José 'Cha Cha' Jiménez, Young Lords founder and civil rights leader, dies at 76
Jiménez was a prominent Puerto Rican civil rights leader and founder of the Young Lords Organization.
José "Cha Cha" Jiménez, a prominent Puerto Rican civil rights leader and founder of the Young Lords Organization, has died.
He was 76.
Jiménez died Friday morning, according to his sister Daisy Rodríguez, who first announced it in a Facebook post.
In 1968, Jiménez founded the Young Lords Organization at Lincoln Park, one of Chicago's most impoverished neighborhoods. He transformed what was once a Puerto Rican street gang into a political group and community-based organization modeled on and inspired by the Black Panther Party, according to the Library of Congress.
The Young Lords advocated for health care access, education, affordable housing and employment. It also spearheaded community programs that provided free medical clinics and free breakfast for children, helping standardize the current federal children’s nutrition program.
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