Welcome to Sanctimonious Sunday, a collaborative series published by members of the following groups: The Amateur Left, Team DFH and Frustrati. Feel free to get your sanctimonious on. It's welcome here.
Friends, today's host, angel d, thanks you for joining us this Sanctimonious Sunday. I had a whole 'nother idea in mind for today's diary, but it was a topic too broad, too wide, the depth and breadth of which scared me out of posting it without more intensive study and reflection. So instead, I bring you this hastily written, but nonetheless very compelling story of Emma Tenayuca. Various of her biographies can be found throughout the net, and at the end of this diary, I leave you some links if you wish to learn more about this amazing Latina.
"I was arrested a number of times, I never thought in terms of fear, I thought in terms of justice." - Emma Tenayuca, 1916-1999.
In 1999 at the time of Emma's death, I had never heard of Emma Tenayuca. I was a new mom, my son was a year and a half old, and I was still reeling from the culture shock I experienced from my recent few months spent in Pakistan the year before. I was struggling with this new life and in my precious spare moments, I read "The New Yorker" and watched "Millennium" and "Seinfeld" reruns on the television. I really didn't have the emotional energy to engage in much else beside my son. Nevertheless, 1999 was the year the world lost a tenacious, bodacious, audacious, sanctimonious Latina of epic stature. I regret that I had not known of her before, I regret that I could not celebrate her accomplishments during her lifetime, and I regret that over a decade passed before I even knew who she was.
But now I do know who she was, and if you follow me past the squiggle, let me share with you. So gather 'round, brothers and sisters, hop that orange squiggle with me, sit down, make a circle, draw near and hear the tale of "La Pasionaria."