“I was in the Young Lords, and one of the points in the original program was ‘Revolutionary Machismo’. Machismo is reactionary, so you can’t have revolutionary machismo. We women weren’t having it. So we made a very different kind of statement. ‘We want equality for women. Down with machismo and male chauvinism.’”

Denise Oliver-Velez, born on this day in 1947, is a former member of both the Young Lords and Black Panthers, as well as an American professor, activist, and community organizer. Oliver-Velez is an adjunct Professor of Anthropology and Women's Studies at State University of New York (SUNY) New Paltz.

Oliver-Velez was a member of both the Young Lords and the Black Panther Party (BPP), and fought to make the Young Lords a less chauvinistic and more feminist organization. In 1970 Oliver-Velez was appointed as Minister of Economic Development, becoming the highest ranking woman in the Young Lords.

In addition to her activism with the Young Lords, Oliver-Velez was also an AIDS movement activist, publishing ethnographic research as part of HIV/AIDS intervention projects. She has also worked in public broadcasting and community media for many years, becoming a program director and co-founder of WPFW-FM in Washington, D.C., Pacifica Radio's first minority-controlled station.

Megathreads and spaces to hang out:

reminders:

  • 💚 You nerds can join specific comms to see posts about all sorts of topics
  • 💙 Hexbear’s algorithm prioritizes struggle sessions over upbears
  • 💜 Sorting by new you nerd
  • 🌈 If you ever want to make your own megathread, you can go here nerd

Links To Resources (Aid and Theory):

Aid:

Theory:

  • PutinsLeftNipple [she/her]
    ·
    2 years ago

    The blatant racism I see against the Chinese never ceases to amaze me. It's like there's this unspoken rule amongst libs that being unambiguously racist is bad unless it's towards Chinese people.