Date: Sun, 19 Oct 2003 16:32:28 - 0000
From: "ethanyoung11215" <ethanyoung at earthlink.net> Subject: Re: Young Patriot Party
There were 2 groups.
Young Patriot Organization came out of a street/motorcycle gang in the down-and-out Uptown nabe east of Wrigley Field, where a relatively successful community group (JOIN) was initiated by SDSers including Rennie Davis and Mike James in the late 60s.
YPO never attained more than a marginal presence in Chicago. Partly inspired by the Young Lords Organization and the Ill. BPP (Fred Hampton, Chairman) YPO tried to rally poor Southern white youth with a combination of revolutionary millenarianism, Panther-style gun culture and Confederate symbolism (much to the dismay of many SDSers who would have preferred a more consistently anti-racist appreciation of US history).
A few members around one leader (known as Preacherman) split off to form the Patriot Party around 71-72.
-- Michael Pugliese