“Nuestras Vidas Corren Casi Paralelas”: Chicanos, Independentistas, and the Prison Rebellions in Leavenworth, 1969–1972

This essay examines the political and personal connections between Chicano prison activists and the Puerto Rican Independentistas at Leavenworth Federal Penitentiary from 1969 to 1972, and the effects that these experiences had on the Chicano Movement and the Free the Five Movement. Located within the context of the prison rebellion years and the coalitions of Third World prisoners throughout the country, these prisoners of war, political prisoners, and politicized prisoners initiated a cultural studies class, a newspaper, and a political organization that was at the center of political mobilizations like work strikes, legal cases, and solidarity with social movements outside the walls. These political and educational projects challenged the logic of a prison regime based on racial divisions, while simultaneously establishing political links that would continue to resonate throughout the 1970s and into the present.