Puerto Rico May Have Lost a Legend, but José ‘Cha Cha’ Jiménez’s Impact Remains

José “Cha Cha” Jiménez spent his life fighting for the forgotten. The founder of the Young Lords in Chicago and a key figure in the original Rainbow Coalition, Jiménez shaped a movement that confronted institutional racism, poverty, and the displacement of Puerto Ricans in the city’s North Side. His death at 76 leaves behind a legacy of defiance and political action.

His Impact

According to the AP News, the Young Lords began as a street gang in the 1960s, a response to the growing hostility faced by Puerto Ricans in Lincoln Park, then one of Chicago’s poorest neighborhoods. By 1968, under Jiménez’s leadership, the group evolved into a human rights organization, inspired by the Black Panther Party. They fought for access to healthcare, education, and affordable housing, organizing free breakfast programs, community health initiatives, and literacy campaigns.

The Young Lords expanded to New York, Philadelphia, and Milwaukee, drawing in a generation of activists who saw in him a leader willing to challenge an entire system.

In 1969, Jiménez, alongside Fred Hampton of the Black Panthers and William “Preacherman” Fesperman of the Young Patriots Organization, helped form the original Rainbow Coalition. The movement brought together Black, Latino, and poor white Appalachian communities, unsettling the political establishment. The coalition’s radical unity drew the attention of law enforcement and the FBI, which viewed it as a threat to the status quo. Later on, PBS chronicled this era in The First Rainbow Coalition, a documentary that traced how Black radicals, Puerto Rican nationalists, and Southern white migrants worked together against shared struggles.

José ‘Cha Cha’ Jiménez’s Life

Jiménez was born on August 8, 1940, in Caguas, Puerto Rico. He later moved to Chicago, growing up in the La Clark neighborhood, one of the city’s earliest Puerto Rican enclaves. His activism extended into politics. In 1974, he became the first Latino to run for alderman in Chicago, challenging gentrification efforts that threatened his community. His campaign reshaped the city’s political landscape, laying the groundwork for increased Puerto Rican and Latino representation. In 1983, he helped build the Latino coalition that played a crucial role in electing Harold Washington, Chicago’s first Black mayor.

After the Young Lords disbanded in the late 1970s, Jiménez dedicated himself to preserving their history. In 1995, he collaborated with DePaul University’s Center for Latino Research to create the Lincoln Park Project, a comprehensive oral history archive documenting the Young Lords’ impact. In 2023, DePaul honored him with the Public Intellectual Award, recognizing his lifelong contributions. A year later, the university placed a historical marker on its Lincoln Park campus, cementing the Young Lords’ place in Chicago’s history.

His legacy endures in the streets he fought for, the communities he defended, and the generations of activists who followed his lead.

A public funeral will be held in Chicago on Thursday.