and kind person. there is nothing that could be anything further from the truth. saying that he is a man of his time -- the catholic church as evidence of what i just said.

if you go to a lot of the catholic websites, they will say that junipero serra was the first person to develop a bill of rights and he developed a 32 -point bill of rights for california indians. all of the catholic sites refer to that. whenever you look for that bill of rights, it is very hard to find. when you find it, it is a that is meant to increase his power over the military and give them more control over the indians. spain wanted to go to develop cities in california so they could bring in other people. they wanted to develop san jose and los angeles, but serra wanted to build additional missions for the indians. as a result of that, there was a big struggle, so he wrote a 32-point bill of rights for the indians that had nothing to do with the indians. juan: contrary to what the pope has done here with the spanish

presence in the united states, he was speaking earlier this year in bolivia, where he apologized for the catholic church's complicity in the oppression of indigenous people in south america. >> i say this to you with regret, many grave sins were committed against the grave ofple -- against the people the americas. like saint john paul ii, i ask that the church kneel before god and employ forgiveness -- implore forgiveness for the past sins of her sons and daughters. i would also say, as with saint john paul ii, i humbly ask forgiveness, not only for the offenses of the church or sell, but also for crimes committed against the native peoples during the so-called conquest of america. juan: many native peoples are calling for him to renounce the doctrine of the every --

discovery that was pronounced in certain papal bulls. >> the documents of discovery -- they weres papal bulls -- basically the word of god given by the pokes es in the 1400s and 1500s. they issued a number of people bulls -- papal bulls that the indigenous people are pagans, savages, heathens with no soul, that they are the enemies of christ, that we should be cast into perpetual slavery, and that all of her property and possessions should be taken. that was the basis for the conquering and conquest of much of the world, including india, ,ndonesia, the pacific islands

and all of the americas. amy: you wrote a letter to the pope opposing the canonization of father serra and to governor jerry brown of california. did you receive a response? >> we have actually written six letters to pope francis. two letters to governor brown. we received one response about two weeks ago from the archbishop of new york, who is at the holy see mission at the united nations. he said the church has received the letters and read them and asked forary of state a one-page historical note that would be developed in 1986, i believe, and that historical note said very simply that the church has looked at all of the and has the best historians take a look at his life and they all conclude that

he is worthy of sainthood. they are recommending sainthood with a clear conscience. amy: we are going to break and come back to this discussion. of the lopez is a chair tribal band opposing the canonization of father serra. we're also joined by julie byrne , professor at hofstra university. her forthcoming book is called "the other catholics." when we come back, we will be speaking with esmeralda dominguez about why she walked women, many undocumented, to greet the pope in washington dc. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. with juan gonzalez. of 100 women, many undocumented, have arrived in the in order to greet the pope. the march was organized by we byong together, cofounded

the national domestic workers alliance and the national asian fake women's corps. the march is intended to send a message that families belong should not be separated by u.s. immigration policy. is: esmeralda dominguez joining us now. she is recovering from bone cancer enter primary caretaker is jesus, and undocumented immigrants. tell us about the journey you took and what you would like to thank all if you could speak to him. >> thank you for the invitation. it was a hard walk. it is exhausting. , allive it all you have your strength, all your spirit, physically, mentally, emotionally, it is draining. on because every step, we take it in the name of ore, in the name of unity

family dignity, for human beings. to haveld have a chance the pope and be able to speak faith, ias a woman of know he cannot change the laws of the united they, but what i do know is that he can change the hearts of those creating the so that whenords, they do create them, they make them less harsher and instead of separating families, they make them more united. in our particular case, it is they that i'm still walking. it is through love for my family that i am still here and continue to fight for my life and to keep my family together. those same laws that are separating us and those are the laws that are affecting

criminalizing, humanizing, taking away our dignity. if i would have him in front of me, i would tell him, i don't even care about the papers. what i want is for him to see through my suffering, what many of us immigrants have to suffer when we leave our place of origin in search of a happier life, in search of a safe a place we can call home, where we can belong. this is one of the reasons i'm so thankful for open will we belong together." to bring the crisis of all the migrants that are traveling from across the world, that are at this precise moment coming in, crossing borders, crossing rivers, trains, walking. amy: can you describe your own situation? you are a u.s. citizen and -- citizen. you have bone cancer. your husband is taking care of

your children. he is not a u.s. citizen. >> he is undocumented. i'm an american citizen born abroad. my father is an american citizen. my mother is a mexican national. we emigrated in 1993 with my mother. through my father, we became american citizens, but i have been unable to do a permanent status for my husband. tweo of his waivers were denied .ecause he became in illegally that affects my family financially, emotionally, every kind of extreme hardship you can think of, i have faced it because he is my primary caretaker. he is my husband. he is back on taking care of my son. miles, i'mthis 100 not only walking it, but i monitoring his suffering because he got lost in the desert, he

had to walk 25 days, 25 nights without water, without food, without shelter. we have been lucky. we have so many people throughout the city receiving us , giving us water, welcoming us. he did not have that. my walk is an honor to all of his suffering, so that people can be what we have to face when we are going in or to a better place. juan: you mentioned the trek across the mexican border. the pope reportedly wanted to begin his u.s. trip by crossing the mexican border, but the plan had to be scrapped for logistical reasons. he said to enter the united states from the border with mexico would be a beautiful jester of brotherhood and support for immigrants, yet you are hearing and many of us are hearing in these republican presidential candidate debate all of this insistence on strengthening the wall with

mexico, preventing the flow of migrants. message you are hoping the pope will send to the american people? >> i would ask them to put my shoes on and come walk with me, so that through our eyes and through our feet, he can feel that pain and we can show the world how to be more compassion ate. and say sit in my table everyone is welcome if i'm not opening the door for every single one person and recognizing them as a person, as a human being. politics and religion, a lot of times, are very kind of like hand-in-hand. , that isersonally separated. pope francis' message that unity. that message can transcend religion area i walked here with

one women. we are 100 women of different nations, of different languages, of different colors. what we did is we came together as one. amy: many of you are domestic workers. >> i am a janitor. i'm also a domestic worker. it is a really hard job. it is a very humbling job. by doing that, we are not only serving another person, but we are also having time to bend with her family. it allows us that time to take our children to school. it allows me to be able to have , my treatment, for my husband to come along with me and work side-by-side with me. of his sighte out of any moment because he has been taking care of me every day, every night. , thejulie byrne

significance of what the pope is expected to say before the joint session of congress. he said he will not be calling for the lifting of the embargo at this point. the issue of climate change and esmeralda's message. >> i think he is going to say something about immigration. i really wonder what is going to happen in the joint session as he does that. he is going to be speaking about a number of issues. roman catholic policy does not fall neatly on either side of the liberal-conservative divide. he might have sometimes democrats cheering, sometimes republicans cheering. overall, i think immigration is so close to his heart and he is going to push what president obama has been pushing. he is also very interested in the margins, in general. he is dovetailing and interesting ways with the racial climate going on in the united

states for two years, including the black lives matter movement. he is visiting prisons. he is going to a prison in philadelphia. just by going there, he is calling attention to the unequal imprisonment of people who are brown and black in this country and saying, these lives do matter. i do think he is a sensitive to the racial climate in the united states as some are, but he is coming in sync with that, even if he is unaware of that. >martin shkreli he will be visiting -- juan: he will be visiting a prison just weeks after president obama became the first sitting american president to visit one. amy: we want to thank you all for being with us. julie byrne of hofstra university. her forthcoming book is called "the other catholics." valetin lopez, chair of the

tribal band. esmeralda dominguez, a domestic worker and janitor, a mother and ofe who was part of a group 100 women, many of them undocumented, who just arrived in dcf barre marching 100 miles from a detention center in york, pennsylvania to greet the pope. as morale took him all the best to you. -- esmeralda, all the vestry you. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. when we come back come a we look at the history of the young lords. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. that song was adopted by chicago's national actors -- office as the young lords' national anthem. juan: we take a look back at the young lords, a radical group founded by puerto ricans, modeled on the black panther party. in july 1969, they staged their first action to increase garbage pickups in east harlem. they would go on to inspire

activists around the country is the occupied churches and hospitals in an attempt to open the spaces to community projects. the group called for self-determination for all puerto ricans, the independence, ,he island of puerto rico freedom for all political prisoners, and the withdrawal of u.s. from vietnam. areas.rico, and other they would play a pivotal role in spreading awareness of puerto rico and culture and history. group disintegrated by the mid-1970's, its impact is still felt today. amy: it is the focus of a new art exhibit organized by the bronx museum of the art called "¡presente! the young lords in new york." it is on view at three different cultural institutions here in new york . tonight,juan gonzalez, who served as the first miniature -- minister of education for the group, will host an event.

this evening's discussion , johannaour guest fernandez as well as darrel wanzer-serrano, iris morales and mickey melendez. we are joined by johanna fernandez. welcome back to democracy now! i want to start with juan. given you were the first minister of information of the young lords, there is a resurgence of interest in the young lords for decades later. why do you think that is and why did you and a group of young puerto ricans decide to found the young lords? it is kind of surprising that there is a resurgence in the last few years of the

exhibitions and a scholarly work and others that are coming up from academics and political interest. the city council of new york renamed the street where we took over the first spanish methodist church, the people's church in 1969, they read named -- renamed the street "young lord way." it is kind of baffling that so many years later, you would have interest in an organization that was overlooked for years ever since it fell apart by the mid-1970's. amy: can we go back to third world newsreel? church, youa big are christian, because the church is not open -- what we all,ou for is to say that

we will supply the manpower, the food for the children, all we ask is that the space of this church and this community. we don't think of you as enemies. we have had the police here every day. we are not allowed to speak. you may be a reference, but he is not a christian because he does not serve the poor people are helped the poor people of this community. amy: set the scene for us. juan: this was december 1969. we are in a series of protests at the first spanish methodist church in east harlem trying to get a breakfast program. the reference had already called in the police and had several of us arrested and beaten a few weeks earlier. this was the over the church is at this was enough. we actually occupy the church in east harlem for 11 days, as i

recall. maybe johanna knows better. i forget sometimes. we occupy the church for 11 days and established these various programs before 105 of us were arrested, holden by the new york city police department. in the process, the people's church became a liberated zone. people who articulated -- participated in the occupy movement will understand that. we attempted to implement high -- implement the social programs we felt were necessary. it became a place of political ferment. many of the people who would later become leaders of the puerto rican community where the participants in that occupation or supporters of the occupation, so it became a seminal moment in the history of the puerto rican community of the united states. amy: let's go to another clip from third world newsreel. >> the main thing that we are

clear on is that it is a simple thing to give a space and now that we have gotten into this church and the here and been here for hours, it is incredible , it is a big space, all unused, never open to the community. it is incredible to us how such a simple thing like grantinghas resulted in so many heads being busted and so much struggle in east harlem. a roll me understanding of that has to be that religion, organized religion, as so insulated our people and destroyed their minds to thinking about salvation and the hereafter, that we refuse to deal with the conditions we have now. the people who come through this church are mostly puerto ricans who have raised themselves in certain standards, have left the community. that peopleg to us

can talk about jesus, who walked among the poor, the poorest and most depressed, the prostitutes, the drug addicts of his time, that these people claim to be christians and have forgotten that it is jesus who said it is easier for a camel to pass the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. they forget that he said the last shall be first in the first shall be last. they forget it is jesus who said feed the hungry and clothe the poor. to follow the tenants and spirit of christianity, not the letter of christianity. jesus is a real revolutionary of social conscience area amy: that is juan gonzalez at the time. minister of information for the young lord. you are sounding a little bit like pope francis as you sit in the church. juan: not quite with all the accoutrements of power that he

has, but i definitely paid attention when i attended church. [laughter] church's was the response to the occupation? juan: the local minister was definitely opposed. he was a cuban refugee from the cuban revolution and had distinct ideas about what social change meant. the church hierarchy, the methodist hierarchy eventually sided with us, dropped all the charges, and made peace with the young lords in the years that followed. nna fernandez, you have spent many years writing the forthcoming book on the young lords. as you are a part of this discussion tonight, your thoughts on their significance, placing them within the pantheon of social movements. >> i think it is important for that approximately

one third of the people of the island of puerto rico migrated to the united states after world war ii. as a result of operation bootstrap, the industrialization project of puerto rico. many peasants and working people were displaced. they settled in new york. in the postwar period, most -- more puerto ricans settled in new york that americans. the only lords helped make sense of that fast transfer of .umanity to new york they help puerto ricans understand the relationship of the state and their islands, the colonial relationship that helped impel that migration. .he puerto rican people

lords were inspired, motivated, trained by the civil rights and black power movement, by the antiwar movement, juan gonzalez was a leading member of the columbia strike of 19 exceeded that protested the vietnam war and also protested the gentrification of harlem by the university. what we see is that the movements of the 1960's, what is known as the new left in the black power movement, transformed the relationship between people of color and white people, challenge the u.s. foreign-policy, and also transformed our idea of gender and sexuality. those were the issues that the young lords were concerned with. they are important because they are the single group in the new left that was most effective and most active, even though we know

very little about them. juan: one of the interesting things i would like you to comment on, i got to see one of the exhibitions. i got to the one at the bronx museum of the arts. >> one of the interesting things more that tried to focus on the history of the unlawful. we had one of the earliest lesbian and gay caucuses. impact of thethe lawrence on the cultural renaissance. they focused on gender politics and equality for women.

lords other coming in the lower he sighed. they announced their purpose and activism. there is an emergent movement for gay rights. they addressed gender discrimination and discriminations against gay and lesbians. that is one of the least explored elements of this. who helped create

a coulter tolerant of gay people. young the members of the lords who was active in the gay and lesbian rights movement was rivera, sylvia rivera. we conduct -- amy: sylvia rivera was really , theey force in stonewall uprising that launched the modern day gay, lesbian, trans movement. >> absolutely. one of the least written about aspects of the liberation movement was that it was people of color who rioted against their oppression in the lower east side. sylvia rivera was part of that movement. iris morale us in another clip. iris and can introduce talk about her significance.

juan: iris was one of the most important leaders of the young lords, one of the most respected leaders and she will be a panel we are having night at nyu. with me, helped develop the education program or communities. housing,e talk about we should not even call it housing, we should call it the rat holes that people come to live and die in. we can't call this housing. we just call them dumps. roaches live with you, they don't pay no rent, but you do. the roof fall on you. the bathroom, you better take an umbrella along with you. you about to slop in a rainy hangout. juan: this is a mistake in the choice of the clip. that was another member of the

young lords who has since passed away who was talking about the housing situation. there was a whole squatters young lordst the participated in to preserve whatever affordable housing there was amy: what did it mean to be minister of education. i became minister of education and health at one point. the titles kept changing. it was to develop the education programs within the organization, the political education classes. branches of the organization. the battle of algiers. films about the war in vietnam, cuba.

we would do those in the streets. and for the community, as well as for a members. amy: what caused the young lords to dissolve? juan: johanna is probably done the most research on it. internal divisions. >> the decline of the young lords begins with the second church occupation that happens in october 1970. essentially, a combination of government repression. also, a decision on the part of the leadership to move operations to puerto rico, was undermined its connections to the grassroots and the fact that the mass character of the movement had declined. amy: i want to thank you for joining us, joanna. coke curator of "¡presente! the young lords in new york." curator c --o-curator of

"¡presente! the young lords in new york." juan: watch the live stream. amy: that does it for the show. we have this news. i'm amy goodman with juan gonzalez. democracy now! is looking for