About 80 students got a glimpse into the past of Latino/a activism when inspirational speaker Iris Morales debuted her documentary film, "Palante, Siempre Palante! The Young Lords," on Friday night in the University Club in the Michigan Union.
"It told about a lot of stuff that's going on that I didn't know about that I wish I had known about earlier. I wish more things like that were going on now," said University of Illinois graduate Gabriel Martinez, who attended the screening.
The film, whose title means "Forward, Always Forward" is about the Young Lords, a Puerto Rican activist group of the '60s and '70s. It includes interviews with former Young Lords members and footage of their activities.
"You get (from the film) a sense that by collective action we can make change," Morales said.
The film was shown as part of the Latino/a Heritage Celebration and documents a brief history of the Lords' activism in New York City, including its repression by authorities and its internal contradictions.
Some of the Lords' activism described in the film includes the takeover of the Lincoln Hospital in the Bronx and the People's Church in East Harlem, as well as providing lead poisoning and tuberculosis tests for the poor community.
"The best part was their taking it upon themselves to take care of their community, to recognize there is a problem and take action," said LSA junior Lori Nicholson.
Morales was a leading member of the Young Lords from 1969 to 1975. Born and raised in New York, her parents were part of the great migration from Puerto Rico in the '40s.
She recently became the director of education at the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund. Morales graduated from New York University School of Law in 1979.
"She is a role model. As a mother, as a community activist, as a lawyer, she's had to wear many hats," said Wilson Valentin, a Rackham student.
Morales volunteered to do the project, which began in 1988, in order to educate the Latino/a community about its past accomplishments. She chose film as her medium to appeal to the younger, "visual generation."
"We felt a collective sense of wanting to do something. The documentary became important because it is our responsibility to document our history," Morales said.
Only the first of the two-part film was shown Friday. The entire documentary will be shown on public broadcast stations in the near future. While the first part focuses mainly on the positive aspects of the Young Lords, the second part will include testimony on its darker side.
"I wanted to show the positives and the successes, but I also felt it was important (for viewers) to know the failures," Morales said.
Members of the audience said they enjoyed the film and found it educational.
"I think it should be made a more public film," said LSA sophomore Noemi Cordes.
"There's a lot of negative ideas perpetuated about Latinos and this shows that we are involved and that we have succeeded," Cordes said.
Students can check local listings for the film on PBS or order a copy by mail after Oct. 18.
For more information, call (212) 713-5125.
MARK FRIEDMAN/Daily
Latina activist Iris Morales debuted her new documentary film at the Michigan Union on Friday night. Morales was one of the leading members of the Young Lords, a Puerto Rican activist group of the '60s and '70s.