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Month: April 2017

Queens of the Corner: Pedro Lemebel y Las Yeguas del Apocalipsis

Posted on by Mijente

Pictured above: Francisco Casas (left), Pedro Lemebel (right).

I first learned about Chilean artist and activist Pedro Lemebel while watching an interview with Chilean queer musician Alex Anwandter about his latest album, Amiga. On that album, there’s a track called Manifiesto in which he tackles themes of gender and sexuality; a track that Anwandter said was inspired by the life and words of Lemebel. After watching the interview, I began to research Pedro Lemebel obsessively and thus began my journey into discovering the magic that was the late, great artist. After reading countless interviews, watching YouTube clips, searching for articles and diving deep into the bowels of the internet, I decided to share a little bit about what I’ve learned in the hopes of introducing Lemebel’s work and legacy to a broader Latinx audience here in the U.S.

Pedro Lemebel

Pedro Lemebel was a queer and gender-bending writer, activist and performance artist heavily involved in Chile’s art and political scenes during the 1980s and until his death in January 2015. In his work, Lemebel often used humor and sarcasm to uplift the experiences of working class people living in the capital city of Santiago.

He particularly elevated the stories and realities of queer and trans folks who lived in poverty, marginalized not only by mainstream society but also at times by leftist circles and leaders active in the city. In September of 1986, during a leftist meeting made up of groups opposed to the Augusto Pinochet dictatorship, Pedro Lemebel staged what he called an “intervention of the left”. Lemebel walked into the meeting with a hammer and sickle painted on his face and wearing high heels (shoes which he often referred to as his weapons and armor), and read aloud a piece titled, Manifiesto (Hablo por Mi Diferencia), in which he exclaimed, “…but don’t speak to me about the proletariat, because to be poor and a faggot is worse. You have to be acid to withstand it.” He goes on to say, “I am not going to change for marxism, which has rejected me so many times. I don’t need to change, I am more subversive than you…” Despite his vocal rejection of the Marxism of his straight counterparts, Lemebel was known as a radical and maintained loyal relationships with leftist leaders such as Gladys Marín and others.

In addition to being politically active, Lemebel was also an avid writer and became well known in the literary world for his crónicas urbanas. In 1995, he published his first book of chronicles titled, La Esquina Es Mi Corazón, followed by many others.  In 2001, Lemebel published his first and only full novel Tengo Miedo Torero–a love story between an older drag queen and a young leftist revolutionary who is plotting the assassination of dictator Pinochet. Torero is the only one of Lemebel’s books that has been translated into English, titled My Tender Matador. The protagonist of the novel, “la reina de la esquina” (queen of the corner), is a character that is very much influenced by Lemebel’s own experiences and self-perception. It tells a story of political and sexual desire, of poverty, of revolutionary spirit and most certainly of romance and love–all during a Chile still ruled by dictatorship.

Undoubtedly, Lemebel was a badass, intersectional guerrerx who fought not only for poor, working-class queer and trans people but also for political prisoners, for indigenous Mapuche communities, for women, and for all the people and families terrorized under the Pinochet regime. Lemebel’s legacy is one of queer liberation, feminism, intersectionality, and the greater collective; a legacy of both words and actions. A legacy that is perhaps most evident in the work of an art collective that Lemebel helped form and performed with for 10 years of his life.

Las Yeguas Del Apocalipsis

Between 1987 and 1997, Pedro Lemebel and fellow queer artist Francisco Casas performed as the fabulous and deviant art troupe Las Yeguas Del Apocalipsis (The Mares of the Apocalypse). The two artists created the group as a way to combine alternative forms of art and politics and to create space for a radical queer “underground” culture amidsts the more “establishment” aspects of the socio-political arena in Santiago. They engaged in “public intervention” performances that challenged cultural and political narratives and assumptions; from the colonization of Latin America to the dictatorship of Pinochet to the homophobia and transphobia in broader Chilean society.

La Conquista de America. Las Yeguas del Apocalipsis.

In an article published in The New Yorker, Gary Garthwall describes one of Las Yeguas’ most poignant performances, titled, La conquista de América:

“…the two artists, barefoot and stripped to the waist, with Walkmen taped to their chests, danced the cueca, the national dance of Chile, on top of a white map of Latin America. Bits of glass from broken Coca-Cola bottles were scattered on the floor, and as they danced the map became stained with blood.”

They performed this act at the Chilean Commission on Human Rights in October of 1989 just as Chile was preparing to transition out of the 17 year dictatorship of Pinochet. La Conquista de America represented and connected both the long history of colonization throughout the Americas as well as the more recent history of neoliberalism and dictatorships.

Casas and Lemebel also used their art to speak on the issues that affected working-class and poor LGBTQ communities of Santiago. In a piece called Lo Que Se Llevó La SIDA they tackled the crises of HIV/AIDS. In La Ultima Cena de San Camilo they sought to highlight the lives of trans women who were sex workers and were being pushed out of their neighborhoods and the streets where they worked as a way to “clean up” Santiago as the city prepared to usher in a new era post-dictatorship.

The legacy of Las Yeguas can serve as a reminder that our duty is not only to survive in the face of repression but also to thrive, to unleash our political imaginations and to move us forward into what is possible when we come into la lucha as our whole selves; challenging oppression while also showing to the world and to each other that we as queer latinx folks can hold tremendous beauty, joy, creativity and resilience in our bodies, hearts, and souls.

Discovering this Chilean queer history has been a grounding and healing experience for me. Growing up in the U.S. for 20 years (without going back home until very recently for the first time), I used to wonder what my life would have been like if my family never left. I used to think about what my development as a young queer kid would have been like; how my political education and values would have been shaped. I think deep down I wanted so badly to feel connected to a Chile that also spoke to my queerness and my politics and I didn’t know how to feel that connection or where to begin looking for it. After doing all of this research, I feel like I’ve found that bridge and a part of me feels a little bit more whole as a person.

Cheers to Pedro Lemebel, to Las Yeguas del Apocalipsis and to all of the fabulous queers who resist, who breathe fire and joy into the world and who do it with a flamboyant courage across time and space.

PS: If you’re interested in learning more about Pedro Lemebel, watch this video interview Trazo mi Ciudad — Pedro Lemebel. ¡Ojo! The video is amazing and allows you to hear from Pedro Lemebel directly but it is also in Spanish and has no English subtitles.

PPS: Here’s  a rough translation of the poem Manifesto (I speak for my difference) for your reading pleasure in English

Salem Acuña is a queer latinx immigrant originally from Santiago, Chile and currently based in Washington, DC.  Follow him at @SalemAcu89

Lifting Up the Struggles of the Mujerxs of the Young Lords Party: Reflections on Iris Morales’ Book

Posted on by Guest Contributor

We change ourselves, through the course of changing society.

Iris Morales

Iris Morales’ book, Through the Eyes of Rebel Women: The Young Lords 1969-1976 documents the perspective of women cadre in the formation of one of the most important radical party organizations in Latinx- American history.  As one of the primary leaders of the party, the author, Iris Morales is effective in offering an intimate account of  the internal politics and dynamics of the organization. In an age now of gender politics being central to how we move our grassroots political agenda, Ms. Morales’ narrative is a relevant and essential political education tool.

Originally a group based in Chicago, the Young Lords Organization (YLO) fought against the displacement of Latinx (predominantly Puerto Rican and Mexican) communities in Lincoln Park and for the independence and self determination of the island of Puerto Rico.

Young radicals and activists based in East Harlem, El Barrio, NYC, also a majority Puerto Rican/ Latinx neighborhood, were inspired by meeting the founders of the organization in Chicago and expanded and formed the Young Lords Party (YLP) in NYC in May 1970. Initially, the central committee of the Party had an all male leadership until the women pushed for female representation. In the next month, June 1970, Denise Oliver became the first female leader of the central committee, appointed as minister of finance, in the first of many victories to come from the women in the organization. Early on, women made the Young Lords more accountable to women’s issues and confronting patriarchy more than many of the radical organizations of the time.

Similar to today, in the 1940s-50s, there was a mass exodus of Puerto Ricans to the US due to an unsustainable economic model. Today, the exorbitant debt crisis and a deteriorating economy have led residents from all class sectors to leave the Island. In the 1950s, it was predominantly agricultural workers and the poorest families that were displaced during the country’s industrialization process, Operation Bootstrap. Puerto Rican families migrated in massive numbers to New York and took the lowest paying jobs in workplaces like garment factories, laundries, and restaurants. They faced intense poverty and discrimination.

The Lords, inspired by the Civil Rights movement and the Black Panther Party, were young, some first generation out of college. They hoped to point out the daily challenges of working people including substandard housing, a poor education system, and lack of adequate health services. They did this not just by identifying the problem in discourse and narratives, but by creating a tangible revolutionary alternative to capitalism that the people could feel and experience in their neighborhood.

Simultaneously, the Young Lords advocated and educated the community about the colonial status of Puerto Rico, the inequality in capitalism and the benefits of a socialist alternative.

Some of their community actions included uniting doctors and activists to liberate a tuberculosis testing truck.  When the city was not stationing tb trucks in poor communities, the activists and doctors took it upon themselves to administer lead and tuberculosis testing directly to the community. This type of direct action forced the city to station tb testing trucks in poor neighborhoods.

A direct action takeover of Lincoln Hospital in the Bronx helped establish a holistic detox program for people addicted to drugs. Breakfast programs were established by the Party when schools did not meet the need. In what became known as the “1969 garbage offensive,”  the Lords acknowledged that community residents were angered that garbage was not being picked up by the city. In response, the Young Lords swept and cleaned up the neighborhood and set the garbage on fire. As police brutality was rampant in El Barrio, the Young Lords often intervened directly, leading to direct protection of residents and confrontation with the police.

The Young Lords education program under the leadership of Juan Gonzalez and Iris Morales led thirteen-week cycles of political education. As Morales states,” some sessions featured guest speakers and screened films…about Vietnam, Cuba, and Palestine, or about people’s struggles in the United States such as “Salt of the Earth,” about a Mexican workers’ strike.”

The information team published a bimonthly newspaper called Palante and ran a radio show through public radio station WBAI under the direction of “Yoruba” Guzman. Known for its dazzling graphics and provocative headlines, Palante was the equivalent of the sexiness of political memes today.   

Though much of this history is well documented,  the book offers the perspective of the women cadre, who did all of the day to day revolutionary work on of running this type of organization and yet struggled to be represented, recognized and appreciated as central to the work.

Structured in three parts, Part 1 tells the history of the Lords and the rise of the Women’s Caucus and Women’s Union.  It also documents the internal divisions and role of government surveillance that led to the downfall of the organization. The second part of the book offers testimonies and stories from women in the Lords from a diversity of backgrounds. Last, there are archival documents like the Young Lords Position Paper on Women, Why a Women’s Union? In 1971, and the Women’s Union 12 point program that help provide context to the demands of the time.

In some of the initial anecdotes, Morales describes how the central committee was initially almost all men who had appointed themselves. Yoruba Guzman, one of the founding central committee members describes, “ the first time we heard about Women’s Liberation, our machismo and male chauvinism said, “Well these chicks are all frustrated- that’s their main problem. What they really need is a good-you know.” That was the thing that we were coming from. (p. 46, Rebel Women)

Sentiments like these and the recognition that women literally had to jump through hurdles to be seen as strong as men, led to the formation of a women’s caucus. Through this caucus, the women defined their demands and transformed the organization. Ms. Morales cites Fidel Castro addressing the impact and importance of women in the Cuban revolution and calling for the “revolution within the revolution.” The sentiment behind the quote was that there could be no socialist revolution without the full recognition and liberation of women. Some of the demands won by the women’s caucus were:

  • Women’s history was included in the political education curriculum
  • Women became key writers of the Party newspaper Palante
  • The statement “Machismo must be revolutionary” In the Young Lords Party’s original 13 point program and platform (where it talked about equality of women) was removed due to women saying that if racism was not revolutionary, neither was machismo.
  • Childcare was developed for mothers who wanted to participate in movement work
  • Increased leadership and representation in core committees of the Party

All of these things women accomplished, including developing their own all women-run publication, La Luchadora.  The YLP recognized that at the forefront of the struggle for women was the fight against sterilization and the need for quality health care and safe abortions.

Ms. Morales points out that abortions for women of color were often shoddy, so having just a strict demand for abortion was not sufficient. Also, there was a massive sterilization campaign on women in poor communities and on the Island. Last, contraceptives that were not regulated were also tested on poor and working class Latinx and Black women.

The women’s caucus also seeded the creation of a groundbreaking lesbian and gay caucus. This was unique for radical organizations at the time that were struggling with how to address gay rights. Sylvia Rivera, cofounder of Street Transvestites Action Revolutionaries (STAR) and one of the leaders of the 1969 Stonewall Riots, was a deep ally of the work of the Young Lords.

The Demise of the Lords

A key aspect to what Ms. Morales covers in the history is the demise of the organization after having such a profound impact on the community and serving as an inspiration to radical movements in the U.S.

The central committee in 1971 presented a plan to begin mobilizing and setting up organizing work in Puerto Rico. The rationale was that there were over a million Puerto Ricans in the US and 2/3 remained on the Island, and that though the people were in two different nations, Puerto Ricans still constituted one nation. (p.95, Rebel Women) And therefore, the YLP needed to organize on the Island as well.   

The YLP leadership also raised concerns that the movement on the island of Puerto Rico for independence and sovereignty at the time, was being directed by middle and upper classes. It was thought that the YLP could have a greater impact on mobilizing the working class, the lumpen and the afro-Boricuas.  As the YLP started pouring a lot of resources into developing the organization in Puerto Rico, the main base of the party located in the United States suffered. There were growing divisions about this strategy and especially about the YLP’s effectiveness in organizing Island residents. Most of the Lords were influenced by US Latinx diaspora and African- American culture. The central base of people the organization had developed were located in the Puerto Rican neighborhoods of the US which had very different dynamics regarding race, class and gender politics. Members of the Lords made the argument that the Young Lords were not best positioned to lead the movements on the Island.

Due to this strategic mistake, the connection to the local community in New York began to deteriorate, as did the base of over 20% of African Americans who participated in the work of the Lords. Black members were asked to learn Spanish better and were being less acknowledged for their contribution to organizing in the Lords. The first woman on the central committee, Denise Oliver, who was of African American descent, left to join the Panthers because of the differences in strategy and lack of recognition of the race issues in the organization and on the Island.

To adhere to an effort to organize workers more efficiently, there was also a call to dissolve the Women’s Union, which was considered a mass organization that helped grow the base of the Party. Ms. Morales recalls a comrade once saying that there were not enough resources to organize both women and workers. And her response was that women were workers. “Our struggle is a class struggle. The members of the Women’s Union are workers, homemakers, students, unemployed.” She pointed out that historically, women like Luisa Capetillo, one of the most prominent labor organizers in Puerto Rican history, managed to fight for all workers and for the issues of women. This call was later rescinded as an error and recognition of the important organizing that was done to form the women’s union.

Last, the infiltration of the government and the COINTELPRO program escalated these divisions and contradictions. Under the direction of J. Edgar Hoover, FBI agents were asked to monitor, disrupt and discredit and neutralize movement organizations.  In Puerto Rico, known as the carpetas, police collected data and thousands of files on activists of the Puerto Rican independence movement that were only discovered by activists and researchers decades later. There were physical attacks on members by other members, and raids of homes by both the police and party members that created more disillusionment. The book shares detailed incidents on the actual victims of these raids. Some Lords members accused COINTELPRO of actually killing YLP members. Ms. Morales documents that from the very launching of the YLP in New York City’s Tompkins Square Park,  there were agents present and to this day the role of surveillance in our contemporary radical movement is one of the most pressing of our time.

Lessons for Movements Today

It is important to note that the Young Lords were not funded by grants or government agencies. YLP members dedicated time to the organization, by either not working, or working on evenings and weekends and contributing to the organization financially. While sometimes this could lead to unsustainability, the political analysis and ability and agility to act based on their revolutionary ideals was essential to their work. They were internationalists and had an analysis of the U.S.’s role as an imperialist nation. They met internationally with workers to connect issues. There was an integration of issues that faced the Puerto Rican/Latinx community, and this meant that there was less siloing of issues as we see today. As Ms. Morales said, “ you could have the Inmates Liberation Front (a mass organization of prisoners connected to the YLP) address the issue of women’s sterilization.”

While online organizing is essential, it has to complement and not replace the base building on the ground and the creation of a program that meets the need of the local community. It is crucial to act in solidarity with movements that are gaining momentum as opposed to defining an agenda where there is little or no interest in what the organization may have to offer. The best work of the Lords occurred when they met the needs of the people with a radical imagination.

Surveillance then was conducted by agents, now many of us reveal our movement work openly through social media. There is a need for a community discussion on this and also a discussion on ways that movements begin to destroy each other rather than advance a common agenda.

Most of all, the process of growing oneself, is participating in the struggle. And this will mean recognizing class, race, ableist and gender privilege and addressing it in respectful and thoughtful ways together that strengthens rather than divide our organizations and movements.

You can purchase Through the Eyes of Rebel Women: The Young Lords 1969-1976  here.

Click here if you would like to find out more about the author of Rebel Women, Iris Morales.

Lenina Nadal is a Puerto Rican writer, social justice organizer, activist, and a member of Mijente’s Commsquad based in Brooklyn, NYC. Follow her at @LeninaTweets.