Her Revolution

Here we commemorate and honor the brave Afro-Yarans who defied Spanish colonizers and threw down their chains. Led by the freedom fighter Iselda, these brave warriors took up the arms of their oppressors and fought a bloody, revolutionary battle of liberation. Their cause swept the entire island, overturning the racist slave-state hierarchy and ensuring Yara was free for all her inhabitants to enjoy.

Very little is known of Iselda - historical record cannot even verify whether this hero of Yara used her real name to stage the rebellion that freed so many. What is guaranteed is that all of Yara should stand in awe of her bravery and courage in the face of illegitimate and immoral Spanish rule.

What's in a name, really?

I didn't choose mine. No one does - their parents, they have the choice. But not here, not in this colony. They choose. They teach us this language, how we can talk and tell our stories. They own us, use us up.

My mother didn't give me my name, they did. But she told me I could always choose. She whispered it, in their language, when no one was around.

I make this choice. They don't. Hopefully others will do the same, make the choice to fight. The choice to continue on, to choose again and again.

We'll all sign these notes Iselda. One voice making a thousand choices.

It started at night.

He did not hide the sword - instead, he chose to display it in the entrance. Any slave could take it, really. It was placed there as a show of force. No one would dare steal the master's cutlass. There was only one ending for someone so bold.

It turns out he was right - he met that one end. For a decorative sword, the blade was sharp. I barely had to thrust, and then it all began. Our plans and whispers, coming true.

Across the island, we start this revolution. I am Iselda now, but my name, the one they gave me and that I choose to forget, was Em...(illegible)

We owe our freedom to her, our hero Iselda. She just keeps saying we're all free, that we're all Iselda now. We need to live and make choices for everyone who didn’t get the chance. Me, I'm going to move to the port and start making money off those Spaniards. We might be free, but that doesn't mean they don't owe us. I'm going to overcharge those monsters for every ounce of sugar and leaf of tobacco they ever try to take from this island.

- Iselda (but Oscar, really)