Iris Cabral (1906 – June 1936) was an Afro-Uruguayan feminist and labor activist.[1]

Iris Cabral
Born1905
DiedJune 1936(1936-06-00) (aged 30–31)
Uruguay
Occupation(s)Feminist and labor activist
Known forOrganized the first domestic workers' union in Uruguay

Life

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Cabral organized the first domestic workers' union in Uruguay. In the 1930s she and Clementina Silva founded the first Anti-Fascist Committee of Uruguay.[2] She and Maruja Pereyra were the "most visible, militant and outspoken" contributors to the Afro-Uruguayan paper Nuestra Raza after it was restarted in 1933. Both Cabral and Pereyra participated in the April 1936 National Congress of Women. However, Cabral died young in June 1936.[1]

Legacy

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Pereyra remembered Cabral in glowing terms:

She was an example of our youth, she gave everything to her race. Everything I said about her, about her merits, would pale by comparison with the reality. Perhaps too good for this world, she led us to a better world.[1]

In 2016 Cabral's memory was honoured by the legislature of Montevideo.[2]

References

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  1. ^ a b c Caroll Mills Young (Fall 2004). "From Voicelessness to Voice: Womanist Writers of the Black Uruguayan Press". Afro-Hispanic Review. 23 (2): 33–38.
  2. ^ a b "Iris Cabral, activista afrouruguaya". Junta Departamental de Montevideo. 12 May 2016.