Hispanic Heritage Month: History Makers Series: Rigoberta Menchú Tum

I am excited to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month! As the first Latina council member in Baltimore City, I want to take this month to honor the trailblazers who came before me, and share their stories. Please join us each week as we take the time to learn about history makers within our community. This week we will be highlighting Rigoberta Menchú Tum.

Rigoberta Menchú Tum is a Mayan activist and author who was born in Guatemala in 1959. In her youth, Menchú Tum helped her family, who worked as farmers, and began organizing through local women’s rights groups in her community. Witnessing and also experiencing discrimination, the impact of poverty, and the effect of the civil war on Indigenous people in Guatemala led Menchú to join mobilization efforts for indigenous rights. Menchú's father was also an activist, and was a member of the Committee of the Peasant Union. After losing her father, mother, and brother to state sanctioned violence Menchú Tum fled to Mexico in 1981, and continued to speak out against the injustices committed against indigenous people. In 1983, Menchú wrote her first autobiography titled I, Rigoberta Menchú where she spoke about the violence her family faced, her Mayan heritage, and how she incorporated feminism within her activism to advocate for social change in Guatemala. Menchú's autobiography was translated and read worldwide, and it led to her being the first indigenous person to win the Nobel Peace Prize in 1992. With the money she received from winning the Nobel Peace Prize, she established the Rigoberta Menchú Tum Foundation which provided education, access to healthcare, and legal support for indigenous people who are survivors of violence. Menchú continues to be an advocate for indigenous rights, political representation, and economic justice in Guatemala today. Her bravery, strength, and commitment to highlighting the issues impacting indigenous people in Latin America, make her a trailblazer. I am inspired by her story and she represents how powerful women are when we use our voice to stand up for what is right. You can read more about Rigoberta Menchú here.