It's just after midday on June 17, 1970 in Manhattan, New York.

22-year-old Miguel Mickey Melendez maneuvers a large truck through the busy streets.

He's never driven something this big before.

The truck belongs to the New York City Health Department,

and Mickey has not been given permission to drive it,

but he's not worried about that right now.

Mickey is a member of the Young Lords Party,

a group of radical civil rights activists.

Mickey and his mostly Puerto Rican comrades

believe there is a tuberculosis epidemic underway in their community, but no one's doing anything to stop it.

So today, Mickey and the Young Lords have hijacked the City Health Department's mobile X-ray truck and brought it to their headquarters.

Mickey nears the corner of Madison Avenue and 111st Street.

Waiting for him there is a crowd of nearly 200 people.

They clap and cheer Mickey's arrival as he brings the vehicle to a jerking stop.

And with the truck to safely park, Mickey opens the driver's door and climbs out.

He smiles at some of the faces he recognizes in the crowd as he rams the vehicle.

Then he opens up the back of the truck to reveal an x-ray machine and two very confused technicians.

Mickey helps them out and introduces them to the crowd.

Mickey asks for the technician's help to x-ray every member of the public waiting here today.

Sharing a look with his colleague, the first technician nods.

An elderly woman from the neighborhood is the first to step forward,

and Mickey invites her into the truck as the technicians switch on their machine to get to work.

...