I proudly invite you to attend the street co-naming ceremony to honor the legacy of the Mirabal sisters.
They stand as inspirational and visionary activists for social and political justice and role models to generations of women since their untimely death in 1960 at the hands of the Dominican tyrant Trujillo. The southeast corner of 168th St. and Amsterdam Avenue will be co-named Mirabal Sisters Way.
Patria
(born in 1924), Minerva (b. 1926) and Maria Teresa (b. 1935) Mirabal were sisters and members of the anti-Trujillo underground movement that helped distribute information about Trujillo's abuses and who organized an armed rebellion against the despot. They helped form the pivotal resistance group "Movement of the Fourteenth of June" in an attempt to overthrow Trujillo.
At the time, the Dominican Republic was under the cruel dictatorship of Trujillo, who ruled during the 1950's. He used his secret police to subjugate the nation and keep the people under his rule. He directly controlled the country's vital communication network, including radio, mail, press, airlines and the passport offices. Those who spoke out against him were often, killed.
The sisters called themselves Las Mariposas (The Butterflies), as their underground name to wage resistance against the dictator. After a failed assassination attempt against Trujillo was exposed in 1960, he ordered the sisters killed. Their deaths served as a catalyst to Trujillo's assassination by military leaders six months later.
Since their deaths, the Mirabal sisters have been commemorated in songs, books, poems, documentaries, and on the big screen. Throughout Latin America, the Mirabal sisters are regarded as feminist and freedom fighter icons, and the anniversary of their death is commemorated each year as the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. There is a Mirabal Sisters Cultural and Community Center at 142nd Street in Manhattan.
Please join me in honoring their memory for generations to come.
Sincerely,
Ydanis Rodriguez
NYC Council Member
Washington Heights, Inwood, Marble Hill
Details:
Sunday, 02/10
2pm to 3pm
Location
Southeast corner of 168th St. and Amsterdam Avenue
New York, NY 10032
Organized by
The Council of the City of New York
