The First Rainbow Coalition

In 1969, the Chicago Black Panther Party formed alliances across ethnic and racial lines with other community-based movements in the city, including Latinx group the Young Lords and southern whites the Young Patriots. Banding together in one of postwar America's most segregated cities to confront issues like police brutality and substandard housing, they called themselves the Rainbow Coalition.

In 1969, the Chicago Black Panther Party formed alliances across ethnic and racial lines with other community-based movements in the city, including Latinx group the Young Lords and southern whites the Young Patriots. Banding together in one of postwar America’s most segregated cities to confront issues like police brutality and substandard housing, they called themselves the Rainbow Coalition.