En Memoria del Cumpleaños de Juana Belén Gutiérrez de Mendoza: ¡Por la Tierra y Por la Raza!

Hoy, recuerdo a Juana Belén Gutiérrez de Mendoza. She wrote in her autobiography, "Nací en San Juan del Río, Durango, el nevado amanecer del día 27 de enero de 1875. Este dato debe ser importanitísimo porque lo han anotado con minuciosa escrupulosidad en los registros de la cárcel, cada vez que he estado allí.... Trans. "I was born in San Juan del Río, Durango on a snowy morning on the 27th of January of 1875. This date must hold great importance because it has been recorded with exact scrupulousness in the prison records every time I have been there...." Juana Belén spent her life writing and speaking out against the injustices suffered by her people, the indigenous people of Mexico. This is why her name was recorded in the prison books so many times...her voice threatened the status quo of those who believed it just to abuse the indigenous people for cheap labor. She also spoke out against the inequalities of women in Mexico being on the forefront of the Mexican feminist movement. She lived an extra-ordinary life by traversing the boundaries of possibilities that were socially inscribed for women in Mexico in 1900.

Leaving her beloved homeland and mountain air of Durango, she followed her instinct to start her own protest newspaper Vésper: Justicia y Libertad (Vésper means evening star) and write about the injustices she witnessed growing up among the campesinos y trabajadores mineros (farmers and miners), and which were still plaguing the poor. In am incredibly symbolic action and show of deep dedication, she traded her goat "Sancha" for printing supplies to continue her newspaper in Guanajuato. After almost being arrested in Guanajuato, she fled to Mexico City with her two children continuing her fervent fight on the liberal front of Mexico.

Her sarcastic tone of voice and relentless desire to tell the truth as she perceived it, drew her into the circle of the most influential liberal intellectuals of her time: The Magón Brothers, Juan Sarabia, Librado Rivera and others. Later, she was accused by Ricardo Flores Magón of not upholding to the liberal ideas of the nation, and in a response in her newspaper, she displayed her rhetorical astuteness. "Las palabras que como lema lleva mi periódico, no las he puesto allí como adorno: las he puesto para que normen la conducta de mi pulicación. ¿Puede Ud. decirme que hay algo injusto o antiliberal en Vésper, creo que no." The words that my newspaper holds as a motto, I have not chosen them as adornment: I have published them as a guiding framework of conduct for my newspaper. Can you tell me what is unjust or antiliberal about Vésper, I believe not." Juana Belén held presented her own thoughts and perspectives in a time when women were only to speak on domestic issues, not political issues, let alone critique and personally attack the govern and its dictator, Porfirio Díaz. Her greatest legacy though rests in that she never was swayed from her beliefs; she claimed her discursive space and did not give it up. Politicians tried to buy her silence; but she kept her honor intact and accepted no bribe. She would later fight for the cause of the Mexican Revolution under Zapata who gave her the ranking of Colonel. Later, she was to work with the famous philosopher José Vasconselos as maestra rural leading the charge to educate the indigenous people and to prove to the people of the city that they were people endowed with dignity and strength.

The end of life summed up the gratitude that Mexico had for the efforts of women in the Revolution and social betterment. Juana Belén was forced to sell her printing press and ultimately her typewriter to buy medication for her young granddaughter. Eso no es la justicia ni la libertad. That ending is neither justice nor liberty. She has left us though with an abundance of words, knowledge, and history that on this day I celebrate and remember.

¡Viva México! ¡Viva!
¡Viva la mujer independiente! ¡Viva!
¡Viva el amor y bondad para el ser humano! ¡Viva! ¡Viva!
¡Viva la memoria de Juana Belén! ¡Viva! ¡Viva!
¡Que viva la raza, la jente de la tierra, y la jente que labora por lo bien! ¡Viva! ¡Viva! ¡Viva!

Pictures:
The pictures above: first to the left is a picture of Vésper´s title featured in the newspaper La Bandera Roja, the next picture is a skyline view of Durango, Mexico from the top steps of the public library, the picture furthest to the right is a mural at the Universidad de Juarez en Durango, and the bottom picture is a Día de Los Muertos altar that commemorates those who have passed.