Luisa Capetillo (b. 1879 - 1922) was a Puerto Rican anarchist writer and activist who fought for workers’ rights, women’s rights & human emancipation.
Considered one of Puerto Rico’s first suffragists, Luisa started her own newspaper called “La Mujer” which focused on discussing women’s issues. In 1910, she became a reporter for the American Federation of Labour, travelling throughout PR educating & organizing women around labour rights. Thanks to Luisa’s efforts, her hometown of Arecibo became the most unionized area of the country (Big Lu was putting in that WORK baby!!!💪🏾)
In 1915, she collaborated with other labour activists in PR, to help pass minimum wage laws. In July of that year, Luisa was the first woman in Puerto Rico to wear pants in public. She was jailed for her ‘crime’ but the charges against were dropped.
Although raised Catholic, Luisa rejected the church as an adult, considering organized religion to be a form of prison for humans. She refused to baptize her children and referred to priests as “hypocrites”. Instead, Luisa believed that she was both an anarchist & spiritual person.
This was def one of the parts that gagged me the most when learning about Luisa, because if you know Caribbean people, there is no island that plays about Christianity and religion TODAY far less in the early 20th century. Between this and the pants wearing, I know Ms Capetillo was a PROBLEM back in the day lol.
Shoutout to Luisa for staying true to herself & her beliefs above all, being an absolute badass and improving conditions for women in her homeland! 🇵🇷
