The First Rainbow Coalition - a podcast by HTI Open Plaza

In this episode of OP Talks, historian Dr. Felipe Hinojosa talks to filmmaker Ray Santiesteban about his documentary The First Rainbow Coalition (Independent Lens, 2020) and the need for more Latinx historians and filmmakers. Through rare archival footage and interviews with members of The Rainbow Coalition, Santiesteban tells the story of the groundbreaking alliance between the Black Panther Party, Hispanic activist group The Young Lords, and The Young Patriots, comprising working-class southern whites. In the 1960s, the alliance banded together as The Rainbow Coalition in Chicago—one of the most segregated cities at the time—to fight police brutality and substandard housing.

Though the documentary covers events from 50 years ago, says Santiesteban, the documentary “is still relevant because we're still grappling with [what] people were fighting against in the ‘60s.” Because the United States is more diverse than it was then, he adds, coalitions across ethnic lines have even more potential today.

ABOUT THE DOCUMENTARY

In 1969, the Chicago Black Panther Party, notably led by the charismatic Fred Hampton, began to form alliances across lines of race and ethnicity with other community-based movements in the city, including the Latinx group the Young Lords Organization and the working-class young southern whites of the Young Patriots. Finding common ground, these disparate groups banded together in one of the most segregated cities in postwar America to collectively confront issues such as police brutality and substandard housing, calling themselves the Rainbow Coalition. The First Rainbow Coalition tells the movement’s little-known story through rare archival footage and interviews with former coalition members in the present-day. 

While the coalition eventually collapsed under duress from constant harassment by local and federal law enforcement, including the murder of Fred Hampton, it had a long term impact, breaking down barriers between communities, and creating a model for future activists and diverse politicians across America.

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Independent Lens Discussion Guide for The Rainbow Coalition [DOWNLOAD PDF]

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