Kathy Sosa - Revolutionary Women of Texas and Mexico

Portraits of Soldaderas, Saints, and Subversives

Edited by

KATHY SOSA,

ELLEN RIOJAS CLARK,

and JENNIFER SPEED

Foreword by

DOLORES HUERTA

Afterword by

NORMA ELIA CANT

Illustrations by

KATHY SOSA

and LIONEL SOSA

MAVERICK BOOKS
TRINITY UNIVERSITY PRESS

San Antonio, Texas

Published by Maverick Books, an imprint of

Trinity University Press

San Antonio, Texas 78212

Copyright 2020 by Kathy Sosa, Ellen Riojas Clark, and Jennifer Speed

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the publisher.

Book design by BookMatters, Berkeley

Cover design by Erin Mayes

Cover illustration by Kathy Sosa

ISBN 978-1-59534-925-5 paperback

ISBN 978-1-59534-940-8 hardcover

ISBN 978-1-59534-926-2 ebook

Printed in Canada

Trinity University Press strives to produce its books using methods and materials in an environmentally sensitive manner. We favor working with manufacturers that practice sustainable management of all natural resources, produce paper using recycled stock, and manage forests with the best possible practices for people, biodiversity, and sustainability. The press is a member of the Green Press Initiative, a nonprofit program dedicated to supporting publishers in their efforts to reduce their impacts on endangered forests, climate change, and forest-dependent communities.

The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of the American National Standard for Information SciencesPermanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI 39.48-1992.

CIP data on file at the Library of Congress

24 23 22 21 20 | 5 4 3 2 1

For all of the revolutionary women in our lives

Reflections on Revolutionary Women

DOLORES HUERTA

WHO IS A REVOLUTIONARY WOMAN? A REVOLUTIONARY WOMAN WANTS change, not mere cosmetic change but change to the status quo, and she is willing to sacrifice to make this happen. We have some extraordinary examples: Sojourner Truth, Las Adelitas, Frida Kahlo, Sor Juana Ins de la Cruz, Dorothy Day, Malala Yousafzai, Coretta Scott King, and others. The stories of revolutionary women need to be heard because they are inspiring and because they are courageous. By telling these stories, we encourage women not to be held back by their own inhibition, their own self-doubt, their own belief that they lack the capacity to be revolutionary women. We need to offer these examples of women who made huge sacrifices so that others can say, I can do something, too.

Historically, stories of revolutionary women have been minimized or even left untold. Womens accomplishments have often been diminished, or men have usurped their accomplishments and claimed them as their own. If we dont highlight these stories, we all lose. These women will be lost to history, and their good works will go unknown. Everyone, but especially women, needs to have knowledge of these stories.

I was fortunate to have women in my life who were revolutionary and put a light in front of my path. My mother had the courage to divorce her husband during the Great Depression and bring us to California from New Mexico. She worked two jobs and saved enough money to start her own business. She was ahead of her time, and she was always pushing me out of my comfort zone. My Girl Scout leader, Katherine Kemp, made it a point to recruit young women of color. Both Eleanor Smeal, who is head of the Feminist Majority, and Gloria Steinem inspired me. I drew strength from Rebecca Flores, who led farmworkers in organizing for better pay and working conditions in Texas in the 1960s. Women like Rebecca are rocks. She and others were so strong, and willing to go to jail, and take their children with them to the picket lineand still do everything that was expected of them at home. They are all remarkable women.

I firmly believe that young women today can be revolutionary women. They are brave, and they are marching, and they know about womens rights and reproductive rights. In many communities, and in colleges and high schools, Latina women are really at the front lineand they are on fire. They get angry about situations that exist, and they become activists. We get frustrated because we do not always know how to change things, but then we find there is a way, and we can learn how to organize. When we use the tools weve learned, we can make a difference.

There are many tools at our disposal. We can bring about change through labor unions, even if they are under attack these days and women have a hard time even getting to the stage. We have devices and platforms for grassroots organizing that we didnt have in the past, like social media. We can educate and mobilize people quickly with our computers and cell phones. Sometimes women think that they do not have the capacity to do something, and they understandably do not want to be criticized or threatened. Organizing is about trying to get people to lose their fear so they know that they have power, and letting them know they dont have to go it alonethey can form a group and then a movement. And then they can bring about change.

When I speak to young women I try to remind them that we will never have peace in the world until women take power. But it is going to take all of us working together, standing up together. Women have been taught to be dependent on men, to wait for Prince Charming to save them. They are told not to get their dresses dirty or to wrestle with their siblings because it isnt ladylike. I want to remind women that the lioness is more ferocious than the lion. The only reason we are not as ferocious as we can be is that weve been stifled to think that we shouldnt be ferocious.

We need to protect ourselves and support ourselves. Once women realize that they have independent power, they dont let anyone subjugate or dominate them. Everyone on this earth came from the body of a woman. By owning their strength and power, women learn to fight for their dreams and overcome the obstacles others put in their way. Part of developing that power, and becoming revolutionary, means learning to accept advice that can make us stronger, even if we cant act on that advice in the moment. And women have to develop emotional fortitude. They have to become strong internally and psychologically; learning how to organize is like exercising. If your muscles get sore, you are exercising and getting stronger. If you feel butterflies in your stomach, those feelings shouldnt tell you to stop, because its okay to be nervous. You keep on going, because the more we engage, the more we can offer and the stronger we become.