Young Lords Founder’s Legacy: José “Cha Cha” Jiménez

From the streets of Chicago’s North Side to the front lines of the fight for Puerto Rican and Latine liberation, José “Cha Cha” Jiménez made history as the founder of the Young Lords. Born on August 8, 1948, in Barrio San Salvador, Caguas, Puerto Rico, and raised in La Clark, one of Chicago’s first Puerto Rican neighborhoods, Jiménez transformed a local street gang into a powerful movement for justice, dignity, and radical change.

Inspired by the Black Panther movement, the Young Lords expanded from Chicago to New York and other cities. Jiménez worked closely with Black Panther leader Fred Hampton until Hampton was assassinated by the FBI in 1969.

Jiménez and the Young Lords initiated free breakfast programs, health clinics, and garbage cleanups in impoverished neighborhoods, emulating the mutual aid model of the Black Panthers. They fought against gentrification, police brutality, and displacement in Puerto Rican neighborhoods, demanding both political autonomy and cultural respect.

Jiménez’s legacy lives on in the generations of activists he inspired to fight for racial justice, community empowerment, and Puerto Rican self-determination. His work with the Young Lords redefined what grassroots power looks like: bold, unapologetic, and rooted in love for the people.

José “Cha Cha” Jiménez passed away at the age of 76, but the movement he helped build continues to resonate today.