The Bus Boycott

Once upon a night, Rosa Parks, who was a black American woman living in Alabama, was tired because she spent her day working on a tailor department store. She was so exhausted that she just wanted to take a seat on the bus and to arrive soon at home. But, something happened to her.

A white man asked her for her seat on the bus but she refused to move.  When a bus became full, it was usually to give white passengers the seats in which black people were sat.

Thus, the bus driver ordered Parks and three other African Americans seated nearby to move to the back of the bus. But, Rosa Parks didn’t move and she was arrested and fined $10 for violating a city ordinance, and this dared act began a movement that ended legal segregation in America.

Rosa Parks

 

We didn't have any civil rights. It was just a matter of survival, of existing from one day to the next. I remember going to sleep as a girl hearing the Klan ride at night and hearing a lynching and being afraid the house would burn down.

Rosa Parks was born in Alabama. At the age of 11 she enrolled in the Montgomery Industrial School for Girls, a private school founded by liberal-minded women from the northern United States. The school’s philosophy was “take advantage of the opportunities, no matter how few they were”.

Therefore, the bus incident led to the formation of the Montgomery Improvement Association, led by the young pastor of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The main aim of this association was to call for a boycott of the city-owned bus company.

A Supreme Court Decision struck down the ordinance under Mrs. Parks had been fined and outlawed racial segregation on public transportation.

In 50s, Black people were discriminated because of racism. They were bad treated, they had bad conditions at work and there was segregation in schools, restaurants even in public transports such as the bus. Surprisingly, the bus accident would have positive consequences and all this situation would change. 

Webgraphy:

http://www.ushistory.org/us/54b.asp

http://www.achievement.org/autodoc/page/par0bio-1

Gabriela Mistral

Gabriela Mistral was born in Vicuña, Chile. Her early life was traumatic. She was brought up by her mother, after her father left the family when she was 3 years old. When she was 17, she met and fell in love with Romeo Ureta. However, three years later he committed suicide. More tragedy was to strike later, when a nephew also committed suicide.


Despite these tragedies, Gabriela Mistral became a great poet and an international renowned figure in literature and education. She taught elementary and secondary school for many years until her poetry made her famous. She played an important role in the educational systems of Mexico and Chile, was active in cultural committees of the League of Nations, and was Chilean consul in Naples, Madrid, and Lisbon. She taught Spanish literature in the United States at Columbia University, Middlebury College, Vassar College, and at the University of Puerto Rico.


She was the first female Latin American poet to receive the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1945. Mistral's works deal with the basic passion of love as seen in the various relationships of mother and offspring, man and woman, individual and humankind, soul and God.

                           


Moreover, Gabriela Mistral was a brave and determined who defended the rights of children, women, and the poor; the freedoms of democracy; and the need for peace in times of social, political, and ideological conflicts, not only in Latin America but in the whole world. She was a good example to people, a talented and clever woman.

With regard to her work, Mistral's writings are highly emotional. In her poems speak the abandoned woman and the jealous lover, the mother in a trance of joy and fear because of her delicate child, the teacher, the woman who tries to bring to others the comfort of compassion, the enthusiastic singer of hymns to America's natural richness, the storyteller, the mad poet possessed by the spirit of beauty and transcendence.

The love poems in memory of the dead, Sonetos de la muerte (1914), made her known throughout Latin America, but her first great collection of poems, Desolación (Despair), was not published until 1922. Her complete poetry was published in 1958.

Here we can see some of her poems: http://www.poemhunter.com/gabriela-mistral/poems/

A short documentary of Gabriela Mistral’s life: https://vimeo.com/7603796

Webgraphy:

http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/laureates/1945/mistral-bio.html
http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/gabriela-mistral
http://www.biographyonline.net/poets/gabriela_mistral.html

Native American Women

Women played a very important role in the life of the Native American. They were more than just mothers of the tribes' children. They were builders, warriors, farmers and craftswomen. 

The men knew that women were the source of life and provided a feeling of stregth and consistency to their lives.

The Clan Mother chosen the chiefs

The women had several roles, but probably the most important role of them was having children to ensure the future of their tribes. Each of the long houses they lived in were generally occupied one clan, with the eldest or most respected woman of the clan ruling it as Clan Mother.

It was also women who decided which men should be speakers, although the Tribal Coundil was dominated by male speakers.

Women occasionally even fought in battles beside the men -"War women" - and all the people respected them for their bravery.

By the 1800s the majority of the Native American tribes had lost their independence and had become dominated by white Americans. At this time white Americans did not believe that it was proper for women to fight wars, vote, speak in public, work outside the home, or even control their own children. The Native Americans began to imitate whites, and native American women lost much of their power and prestige.

Webgraphy:

http://www.indians.org/articles/native-american-women.html

http://tribaldirectory.com/information/native-american-women.html

http://www.learnnc.org/lp/editions/nchist-sampler/1882

http://h2g2.com/edited_entry/A890552

http://cantonasylumforinsaneindians.com/history_blog/tag/native-american-gender-roles/

Eva Perón: her social labour moved her whole life.

 Eva Perón was an Hispanic and very notable woman in the 20th century. She was the second wife of Juan Domingo Perón, the President of Argentina. She moved to Buenos Aires when she was 15, and some years later she succeeded in becoming an important actress and politician.

But, why is she such an important woman even nowadays? Because she achieved the political equality between men and women. In addition, she fought for the social and labour rights and worked very hard to improve the lives of the poorest. Her determination, strength, wisdom and courage made her become a legend in Argentina by gaining the favour of many people.

Eva Perón, nowadays, is still a notable example for many women all over the world but also for all those who fought and are still fighting for the equality, the justice and a better future. The advances that she obtained for her determination show that impossible is nothing. Therefore, she makes us wonder if we could, somehow, contribute to a real equality among men and women.
Althouhg this equality is said to be real, it is not in many cases. Eva Perón fought for it, what about us?

Undoubtedly, analysing this woman's life and deeds will help us to realize that it is actually possible to change the world, little by little.

Here, we can see a summary of Eva Perón's life: Eva Perón

Webgraphy:
http://www.notablebiographies.com/Pe-Pu/Per-n-Eva.html

http://www.history.co.uk/biographies/evita

http://www.biographyonline.net/politicians/american/eva-peron.html

Frida Kahlo.

Frida Kahlo was considered one of Mexico's greatest artists.

At the age of 15 years enrolled at the National Preparatory School. She was one of the few women students to attend the school.

Self-portrait in a Velvet Dress

While at school, Kahlo spent her time with  a group of political and intellectualy students. She became romantically involved with one of them. When they were traveling together on a bus, they unfortunately had an accident. As a consequence of that, Kahlo suffered several serious injuries.

After the accident, she began painting during her recovery and finished her first self-portrait the following year.

Henry Ford Hospital

In 1932, Kahlo incorporated more graphic and surrealistic elements in her work. In her painting, Henry Ford Hospital, a naked Kahlo appears on a hospital bed with several items: a fetus, a snail, a flower, a pelvis and others. As with her earlier self-portraits, the work was deeply personal, telling the story of her second miscarriage.

While she never considered herself a Surrealist, Kahlo befriended one of the primary figures in that artistic and literary movement, Andre Breton, in 1938. That same year, she had a major exhibition at a New York City gallery, selling half of the 25 paintings shown there.

In 1939, she went to live in Paris for a time where she exhibited some of her paintings and developed friendships such artists as Marcel Duchamp and Pablo Picasso. During this time, she painted one of her most famous works, The Two Fridas. The paintings shows two versions of the artist sitting side by side, with both of their hearts exposed. These figures are believed to represent "unloved" and "loved" versions of Kahlo.

The two Fridas

After being diagnosed with gangrene in her right food, Kahlo spent nine months in the hospital . She continued to paint and support political causes despite having limited mobility. In 1953, Kahlo received her first solo exhibition in Mexico. She arrived by ambulance and remained in the event from the comfort of a four-poster bed set up in the gallery just for her.

After her 47th birthday, Kahlo died on July 13 at her beloved Blue House (the house were she was born).

Since her death, Kahlo's fame as an artist has only grown. Her beloved Blue House was opened as a museum. The feminist movement of the 1970s led to renewed interest in her life and work, as Kahlo was viewed by many as an icon of female creativity.

Here a video about a short biography of the artist.  Video

Webgraphy: http://www.biography.com/people/frida-kahlo-9359496

Women's rights

Women had many moral obligations and duties at home, in church and in community; whereas they had few political and legal rights in the government. However, by the 1830s and 40s, the climate began to change thanks to many supporters who defended social reforms of prostitution, capital punishment, prisons, war alcohol and, the most important; slavery.

There were many activists who began to mobilize people for the abolitionist movement as a way of calling attention to all human rights. Two important Southern sisters, Angelina and Sarah Grimke, called for women to participate in freedom and free education of slaves.

Around 1840 the abolitionist movement was split over the acceptance of female speakers and officers. But in 1848 Elizabeth Stanton organized the first convention for women's rights in New York. The convention demanded improved laws regarding child custody, divorce and property rights.

They argued that women deserved equal salaries and career opportunities in law, medicine, education and the ministry. And the most important amond demands was suffrage; the right to vote.

As with the Civil War, the women's rights were established in the Declaration of Independence, claiming that "all men are created equal". Sarah Grimke wrote in 1837 that "men and women were created equal...whatever is right for men to do is right for women".

Webgraphy: http://www.ushistory.org/us/26c.asp

María de las Mercedes Barbudo and Sarah Goddard

To begin with, we found an important Hispanic woman during the 18^th Century whose purpose was to change little by little her small world. Her name was María de las Mercedes Barbudo, who was a political activist from Puerto Rico and joined forces with the Venezuelan government to lead an insurrection against Spanish Empire. Before this, she became an important businesswoman thanks to her store dedicated to the sale of buttons, threads and cloth. Because of this she had commercial dealings with important businessmen in connection with a company (Compañía de Asiento de Negros) which regulated the slave trade in the island.

She had such a liberal mind she often met intellectuals in her own house to talk about political issues, social and economic situations, and to propose solutions to the problems involving Puerto Rico and the Spanish Empire in general.

As a result, she was imprisoned in a house for women accused of crimes. She escaped thanks to the revolutionary factions which were operating in Cuba. After that, she moved to Venezuela, where she died in 1849.

But in the English colonies, there were also many notable women. One of them is Sarah Goddard, a printer who was born at Rhode Island in 1701. Her education included not only the subjects usual to the day but also French and Latin. She was married to a member of the Church of England, and they had four children, but only two of them lived to adulthood, who were educated by herself. 

Their son, William, started Providence's first printing shop and newspaper with his daughter, thanks to his mother's money. As he had to move temporarily to New York to find more subscribers, Sarah became the second printer in the shop by supervising it while her son was out. After a few years, they sold the shop and Sarah joined her son in Philadelphia, where they started the Pennsylvania Chronicle, and where she finally died at the age of 69.

Between these two women, we find some differences. On the one hand, the one did not get married as the other. On the other hand, the one was a political activist whereas the other was a printer. But they had something in common, too: they wanted, each one in their own way, to change their world. The one did it by joining forces with Venezuela against the Spanish Empire, and the other by helping her son to become a newspaper's printer, which would be very important for the people to be informed at that time.

Webgraphy:

- Eileen K. Cheng, Ph.D; and Joanne L. Good Win , Ph.D (2015). Encyclopedia of Women in American History, vol. I-III (page 111). London and New York: Routledge. Weblink: Encyclopedia of Women in American History
- María de las Mercedes Barbudo 
- Raquel Rosario: Barbudo
- Tony "the Marine" Santiago: María de las Mercedes Barbudo.