This is the sixth and final profile in my Women's History Month series, Legendary Latinas, in which I highlight the lives and accomplishments of influential Latinas. You can find the other posts here. Please read the disclaimer if you have questions about my sources; otherwise, ENJOY!

This series would not feel complete without highlighting Las Mariposas, Las Hermanas Mirabal -- Patria, Minerva and María Teresa Mirabal. For Dominicans, these women represent liberty and freedom. For the rest of the world, they've become symbols of violence against women, and yet many would be hard-pressed to identify their names or their importance. The memory of these women is very dear to me, and I humbly share it with all of you in the hopes that their legacy lives on.

Patria, Dedé, Minerva, and María Teresa were born in the Dominican Republic in 1924, 1925, 1926, and 1935 respectively. The family grew up wealthy, until the Dominican dictator, Trujillo, took power. Minerva was the first of the sisters to become involved with political activities against Trujillo. There was a constant friction between Minerva and Trujillo -- he wanted to take her in as he had other girls and young women, but she refused. He went on to have her father jailed and denied her a license to practice law after she received her law degree.

Minerva became close to one of the leaders of the movement against Trujillo, Manolo. Many involved in the movement were given codenames, and it was then that Minerva was given the name La Mariposa, which means The Butterfly. María Teresa also began a relationship with another man heavily involved in the movement, Leandro. Within a few years, Minerva, María Teresa and Patria were all married to men in the movement and went on to have six children between the three of them. The sisters were each integral parts of the movement in their own right, and they became known collectively as Las Mariposas. Manolo rose as the leader of the Fourteenth of June Movement, an organized collective with the goal of removing Trujillo from power. The three sisters and their husbands were monitored and targeted by Trujillo. Maria Teresa and Minerva were imprisoned and tortured, as were all three husbands. It was not until public pressure increased that the sisters were released, though their husbands remained in prison.


Trujillo had the Mirabal sisters killed on their way home from visiting their husbands in prison. They were forced to stop on the road and beaten and strangled to death. Although the scene was staged to make it appear as if they died in an accident, the people soon learned what really happened. Because of their death, the movement against Trujillo grew stronger, and he was assassinated 6 months later.

Since their death, the Mirabal sisters have inspired poetry, literature, films, and art. The one surviving Mirabal sister, Dedé, oversees the museum honoring her sisters, Museo Hermanas Mirabal. Perhaps most notably, the United Nations designated November 25, the day of their murder, as the International Day of Violence Against Women. Most recently, a documentary was made about their lives, and another film is in production, starring Michelle Rodriguez as Minerva.


I first learned about the Mirabal sisters when I read In the Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez. I knew the novel was based on history, but it was still, after all, a novel. I started to search for information about Las Mariposas to separate fact from fiction, and it was at that point I realized how little there was out there about them, especially in English. Since then, I've tried to teach people about them whenever I get the chance. The work of these women makes me proud to call myself both a woman and Dominican.

It seems a shame to me that so many people I mention these women to have never heard of them. They sacrificed their lives, quite literally, to fight for freedom and justice in a culture of tyranny. They were not stopped by torture, imprisonment, harassment, or separation from their husbands and children or from each other. They knew the cause they were fighting for was more important than any stigma or taboo against them taking on that role.

I did also want to highlight the even lesser-known sister, Dedé. Not having been directly involved in the political movements her sisters participated in, her name is sometimes left out entirely. The people she was closest to in the world all died around her. She became the mother-figure for her sisters' children, in addition to having her own. She took up the task of repeating the story over and over again, passing down the history of the people she loved. I think her leadership should also be an example to the rest of us.

Together, the Mirabal sisters remind us that there is a lot women can accomplish on their own, but even more we can do working together.



For more about the lives of Las Mariposas, you should check out:
The Book of Latina Women: The Mirabal Sisters
Las Hermanas Mirabal, Las Mariposas (Spanish)*
Las Hermanas Mirabal (Spanish)*

*To translate these sites (not very well, I'm afraid), you can use Google Translator.

This is the fifth post in my Women's History Month series, Legendary Latinas, in which I highlight the lives and accomplishments of influential Latinas. You can find the other posts here. Please read the disclaimer if you have questions about my sources; otherwise, ENJOY!

How do I love thee, Julia Alvarez? Let me count the ways...

Some time in junior high school, I read How the García Girls Lost Their Accent and it was the first time I found somebody documenting my life and experiences as a Dominican immigrant in print. The fact that it was beautifully written didn't hurt, either. It wasn't until college that I read more of Alvarez's work and really fell in love. She's incredibly talented and makes me proud to be Dominican. She doesn't get enough attention, in my opinion, so I'm here to remedy that...

Julia Alvarez was born in New York in 1950. Her family moved to the Dominican Republic, where they lived until she was 10 when they were forced to leave due to her father's political activity. Her assimilation back in the U.S. was challenging, and she turned to writing and literature as a way to master the language and express herself. She went on to earn a Master's and teach English and Creative Writing in addition to her work as a writer. She also started a sustainable specialty coffee business with her partner, and lives with him in Vermont. She is a vegetarian and an advocate for environmental issues and sustainability.

Alvarez has written several works of fiction, non-fiction and poetry over the past 20+ years. In that time, she has received several awards and honors for individual works as well as her work as a whole, including Notable Book selections through the American Library Association, and an honorary doctorate from CUNY John Jay College.


Some of the themes in Alvarez's works are Latin American culture, language, politics and revolution. Coming from a background of machismo, it's no surprise she has also explored several aspects of womanhood, including sexuality, motherhood, gender roles, and patriarchy.

Her first novel, How the García Girls Lost Their Accent, tells the story of four sisters born in the Dominican Republic who have trouble assimilating when they move to the U.S. Obviously inspired by her own immigration, she captures the tension between the values of the old country and the new life a family must become accustomed to. She's written fiction based on historical figures in two novels: In the Time of the Butterflies and In the Name of Salome. She has also published three books of poetry, and a collection of autobiographical essays, Something to Declare.

Although the main characters in her novels have been Latinas, she aims to write for non-Latinos and to have her work accepted by men as well. Despite this, she remains a great influence on other Latin American writers, particularly those who write about the balance between the old and new worlds, immigrant culture, and Latin American life.


Reading Alvarez's novels really impacted me when I was younger. Growing up as a Dominican immigrant is hard when so few people around you truly understand what you're going through. So the characters in her novels came to life for me. They were the companions I didn't have and shared the experiences few people I knew could relate to. Her writing is influenced by real experiences, so she depicted the challenges my sisters and I were having. She understood the pressures of maintaining Dominican values, being the perfect daughter, learning English and remembering Spanish perfectly, and fitting in all at the same time.

Her books were also a way I could learn more about my culture because her fiction is actually based on historical events. Up to that point, D.R. seemed like a far-away land and it wasn't a country I was learning about in school. Trujillo's regime, the unstable political climate, the men and incredible women who fought against the tyranny and injustice -- these are all things I learned about in her novels.


So perhaps Julia Alvarez is not the best writer of the century, and maybe she hasn't won a Nobel Prize (yet), but there's no denying that she's incredibly talented. Her writing is captivating and beautiful, and the fact that she uses her talent to give voice to Latina characters is something we don't see enough. When I read her work, I see parts of myself in her writing. Fiction or non-fiction, novels or poetry, Alvarez does not go the easy route and write what the mainstream will gobble up -- instead, she chooses to highlight the lives and voices that are reflective of her own voice and so often ignored. I could only hope to be half the writer she is.



For more about Julia Alvarez's life and words, you should check out:
JuliaAlvarez.com
The Fiction of Julia Alvarez
Julia Alvarez Quotes
Interview with Julia Alvarez

This is the fourth post in my Women's History Month series, Legendary Latinas, in which I highlight the lives and accomplishments of influential Latinas. You can find the other posts here. Please read the disclaimer if you have questions about my sources; otherwise, ENJOY!

From the moment I began reading Borderlands/La Frontera: The New Mestiza, I knew I was going to love Gloria Anzaldúa. You do not need to be Chicana or even Latina to appreciate her work. It's like she could see what was in our souls. She pulled it out, examined it, played with it, and blew it back in, writing its truth in a way so very real to me. It may sound like I'm being overly dramatic, but I'm sure I'm not the only one who feels this way.

Gloria Anzaldúa was born in Texas in 1942 to a 16-year-old mother, and grew up living and working on a ranch settlement. Despite her parents not having completed a high school education, she successfully completed college and graduate school. As an adult, she was as an integral member of the community, and worked as a teacher for some time before pursuing her writing professionally.

The bulk of Anzaldúa's work was about intersectionality. Her identities as woman, Chicana/Mexican-American, lesbian, Spanish-speaker, English-speaker, spiritual person, and feminist all come together as a focal point in her works. Her goal was to show that these identities cannot be separated and instead build on each other.

Best known for being co-editor of This Bridge Called My Back: Writings of Radical Women of Color along with Cherríe Moraga, and her book Borderlands/La Frontera: The New Mestiza, Anzaldua also wrote poetry and children's literature.


This Bridge Called My Back is a volume by women of color intended to broaden the definition of feminism and the scope of feminist work. Anzaldúa came up with the idea when she was told by her professors and mentors that women's studies and Chicana lit were not realistic fields of study. She worked with Moraga to pull together the stories of women like Audre Lorde and Ana Castillo. These women had a lot to say and were finally given a platform to speak up together as a single, powerful voice representing various identities.

Anzaldúa went on to elaborate on themes she introduced with her pieces in This Bridge Called My Back with her own manifesto, Borderlands/La Frontera. The book discussed how Chicanas live their life on the borderlands -- culturally, geographically, mentally, and spiritually. She used this as a seed to develop her thoughts on intersectionality, culture, identity, and allegiance, among other things.


Borderlands is a very important book for me, and I was introduced to it when I was solidifying my feminist lens and considering the role culture played in my everyday life.

As a Dominican immigrant, there have been many times in my life where I've felt I was living different lives in different worlds. At home, I had to be quiet, demure, respectful, and could speak only in Spanish. Outside, I was somehow expected to stand up for myself, and would get put on the spot if my English was not perfect. So even though I couldn't identify with every detail Anzaldúa brought up, the idea of living on the borderlands resonated very much with me.

The thing that's particularly important about her work is that she didn't simply describe the struggles of living on the borderlands - literally or figuratively - but pushed it further. She emphasized the strength that comes from the flexibility of living in these worlds. Furthermore, she believed the flexibility, diversity, and multiple identities is what can help people relate to each other. She also expressed an honest anger that fueled her and pushed her work forward. Rather than fearing the "angry WOC" label, she met this label head on and did not diminish the importance of her feelings. She was the first person I was exposed to who presented this vision, and though she would certainly not be the last, it had a lasting impression on me.


In a world where marginalized women are often silenced, Anzaldúa was able to create space for herself as a lesbian, feminist, and Chicana living in the U.S. She did not bite her tongue or hold back, but came out full force -- in English and in Spanish. She spoke up at a time when the Latina voice was really needed, and her words will continue to ring as true in the future as they do now and did then.

Anzaldúa's work inspires me to believe in the power of my own words and my own voice. I can't think of something more I need in my life, and the lives of so many Latinas I know. May she inspire you to make your words come alive.



For more about Gloria Anzaldúa's life and words, you should check out:
Gloria Anzaldua Bio
Interview with Gloria Anzaldua
Gloria Anzaldua Quotes
Lesson Plan for Borderlands/La Frontera: The New Mestiza

This is the third post in my Women's History Month series, Legendary Latinas, in which I highlight the lives and accomplishments of influential Latinas. You can find the other posts here and here. Please read the disclaimer if you have questions about my sources, otherwise, ENJOY!

When I was growing up and had dreams of being a world-famous entertainer, I wanted to be Rita Moreno. No, not be like her, I wanted to BE HER. I so wanted to be her, in fact, that when assigning labels to this post, I almost created a new label "awesome" because I didn't know what else to give her. Yep, I'm obsessed. But really, you should be too!

Rita Moreno was born in 1931 as Rosa Dolores Alverío in Puerto Rico. She moved to the U.S. with her mother when she was five, and started pursuing entertainment only a few years later. She's been in the entertainment industry ever since, appearing in film and television, and using her talents in acting, singing, and dancing.

Moreno's greatest professional achievement is being the first (currently only) Latina to win the top four entertainment awards. She won an Oscar for West Side Story, a Grammy for The Electric Company, a Tony for The Ritz, and an Emmy for The Muppet Show (she went on to win another Emmy for The Rockford Files). This is a feat very few entertainers are able to claim, and it's great to have a Latina in that category who's so skilled in her craft.

Along with her work as an entertainer, Moreno is committed to working as an advocate for education, Latino issues, diabetes, and osteoporosis. She is also married and has a daughter.


From early on in her career, Moreno had to work through the pressures of an industry known for stereotyping, typecasting, and changing identities to conform to an image. She was initially asked to use the stage name Rosita Moreno to build up her Latina sexpot and spitfire image, and then Rita to sound more American. When she began appearing in films, she was typecast as Native American or Mexican women, often handmaidens.

Her role as Anita in West Side Story did not go completely against this image, but it finally gave Moreno a major role as a Puerto Rican woman. After winning an Oscar for the role, she thought she'd have a better range of characters to choose from for future work. When this turned out to not be the case, rather than continuing to play roles adhering to the Latina spitfire stereotype, she decided to take a break from Hollywood. She was active in theatre and television thereafter, including children's television programming.

I've always found that Rita Moreno has a charisma and presence that's quite captivating. I first saw her in West Side Story, and she pretty much made that movie, in my opinion. It wasn't long after that when I learned about her anger at having her sung voice dubbed for the role, even though she was a singer herself. This was not out of the ordinary at the time, but she did not stay silent.

Another thing that has stuck with me is her candor when speaking about the problems she encountered in the entertainment industry. She stepped out of the spotlight right when people became aware of her talent, and was honest about her decisions. She could have easily kept conforming to build up a successful film career, but she refused to play into the stereotypes any longer and instead made her own path.


There are many dreams of mine I've yet to realize, but I've come to terms with the fact that I can't be Rita Moreno. Growing up as a Latina, and an immigrant, it is inspiring to me to see another woman with a similar background be so successful. And while making progress in the entertainment industry might seem inconsequential in the big picture, it is hard to ignore her perseverance, strength and integrity.

Simply put, the so-called triple threats of today ain't got nothin' on Rita Moreno.



For more info about Rita Moreno's life and work, check out:
Rita Moreno's Work
Rita Moreno in Backstage
Rita Moreno on NPR
Rita Moreno Quotes

This is the second post in my Women's History Month series, Legendary Latinas, in which I highlight the lives and accomplishments of influential Latinas. You can find the first post here. Please read the disclaimer if you have questions about my sources, otherwise, ENJOY!

The importance of Dolores Huerta as an organizer and activist cannot be overstated. I watched a video of her speaking in college before I really knew who she was, and was blown away. I don't remember what she was speaking about, but I remember thinking "this little old woman has so much power!" Of course, I should have realized that looks can be deceiving. See for yourself...

Dolores Huerta was born in 1930 in New Mexico. Growing up, her parents divorced, but Huerta learned from her mother's work ethic and her father's dedication to serving. She was inspired to become an organizer after being a teacher to the children of farmworkers, and seeing the resources they lacked. She decided it was a better course to organize the farmworkers in order to get to the root of the problem.

Huerta has been married three times and has 11 children, as well as several grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Her dedication to La Causa (The Cause) was sometimes an obstacle in her personal life, but this seems to be something she has come to terms with. For her life's work, Huerta has received several honors, including the Puffin/Nation Prize for Creative Citizenship, and an induction into the National Women's Hall of Fame.


Huerta co-founded the National Farm Workers Association -- which would become the United Farm Workers (UFW) -- alongside César Chávez in 1962. As an organizer, Huerta led the Delano strike against grape growers in the 60s, and the boycott of grapes and lettuce in the 70s. She helped establish the pension fund and credit union for farmworkers, and lobbied successfully to repeal the bracero program (a workforce agreement between the U.S. and Mexico sometimes labeled modern-day slavery) and to pass the Agricultural Labor Relations Act. Although a proponent of non-violent organizing, she has been arrested dozens of times, and beaten and injured by police.

Her work as a labor organizer is what she's most known for, but her scope is much wider than that. Immigration, economic issues, civic engagement, feminism, gay rights... if it is unjust, if it touches her and the lives of the people she cares about, she fights for it. Her work is a great example of how intersections can work in activism, and the importance of lending one's voice to more than one cause. This is exemplified in the Dolores Huerta Foundation, which focuses not only on community organizing, but also political advocacy, leadership, and volunteerism.


Huerta's dedication to a cause bigger than herself is something we must all look up to. The notion that you cannot lose if your sacrifice helps your community is so moving. She uses her strength and power to fight the system, but is warm and empathetic to her neighbors. It's almost as if she took those students going to class without shoes or food, and carried them on her back until she could give them what they needed.

I also respect her honesty about her role as a mother. She admits that she was not the attentive housewife or the dinner-at-5, bedtime-at-8 mother, but she has no regrets. She knew she had a greater purpose in life, and instead of trying to stifle that, she tried to show her children the path she thought was right. Perhaps this is not your style of mothering, but I think she deserves respect for doing that much. As women trying to lead multiple lives as mothers, daughters, wives, activists, feminists, and neighbors, maybe we simply can't have it all be perfect, all the time. And maybe, just maybe, it's okay to admit that, do the best we can, and push forward.


Huerta's outspoken activism is something I admire immensely. But it's not just her actions that I look up to, it's her way of being. Her very essence screams to me "I will not be shut down, I will be heard! If you can't speak, I'll be your voice!" I spent a lot of time in my life keeping quiet for the sake of pleasing others, so I have the utmost respect for a woman so fearless.

And, DAMN IT, does she make me proud to be Latina! There is no other way for me to put it: it is just so damn inspiring!



For more about Huerta's life, work, and struggle, you should check out:
Dolores Huerta Foundation
Dolores Huerta in Notable Hispanic American Women
Dolores Huerta Quotes
California Museum Legacy Trails: Dolores Huerta

This is the first post in my Women's History Month series, Legendary Latinas, in which I highlight the lives and accomplishments of influential Latinas. Please read the disclaimer if you have questions about my sources, otherwise, ENJOY!

I was never the biggest fan of visual art, being more musically-inclined, but Frida Kahlo was the first exception to that. Her paintings are raw and real, and there is an honesty and vulnerability in them that I have always been drawn to. She was self-taught and perhaps that's why she wasn't afraid to pour her heart out on the canvas in a very special way. I remember being in awe of several paintings when seeing them for the first (and second, and third) time, and her depictions of reproduction, sexuality, and personal struggles are among my favorite paintings by any artist.

But I'm getting a little bit ahead of myself if you don't know who she is or don't know very much about her. Here's a cliff notes version of her bio:

Frida was born in Mexico in 1907 to a father of Hungarian/German descent, and a mother of Mexican, indigenous and Spanish descent. When she was 18, she was in an accident that left her with a number of serious injuries. She was bedridden and her father got her paints and brushes to occupy her time. She never fully recovered from the accident and had several other health problems throughout her life, but this is when she started painting seriously.

Frida married Mexican artist (and fellow Communist) Diego Rivera a few years after her accident, when he was 42 and she was 22. To say they had a tumultuous relationship would be an understatement. Diego was never faithful (even sleeping with Frida's sister), and after putting up with that for a while, Frida started having her own affairs with men and women (including Leon Trotsky). They were on again, off again, divorced and remarried, and spent a great deal of time living together, but under separate roofs.

And that's as good an intro as any because, really, her paintings are a much better biography than any words in print will ever be.


Her relationship with Diego was one that I don't think anybody will ever really understand. But, for all of their problems, they certainly couldn't seem to let each other go. Diego was the subject of many of Frida's paintings, directly or indirectly. Her ambivalence about their relationship is depicted in The Two Fridas. She painted a Frida in a Mexican dress, holding a picture of Diego that's meant to symbolize the woman he loved. The other Frida is in a European dress with her heart bleeding out, meant to represent the Frida that Diego didn't want.

But Diego was hardly her only inspiration. Reproduction and fertility, including her own troubles in these areas, made its way to the canvas a number of times. One of my favorite paintings, Flower of Life, uses a flower to symbolize sexuality and fertility. I've always loved that imagery and the power that seems to emanate from the painting. Another favorite of mine, My Birth, was Frida's attempt at illustrating her feelings on childbirth, motherhood, and her own reproductive failures. Her own miscarriage in Detroit was the subject of the graphic painting Henry Ford Hospital, which included symbols of her difficult pregnancy and miscarriage.

As I mentioned earlier, Frida's work around the themes of reproduction and sexuality are among my favorites. She is not the only artist to ever paint about these themes, but her work continues to speak to me in ways no other artist can. They're deeply personal, and obviously come from her own experiences. Yet, they're also universal, in ways a lot of her other personal works are not. You might not be able to relate to the image of her broken body, but childbirth, fertility, sexuality -- these are things that affect all of us in some way. But whether we succeed or fail in our attempts, the emotional, physical and psychological affects are certainly no less complicated. She owns this reality and her own experience, and in doing so, she pushes our buttons and makes us consider that there is beauty and tragedy in the balance of life and death.


This is all just a sliver of her life and work. I could go on about her accomplishments and other paintings for days, but I'll leave it to the biographers. What I really want to do is show why it was so easy for me to love a woman who lived with such pain (physically and emotionally), but who was still able to produce work that spoke truth to that pain and to live her life without apologies. Her status as a feminist icon should be honored for that alone.



For more about Frida's life, love, and art, you should check out:
FridaKahlo.com
Frida Kahlo Fans
The Life and Times of Frida Kahlo
Frida Kahlo Quotes

In my Women's History Month series, Legendary Latinas, I'll be writing about a number of Latinas that have been an inspiration to me in some way or another. In order to bring them some exposure and celebrate their accomplishments, I have included biographical information in addition to my own analysis and personal reflections.

This is where the disclaimer comes in...

I've been in love with all of these women for a large part of my life, so I've read quite a bit about most of them. I never expected to write anything formal down, so I'm afraid I haven't kept the greatest notes over the years in terms of detailing what book and page I got some scrap of information from. I tried to find internet sources for some of the facts, especially the ones I thought people might question, but the rest is from memory. If I was unsure of something and couldn't find verification online, I asked the people in my life who are "experts" about whichever woman I had a question on. If they confirmed my memory, I included it, and if they had no idea what I was talking about, I took it out.

All of that said, if there is something you have a question about, or have conflicting information on, please do call me out on it by leaving a comment or emailing me. I'll keep adding sources as I find them, and please send me whatever you have that you think I should add as well.