Juan González

Juan González (born 1947) is a Puerto Rican-American journalist, author, and former Young Lord who became one of the most important media voices for Puerto Rican and Latino communities in the United States.

Born in Ponce, Puerto Rico, González moved to New York as a child, growing up in East Harlem and later the projects of Brooklyn. As a student at Columbia University, he became active in the 1968 student protests and joined the Young Lords Party, becoming one of its central leaders.

After the Young Lords, González became a journalist, eventually joining the New York Daily News as a columnist (1987-2016) and co-hosting 'Democracy Now!' with Amy Goodman. His column consistently addressed issues affecting Puerto Rican and Latino communities — gentrification, police brutality, educational inequality, and colonial politics.

His book 'Harvest of Empire: A History of Latinos in America' (2000) became the definitive text on Latino history in the U.S., documenting how American foreign policy created the migration patterns that brought Latin American communities to the mainland. The book was adapted into a documentary film in 2012.

González represents the trajectory from revolutionary activism to institutional journalism — using media platforms to advance the same anti-colonial analysis he developed as a Young Lord, reaching audiences that radical politics alone could not.