Issue link: http://educator.cta.org/i/1380872
Tiburcio Vásquez was a "social bandit," which means he was considered an outlaw by the law, and a hero to the populace. He was a kind of Robin Hood. He was born in Monterey, California, in 1835. He was highly educated and spoke fluent English and Spanish. He wrote letters with beautiful penmanship in both languages when California was becom- ing more Anglo-dominated. The Gold Rush was a very unsettling time for Chicanos because they were marginalized and criminal- ized, which continues today. He was at a party with many Californios and Anglos when a fight broke out. A sheriff came in to break up the fight and was killed. Tiburcio didn't shoot the sheriff, but he was a suspect. He fled to the foothills and became a fugitive. He stole horses and robbed stagecoaches to survive. Mexican families in California offered him fresh horses, and he Mary Ann Shadd Cary was an educator, abolitionist, editor, attorney and feminist. She was born a free woman in 1823 in the slave state of Delaware and made incredible sacrifices for the freedom of others before her death in 1893. She helped fugitive slaves escape to Can- ada with the Underground Railroad. After the passage of the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, her family moved to Canada. She returned to the U.S. during the Civil War and recruited Black soldiers for the Union. Cary broke barriers with many firsts. She was acclaimed as the first Black woman on the American continent to establish and edit a weekly newspaper. She became the first woman student at Howard University Law School and the second African American to earn a law degree. She was the first Black NICOLE CICCARELLI T E A C H E R , L A K E I N T E R M E D I A T E S C H O O L Garden Grove Education Association OCTAVIO BARAJAS A S S O C I A T E P R O F E S S O R O F E T H N I C S T U D I E S College of the Sequoias Teachers Association woman to vote in a national election. She joined the National Woman Suffrage Association (NWSA), working alongside Susan B. Anthony, testifying before the Judiciary Committee of the House of Rep- resentatives. She spoke at the 1878 NWSA convention. I believe that students should learn about Cary so they can truly see how much a woman of color helped with the women's suf- frage movement and other social movements. It's important to educate our students about her strength and courage to inspire them to follow her activism. It shows how they can make a difference, too. would give them a bag of gold coins. When he was arrested and hung on March 19, 1875, it was a sad day for Mexicans in California. Studying this man humanizes the conflicts during this period and provides students with a fuller understanding of what Mexicans expe- rienced during the early days of California. My students identify with this story. It shows how institutional racism operated then — and helps provide understanding of how the crim- inalization and stereotypes of the Chicano population continue to this day. 19 J U N E / J U L Y 2 0 21 "It's important to educate students about her strength and courage to inspire them to follow her activism." Nicole Ciccarelli "Studying this man humanizes the conflicts during this period. My students identify with this story." Tiburcio Vásquez