From Friday, June 30, to Monday, July 3, 1972, the Young Lords Party held a congress of all our members. This Congress took place in the South Bronx.
Other organizations which base themselves in Marxism-Leninism-Mao Tse Tung Thought also participated: the Black Workers Congress, I Wor Kuen, and the Revolutionary Union. Mass organizations that supported the ideology of the YLP and have worked very closely with us also took part: the Workers Federation, Committee to Defend the Community, Puerto Rican Student Union, Third World Student League, and Women’s Union.
Also taking part were organizations such as: El Gremio de Trabajadores (Workers Guild) of Puerto Rico; Rising Up Angry from Chicago; Los Siete De La Raza, J-Town Collective and Kalayaan, all from San Francisco; Kokua Hawaii from Hawaii; El Comite, Spirit of Logos/White Lightning, both from New York; Venceremos from California; and the Albanian Affairs Study Group.
The Congress approved a three-part resolution and voted on changing the organization’s name. We are no longer the Young Lords Party, but the PUERTO RICAN REVOLUTIONARY WORKERS ORGANIZATION. In addition, the new central committee was elected: Gloria Fontanez, Carmen Cruz, Juan Gonzalez, Willie Matos, David Perez, Pablo “Yoruba” Guzman, Elba Saavedra, Richie Perez, and Lulu Limardo.
We feel that the Congress was an important step forward in the growing proletarian revolution. For this reason, we are reproducing, in this pamphlet, the resolutions and speeches presented at the Congress.