Maya Angelou & the Civil Rights Movement 1955-1968

Learner L. is doing her final project on the artist as political activist where she is specifically wishing to communicate with Women In Political Movements bloggers who were politically influenced by the artistic creations of poet Maya Angelou during/beyond the Civil Rights Movement between 1955-1968.

Mina Perry & the Life Journey of Antonia Pantoja

Stace . A is considering doing her final Women in Political Movements course project on Mina Perry ( if she is able to obtain enough information) . Ms. Perry supported the work of Puerto Rican political leader Antonia Pantoja. If you have any information please post here. Thank you.

THE MILITANT
Vol. 74/No. 6 February 15, 2010

Women's role in Cubas 1956-58 revolutionary war
(Books of the Month column)

Printed below is an excerpt from Marianas in Combat: Teté Puebla and the Mariana Grajales Women’s Platoon in Cuba’s Revolutionary War 1956-58, one of Pathfinder’s Books of the Month for February. Brig. Gen. Teté Puebla, the highest-ranking woman in Cuba’s Revolutionary Armed Forces, joined the struggle to overthrow the U.S.-backed dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista in 1956, when she was 15 years old. She describes her participation in the formation of the Rebel Army’s first all-women’s platoon and how the fight to transform the social and economic status of women is inseparable from Cuba’s socialist revolution. Mary-Alice Waters, who interviewed Puebla, is president of Pathfinder Press. Copyright © 2003 by Pathfinder Press. Reprinted by permission.
Waters: The founding of the Mariana Grajales Women’s Platoon marked a milestone in the Cuban Revolution. It demonstrated in practice the social course a victorious Rebel Army would fight for. As Karl Marx put it, you can judge any society by the status of women.
What led to the unit’s formation?
Puebla: In May 1958, as the dictatorship’s military offensive began, the army stepped up its repression against the population of the Sierra Maestra. Wherever the army went, women were raped, children were killed, entire villages were bombed and burned down. Peasants had to leave the Sierra. Sánchez Mosquera was one of the most infamous of Batista’s commanders, but there were others.
They would announce they’d killed a lot of Rebel Army soldiers. But that wasn’t true; the people killed were peasants. They were dragged out of their huts at gunpoint. They used to tie the men to poles while raping the women. Then they’d kill everyone. Whole families would be wiped out.
They were bombing villages, too. One of these was Cayo Espino, which was of no military value. Our commander [Fidel Castro] has spoken about this, but for those of us who were there these crimes affected us deeply, they outraged everybody.
There was a five-year-old boy named Orestes Gutiérrez in Cayo Espino. His legs were blown off by one of the bombs, and other members of his family were wounded. Everyone in the Sierra knew the story of this little boy, who told his grandmother, holding her hand: “Grandmother, I won’t be able to love you anymore because I’m going to die.” His grandfather died too. His two sisters were wounded, but they are alive today thanks to the Rebel Army doctors who gave them immediate attention. And the bombing was done in an area where there were no rebel troops.
Throughout the region of Oro de Guisa, peasant houses were set afire. The peasants who fled the flames were seized, and then raped or killed. All these crimes filled us with courage and determination. Even though we were doing many essential things, we felt frustrated that we could not fight arms in hand. “They’ve got to let us fight,” we said.
We had already proved that women could do just about everything. We withstood the bombings, delivered weapons, and were in the places where fighting was taking place. But we were still not allowed to fight.
“If women have to take part in all the duties of the revolution,” we said, “why can’t we fight for the revolution in the same way as our men fight?”
After the army’s offensive had been defeated, we asked our commander in chief to allow us to fight arms in hand. He agreed. Fidel said yes, women had won the right to fight with a rifle face to face with the enemy.
On September 4, 1958, a meeting took place, a sort of roundtable. Fidel assembled his general staff at the time, those who were left in the Sierra Maestra. The invasion troops—Columns 2 and 8 under the command of Camilo Cienfuegos and Ernesto Che Guevara—had already left. And a Second and a Third Front had already been established in Oriente.
There was a discussion at this roundtable meeting that lasted more than seven hours. Fidel had a very big argument there. There were still not enough weapons for everyone, and the men were saying, “How can we give rifles to women when there are so many men who are unarmed?”
Fidel answered: “Because they’re better soldiers than you are. They’re more disciplined.”
“In any event,” he said, “I’m going to put together the squad, and I’m going to teach them how to shoot.”
So on September 4, the Mariana Grajales Women’s Platoon was formed. As I explained, Isabel Rielo became the commanding officer. I was named second in command. The squad came to have thirteen combatants in it. The commander in chief chose the name as a tribute to Mariana Grajales, a heroine of our war of independence and the mother of Antonio Maceo, the legendary general who fought heroically in Cuba’s wars of independence for over thirty years.
Fidel was the one who taught us to shoot. We had to hit a quarter—or a 20-centavo coin—20 to 30 meters away, depending on how he wanted to test our aim. And he drilled us. We had to split that coin.
In fact, Isabel Rielo was named the commanding officer as a result of target practice. Because she was a better shot than I was. Fidel had said that whoever was the best shot would be named head of the platoon.
It was decided that the M-1 was to be our weapon, because it was lighter. Fidel ordered that everyone in our squad be supplied with that rifle. Nevertheless he didn’t drill us with the M-1; he made us practice with the Garand and other, heavier guns. He’d say that the M-1 was easier to use, but that we needed to be able to fire any kind of rifle. Once we had learned to shoot, the last thing we practiced with was the M-1.
Then Fidel informed us: “You’re now going to be my personal security detail.”

Bolivian Women Spearhead Morales Revolution

By Andres Schipani BBC News, La Paz

In the early 19th Century, Bolivian women fought alongside men for the country's independence from colonial Spain. They stormed into battle on horseback, seized cities and were on the frontline.

But their presence on the battlefield did not translate into presence in the political life of their nation. For many, their education, job opportunities and political rights were limited - until now.

Justice Minister Copa started her political career as a trade unionist

"For a long time, we women have been excluded - it was one of the dark legacies of the colonial model," the recently appointed Justice Minister, Nilda Copa, told the BBC at her office.

"I remember my mother didn't know how to read and write, neither did my grandmother... not because they didn't want to learn," Ms Copa says.

Ms Copa joined a trade union very young, when she was only 16, because she felt a drastic change was needed and that was the only platform where women "had some voice".

And that change seems to have arrived. Today, posters proclaiming the slogans of female Bolivian heroes such as indigenous rebel Bartolina Sisa and independence icon Juana Azurduy plaster the walls of several ministries.

That shows the fervour felt in the Bolivia of President Evo Morales, who seems to be changing things not only for the country's indigenous majority, but also for its women.

Half of Mr Morales's new cabinet is made up of women

Today women are involved in running the country as never before. Mr Morales began his second mandate last month with a cabinet reshuffle that complies with the gender parity stated in the new constitution he pushed for.

Now the new cabinet has 10 men and 10 women, three of them indigenous.

"There used to be a lot of racism and machismo. There is still some, but now that structure is changing thanks to brother Evo Morales," Ms Copa says.

"Today, for example, there are no illiterate women, but women with enough capacity to develop activities at the same level as men. But the fight has been harsh and long."

Her voice trails off and she focuses on a picture of her and Mr Morales from the times when she was a member of the assembly that wrote Bolivia's new constitution.

Homage

For Mr Morales, achieving gender parity in the cabinet was a long-held aim.

"One of my dreams has come true - half the cabinet seats are held by women," Mr Morales said recently. "This is a homage to my mother, my sister and my daughter."

Mr Morales said that since his early days as a leader of the coca trade union, he had always worked towards getting women into decision-making posts based on the chacha warmi, a concept that in the local Aymara indigenous culture means that men and women are complementary in an egalitarian way.

But another sign that women's political influence is on the rise is the fact that they now occupy an unprecedented 30% of seats in Bolivia's new legislative branch.

One of them is Gabriela Montano, a senator who represents the eastern city of Santa Cruz - Bolivia's opposition heartland - on behalf of Mr Morales's party, the Movement Towards Socialism (MAS).

"This is the fruit of the women's fight: the tangible proofs of this new state, of this new Bolivia are the increasing participation of the indigenous peoples and the increasing participation of women in the decision-making process of this country," Ms Montano told the BBC.

Ms Montano was the subject of several physical attacks during her stint as the government's envoy to Santa Cruz, and last year she was kept at a secret location as a safety precaution after she was threatened by opposition groups.

"The awakening of women has been brewing for a while. Women have been a key element in the consolidation of this process of change led by President Morales, from the rallies, the protests, the fights. Now, they will be a key element in affairs of national interest," Ms Montano says.

However, while change for women is under way, for some there is still a long way to go until full equality is achieved.

"Not long ago, 10 years ago, nobody talked about women in power in this country, that was unimaginable," explains Katia Uriona, of the women's advocacy group Coordinadora de la Mujer.

"And even if I applaud all of these victories, I am aware this is not enough. Now we have to see if all of this is translated into something concrete that will truly change the gender face of this country."

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