I have just discovered the most amazing shero! Molly Mendoza's Jovita Wore Pants: The Story of a Mexican Freedom Fighter tells the story of the bravest people I've ever read about.
Jovita was born in 1911. Although she dreamed of wearing pants, the grandmother who raised her insisted that she wear the bulky, cumbersome long skirts of her time and place. But when her grandmother wasn't looking she tucked her skirt into her bloomers and roamed freely with her older brother.
As Jovita was growing from nina to señorita a revolution was brewing. Her father and two brothers joined the Cristeros who were fighting against the Federation. Even though she longed to fight for freedom she was left at home with her abuela and sisters. After government soldiers burned down their home, forcing them to live in caves, her father took her with him but only to observe. He wouldn't let her fight even after her beloved brother was killed.
But after the government killed her father and her other brother, Ramon, she cut her hair, donned pants, and led a peasant army.
Jovita was Mendoza's great grandmother. Her grandfather had been a Cristero with her. Her mother had grown up listening to their stories.
On a purrrsonal note, on Sunday Eugene set up and turned on the big air conditioner that can cool the whole trailer. Tobago was in cat seventh heaven. It was a real treat because electricity is so expensive.
A great big shout out goes out to Eugene and precious Tobago.
Jules Hathaway
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