East Harlem's First Spanish Methodist Church is a congregation of lower-middle-class Puerto Ricans. For three months it has been under attack by a militant Puerto Rican group, the Young Lords, who have demanded church space for a weekday free-breakfast program for neighborhood children. The church refused, saying the congregation itself should organize any such action.
On the Sunday after Christmas, as the strains of the Recessional faded away, a member of the Lords rose and tried to address the congregation. He was ignored. Then, as the congregation filed out, 150 Lords and supporters took over the building and nailed shut its doors...
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