User:GingerMadison/Feminism in Latin America

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Josefina Fierro de Bright was an activist in the Latin American Community. In 1972 she was a vital part of the Citizens Committee for the defense of Mexican American Youth which later was known as Sleepy Lagoon Defense committee. The committee was formed after the murder at Sleepy Lagoon with the intention that the Mexican American defendants on trial would receive justice under the Constitutions and without Josefina Fierro de Bright it would not have been possible. She owned and invested in several businesses that lead into a vast network of powerful prominent people including bankers and financial institutions. When funding was needed to defend the Mexican American defendants during the Sleepy Lagoon trial Josefina Fierro de Bright would use her various connections to obtain the funds. Josefina Fierro de Bright was also an activist for labor rights and for was a secretary for National Congress of Spanish Speaking Peoples. The committee examined minority labor groups that endured unfair conditions and were prohibited from joining labor unions during the Great depression. She was the executive secretary for El Congreso for a short period of time and was known for the protests that she held for discrimination. These protests help develop awareness of the multiple types of discrimination that Latina women were experiencing within the labor force. Luisa Moreno was a social activist that fought for equality for women. She was from Guatemala and was previously known as Blanca Rosa Rodriguez Lopez, however, to disguise her wealthy upbringing she changed her name when she immigrated to the United States. Luisa Moreno first began her activism in America as a trade union organizer. She was able to obtain contract coverings for 13,000 cigar workers. This ability aided Luisa Moreno's journey to being the first female vice presidents of the United Cannery, Agricultural, Packing, and Allied Workers of America (UCAPAWA). Luisa Moreno was able to advocate for feminism in the workplace which led to maternity leave, child care and equal pay. Luisa Moreno was the first person to initiate the first U.S. pan-Latino civil rights conference and was pivotal in El Congreso as an accomplished union organizer where her leadership helped network a national assembly. Luisa Moreno was additionally recognized for her advocacy of education across class. She felt education was the way to emancipate women form ignorance and feminism would aid women in being mindful of their surroundings.

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One of the most notable Latina suffragists is Adelina Otero-Warren from the state of New Mexico. Ortero-Warren was a prominent local organizer for the Congressional Union for Woman Suffrage organized by Alice Paul. She was chosen by Paul to organize suffragists on behalf of the Congressional Union in 1917.

Other prominent Latina Suffragists include:


 * Josefina Fierro de Bright
 * Luisa Moreno
 * Maria Amparo Ruiz de Burton
 * Maria Guadalupe Evangelina de Lopez, President of the College Equal Suffrage League.

Maria G.E. de Lopez was president of this league when women won the right to vote in California in 1911. Maria G.E. de Lopez, a high school teacher, was the first person in the state of California to give speeches in support of women's suffrage in Spanish.