Johanna Fernández Dies at 55: Leading Scholar on the Young Lords & Latinx Freedom Movement
Democracy Now!
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Video Summary
The academic and activist community is mourning the loss of Dr. Johanna Fernandez, a pioneering historian who passed away at age 55 after a battle with cancer. A professor at Baruch College and the CUNY Graduate Center, Fernandez dedicated her career to documenting the radical legacy of the Young Lords and advocating for prison abolition, most notably through her long-standing support for Mumia Abu-Jamal.
Her work frequently challenged institutional narratives, including a high-profile clash with the Smithsonian Institution. After Congress authorized the National Museum of the American Latino, Fernandez faced intense political backlash for her curatorial work, which she characterized as part of a broader conservative campaign to suppress ethnic and social history. Her legacy remains rooted in her commitment to closing the knowledge gap regarding the contributions of Latinos to American democracy.
Short Highlights
- Dr. Johanna Fernandez was a leading scholar of the Young Lords and a committed prison abolitionist who advocated for Mumia Abu-Jamal.
- She authored the award-winning book, The Young Lords, A Radical History, and curated the influential exhibition Presente.
- Fernandez faced a political "witch hunt" from conservatives that led to the Smithsonian halting her planned exhibit on the Latino civil rights movement.
- She organized the Latinx Freedom Movement Archive to preserve the histories of 1960s and 70s revolutionary movements.
Key Details
Legacy of the Young Lords [0:00:25]
- Dr. Johanna Fernandez was a preeminent scholar of the Young Lords, a radical civil rights group modeled on the Black Panthers.
- Her 2019 book, The Young Lords, A Radical History, received the prestigious Frederick Jackson Turner Award.
- She argued that the Young Lords were the most effective and active group of the New Left, despite their work remaining largely unknown to the public.
The Young Lords are important because, in my opinion, from my research, they are the single group in the New Left that was most effective and most active, even though we know very little about them.
Institutional Backlash and Censorship [0:02:40]
- Fernandez faced significant political opposition while developing an exhibit on the Latino civil rights movement for the Smithsonian.
- She described the resistance as part of a calculated conservative campaign to eliminate the teaching of Black, Latino, and LGBTQ+ histories.
- The historian characterized the smearing of curators as "Marxists" as a modern iteration of the Red Scare.
In many ways, this sounds and looks like a repeat of the Red Scare or previous moments of repression in the United States.
Advocacy for Mumia Abu-Jamal [0:04:45]
- Throughout her career, Fernandez was a vocal supporter of Mumia Abu-Jamal, whom she described as a political prisoner.
- She produced the film Justice on Trial to highlight the lack of a fair trial and the politicization of his case.
- She viewed the demonization of Abu-Jamal as a direct consequence of his willingness to expose the realities of capitalism and systemic oppression.
This is the city that has also imprisoned and attempted to silence the most important political prisoner in the history of the United States, essentially the Nelson Mandela of our time.
Archival Preservation and Final Contributions [0:03:50]
- Fernandez co-created the Latinx Freedom Movement Archive to document the contributions of Latinos to the expansion of American democracy.
- Even while battling cancer, she continued her work, organizing a conference in April that brought together veterans of Chicano, Puerto Rican, and Cuban movements.
- Colleagues remembered her as a generous mentor who prioritized oral histories and the preservation of revolutionary legacies until her final days.
Closing the knowledge gap about Latino history through public education is central to our work.
