William “Preacherman” Fesperman

was the field secretary of the Young Patriots Organization (YPO).

Young Patriots at the United Front Against Fascism Conference (1969)

Young Patriots at the United Front Against Fascism Conference (1969)

The YPO was a Chicago-based group of poor, white, and revolutionary southern transplants, who played a crucial role in founding the original 1969 Rainbow Coalition, a groundbreaking alliance initiated by the Illinois chapter of the Black Panther Party. But on what grounds could the Patriots see themselves as specifically white revolutionary nationalists?