WEBVTT - The Mirabal Sisters: For Freedom 0:00:01.200 --> 0:00:03.960 Just a quick content warning before we start the show. 0:00:04.480 --> 0:00:08.119 There is talk of sexual abuse, gender based violence, and 0:00:08.280 --> 0:00:11.760 massacre in this episode, So if there are young ones around, 0:00:11.800 --> 0:00:13.760 or if that's something that you don't want to hear, 0:00:14.880 --> 0:00:20.040 please be aware of that. Something I think about, probably 0:00:20.440 --> 0:00:23.239 entirely too often, is the role that faith plays in 0:00:23.320 --> 0:00:27.200 my daily life. If you just rolled your eyes, know 0:00:27.320 --> 0:00:30.360 that I don't mean this sentimentally. I mean a more 0:00:30.400 --> 0:00:33.920 practical faith, you know, the kind that gives me confidence 0:00:33.960 --> 0:00:36.800 to walk out into this world full of natural disaster 0:00:36.920 --> 0:00:40.360 and human apathy, The one that keeps me from refusing 0:00:40.440 --> 0:00:43.360 to ever take risks, and that doesn't let my anxiety 0:00:43.400 --> 0:00:46.519 take over every time it wants to the trust that 0:00:46.640 --> 0:00:48.800 I have every time I hop behind the will of 0:00:48.840 --> 0:00:51.720 my car or in the passenger seat of someone else's. 0:00:52.840 --> 0:00:55.440 Maybe that word doesn't seem like it fits into a 0:00:55.480 --> 0:01:01.279 conversation about people who challenge norms thought unconventionally, analyze problems 0:01:01.280 --> 0:01:05.080 and found solutions, or lead revolutions with strategy and common sense. 0:01:05.720 --> 0:01:10.959 The word faith is bedfellows with terms like optimism, faith, surrender, belief, 0:01:11.240 --> 0:01:14.839 so on and so forth, Basically words that, when used together, 0:01:14.920 --> 0:01:16.840 can make me seem like I'm trying to sell some 0:01:16.920 --> 0:01:19.800 sort of snake oil ones that can make it seem 0:01:19.880 --> 0:01:22.720 like logic and planning have no place here and all 0:01:22.760 --> 0:01:25.039 we need to get things done is the one and 0:01:25.120 --> 0:01:28.839 only the reliable faith. But I don't think the people 0:01:28.880 --> 0:01:31.959 we talk about here on Unpopular would have the same 0:01:32.080 --> 0:01:35.520 stories if some degree of faith wasn't part of their story, 0:01:35.880 --> 0:01:38.280 if they didn't believe that what they were doing would 0:01:38.280 --> 0:01:41.679 make some sort of meaningful difference, or they didn't trust 0:01:41.720 --> 0:01:45.160 that their movements had a chance of succeeding. For folks 0:01:45.280 --> 0:01:48.760 betting on a revolution or a complete reversal in society's 0:01:48.800 --> 0:01:51.880 way of being, or thinking, there may be no one 0:01:51.920 --> 0:01:54.400 to one precedent for the changes they're trying to make. 0:01:55.160 --> 0:01:57.120 That means that they may have to believe in an 0:01:57.160 --> 0:02:00.120 outcome for which there is no proof. There may be 0:02:00.240 --> 0:02:04.240 doubts or adjustments along the way, but challenging a status 0:02:04.320 --> 0:02:08.400 quo requires a person to envision a different future and 0:02:08.440 --> 0:02:11.440 to have conviction that the charge they're leading will help 0:02:11.480 --> 0:02:15.960 steer society in that direction. I'd say that pursuing a 0:02:16.000 --> 0:02:20.519 goal or publicly supporting an idea so radical or exceptional 0:02:20.880 --> 0:02:23.239 that people may shun you or view you as a 0:02:23.320 --> 0:02:30.919 threat takes a leap of faith. I'm Eves Jeff Cote 0:02:30.919 --> 0:02:34.160 and This is Unpopular a podcast about people in history 0:02:34.440 --> 0:02:37.160 who didn't let the threat of persecution keep them from 0:02:37.160 --> 0:02:42.200 speaking truth to power. Today we turn our attention to 0:02:42.320 --> 0:02:47.920 the Meta Ball Sisters, Patria, Minerva, Maria and are collectively 0:02:47.960 --> 0:02:50.880 known as the meat of Ball Sisters. They were born 0:02:51.040 --> 0:02:54.400 in the nineteen twenties and nineteen thirties in the Dominican Republic, 0:02:54.840 --> 0:02:58.200 a Caribbean country that borders Haiti on the island of Hispaniola. 0:02:58.880 --> 0:03:02.480 The United States pie the Dominican Republic from nineteen sixteen 0:03:02.560 --> 0:03:05.600 until nineteen twenty four, the year that the oldest meat 0:03:05.639 --> 0:03:09.240 of all Sister Patria was born. That same year, the 0:03:09.320 --> 0:03:12.520 US began withdrawing from the country, and Harasio Vasquez was 0:03:12.560 --> 0:03:15.679 elected President of the Dominican Republic with the backing of 0:03:15.720 --> 0:03:19.679 the United States. I'm leaving out a lot of history here, 0:03:20.040 --> 0:03:23.720 but over the years, Hispaniola was the object of imperial lust, 0:03:24.120 --> 0:03:27.600 a place of strategic and economic importance, a site of 0:03:27.720 --> 0:03:31.800 racist violence, a breeding ground for rebellion and revolution, and 0:03:31.960 --> 0:03:36.720 an island where political and economic instability were normal. So 0:03:36.880 --> 0:03:41.200 we arrived at Vasquez presidency. He took office in October 0:03:41.320 --> 0:03:44.920 of nineteen twenty four and held onto it until nineteen thirty, 0:03:45.000 --> 0:03:48.160 after having extended the presidential term to six years rather 0:03:48.200 --> 0:03:53.320 than four. His administration was corrupt and ineffective, and people 0:03:53.400 --> 0:03:56.760 began to call for his outst As the nineteen thirty 0:03:56.800 --> 0:04:01.560 elections approached, Raphael Estrea Na took power as provisional president 0:04:01.800 --> 0:04:06.800 and Vasquez went into exile. General Raphael Leonita Trujillo Molina 0:04:06.960 --> 0:04:10.200 then won the presidential election as the only candidate, as 0:04:10.320 --> 0:04:12.800 he had forced the other candidates out of the election 0:04:12.880 --> 0:04:18.960 through intimidation and harassment. Estrea was named vice president. Truilla 0:04:19.160 --> 0:04:23.200 ruled the Dominican Republic as a dictator until nineteen sixty one. 0:04:23.560 --> 0:04:26.640 Under his regime, the press was censored and dissenters were 0:04:26.680 --> 0:04:31.760 tortured and killed. He appointed family members to important offices. 0:04:32.279 --> 0:04:36.480 He controlled pretty much every part of society, including entertainment 0:04:36.480 --> 0:04:41.359 and education. He even renamed the capital and landmarks after himself, 0:04:41.600 --> 0:04:44.920 and he accumulated wealth by securing commissions on public works 0:04:44.920 --> 0:04:50.000 projects and taking ownership of land, airlines, and manufacturers. He 0:04:50.120 --> 0:04:53.120 even called for the massacre of thousands of Haitians and 0:04:53.160 --> 0:04:58.080 Dominicans of Haitian dissent along the Dominican Haitian border. Despite 0:04:58.080 --> 0:05:02.440 thruos oppressive, totalitarian, and brutal regime, he built an image 0:05:02.480 --> 0:05:06.640 as a nationalist, upholder of Dominican values and a messiah 0:05:06.640 --> 0:05:11.040 who people feared yet admired. He did bring a modicum 0:05:11.040 --> 0:05:14.560 of political and economic stability to the country, though I'm 0:05:14.600 --> 0:05:17.920 saying this with the huge asterisk that in no way 0:05:18.000 --> 0:05:22.680 canceled out all the abuse, poverty, human rights violations, violence 0:05:22.839 --> 0:05:27.680 and corruption rampant in the administration. It was under this 0:05:27.760 --> 0:05:31.080 regime that the meta Ball sisters lived. They were born 0:05:31.120 --> 0:05:34.599 in ojode Agua, a town in Salcedo and the Dominican Republic. 0:05:35.200 --> 0:05:38.320 Their parents were Enrique and Mercedes Mirabal, and they were 0:05:38.400 --> 0:05:41.080 part of a relatively well to do, middle class family. 0:05:42.279 --> 0:05:46.320 The four sisters attended the Coleo Immaculata Concepcion, a Catholic 0:05:46.360 --> 0:05:50.040 boarding school in La Vega. They all married and had children. 0:05:50.520 --> 0:05:53.920 Maria Teresa studied math at the University of Santo Domingo 0:05:54.240 --> 0:05:59.360 and Minerva studied law at the same university. In October 0:05:59.360 --> 0:06:02.080 of nineteen four nine, thru Hio held a party at 0:06:02.080 --> 0:06:05.360 his mansion in San Crustobal, the mayor of their town, 0:06:05.520 --> 0:06:08.200 personally delivered the Meat of Ball Sister's invitation to the 0:06:08.200 --> 0:06:12.120 party to them, so they felt obliged to go. Mineeva 0:06:12.120 --> 0:06:15.719 had caught Thruhio's attention and he approached her, but she 0:06:15.880 --> 0:06:20.160 rejected his advances. Through Rio's sexual abuse of women was 0:06:20.279 --> 0:06:24.159 well known. He married three times and had mistresses. He 0:06:24.240 --> 0:06:27.080 had people go out and find young women and bringing 0:06:27.120 --> 0:06:29.440 them back to him to stay a night or longer 0:06:29.960 --> 0:06:33.680 so he could rape them. Dominican families would make their 0:06:33.760 --> 0:06:38.120 daughters hide when he was in town, so, needless to say, 0:06:38.120 --> 0:06:40.960 her rejections did not go over well with thru Hio. 0:06:41.880 --> 0:06:45.480 The Meat of Ball sisters father was soon imprisoned, and 0:06:45.600 --> 0:06:49.280 he died. Soon after he was released, Mineeva and her 0:06:49.320 --> 0:06:52.200 mother were held hostage in a hotel in Santo Domingo, 0:06:52.680 --> 0:06:55.599 only to be released if Mineeva slept with thru Hillo, 0:06:56.480 --> 0:07:00.960 though she refused. They eventually escaped, but through Yo's quest 0:07:01.040 --> 0:07:05.320 for vengeance did not in there. Minativa's rejections led through 0:07:05.400 --> 0:07:08.320 Hio to wage a vendetta against the Meat of Balls. 0:07:10.000 --> 0:07:13.000 The family was put under surveillance by the government and 0:07:13.120 --> 0:07:16.640 dinged for even the tiniest reported slights against thru Hio, 0:07:17.560 --> 0:07:20.720 people in contact with them were locked up or brutalized. 0:07:21.480 --> 0:07:24.000 Me Natava was not allowed to go back to school 0:07:24.280 --> 0:07:27.280 and put under arrest in her parents house for three years, 0:07:27.840 --> 0:07:30.840 during which time she wrote poetry about social issues in 0:07:30.840 --> 0:07:35.280 the Dominican Republic. In nineteen fifty seven, she was allowed 0:07:35.360 --> 0:07:37.920 to return to law school if she praised through Hio 0:07:38.040 --> 0:07:41.480 and his leadership. She did so and ended up graduating 0:07:41.480 --> 0:07:45.240 summa cum laude. Still, she was refused a license to 0:07:45.280 --> 0:07:49.240 practice law. Between the abuse they had suffered personally at 0:07:49.280 --> 0:07:51.920 the hands of thru Hio, the atrocities they saw him 0:07:51.960 --> 0:07:55.840 commit against other people, and the inspiration they received from 0:07:55.840 --> 0:07:59.080 the Cuban Revolution, the Meat of All Sisters were moved 0:07:59.200 --> 0:08:02.000 to join the move it against the dictator. When a 0:08:02.040 --> 0:08:04.640 group of Dominican exiles who trained in Cuba with Fidel 0:08:04.720 --> 0:08:08.280 Castro support, returned to the Dominican Republic in nineteen fifty 0:08:08.360 --> 0:08:12.280 nine to topple through Hero's dictatorship, the activism of the 0:08:12.360 --> 0:08:15.440 Meat of Ball Sisters, along with many other Dominican people, 0:08:16.040 --> 0:08:19.480 was kicked into high gear. We'll be back after this 0:08:19.600 --> 0:08:39.800 quick break. History repeats itself. We hear this phrase a lot, 0:08:40.440 --> 0:08:44.760 a statement repeated as a hard fact, undeniable. It's clear 0:08:44.840 --> 0:08:48.280 in war and fashion, But there are a lot of 0:08:48.320 --> 0:08:51.240 things in history. We can largely agree that we don't 0:08:51.280 --> 0:08:55.480 want to repeat the Black Death, for instance, Yet things 0:08:55.520 --> 0:08:58.480 that happen are often things we don't want to happen. 0:08:59.320 --> 0:09:02.040 When someone to sense and attempts to incite drastic or 0:09:02.080 --> 0:09:05.440 at least meaningful change, they can work super hard to 0:09:05.480 --> 0:09:08.800 reach that goal and still not attain the success they'd 0:09:08.840 --> 0:09:12.960 hoped for. Hope, desire, and belief don't get the job 0:09:13.000 --> 0:09:16.800 done alone. But sometimes it can feel like we're in 0:09:17.000 --> 0:09:20.200 a hamster will, like we're stuck in a vicious cycle 0:09:20.360 --> 0:09:23.600 of oppression. Like even when we take two steps forward, 0:09:23.720 --> 0:09:27.480 we're taking more backward. How hard is it to maintain 0:09:27.559 --> 0:09:30.439 any sort of sense of things being better or even 0:09:30.679 --> 0:09:33.800 different when things have been bad for a long time, 0:09:34.800 --> 0:09:39.400 Or what is the point in imagining a future at all? Hopelessness, 0:09:39.480 --> 0:09:42.640 cynicism about the future, and settling for less can set 0:09:42.720 --> 0:09:46.960 in easily, but hope could be a starting point. By that, 0:09:47.040 --> 0:09:49.560 I mean the ability to see beyond the current state 0:09:49.600 --> 0:09:52.760 of things and belief in the simple possibility for change. 0:09:52.800 --> 0:09:57.319 At some point comes before action that drives change. Rather 0:09:57.400 --> 0:09:59.720 than thinking of hope as a crutch of the naive 0:10:00.000 --> 0:10:03.679 allible are innocent, maybe it's better to think about it 0:10:03.720 --> 0:10:07.160 as a necessary part of empowering people to think differently 0:10:07.600 --> 0:10:11.280 and consider political or cultural shifts they couldn't have bad 0:10:11.320 --> 0:10:15.680 them before. By the end of the nineteen fifties, resentment 0:10:15.720 --> 0:10:18.319 of thru Hio had reached a peak and people were 0:10:18.320 --> 0:10:23.160 planning attempts to overthrow the regime. Minerovamabal was the first 0:10:23.200 --> 0:10:25.520 of the Sisters to become active in the fight against 0:10:25.520 --> 0:10:29.800 the dictatorship, even though it was dangerous business. She befriended 0:10:29.920 --> 0:10:34.000 Peticleistroco Orniss, who founded the Popular Socialist Party and had 0:10:34.040 --> 0:10:37.400 been imprisoned for his opposition to thru Hillo. She was 0:10:37.440 --> 0:10:41.080 also drawn to leftist literature and intercepted radio stations out 0:10:41.080 --> 0:10:45.240 of Cuba and Venezuela that discussed politics in the Dominican Republic. 0:10:45.960 --> 0:10:49.800 Fidel Castro's leadership and the Cuban Revolution, which ended on 0:10:49.880 --> 0:10:53.040 January first, nineteen fifty nine, with Cuban dictator full Hintsil 0:10:53.120 --> 0:10:56.920 Bautista fleeing to the Dominican Republic, helped inspire hope in 0:10:56.960 --> 0:11:02.439 Dominican people who wished to fight through Hio's oppressed of rule. Minaova, 0:11:02.520 --> 0:11:05.760 Maria Teresa and their husbands spoke of launching a national 0:11:05.800 --> 0:11:11.000 resistance movement against Trillo. Dominican exiles in Cuba had organized 0:11:11.080 --> 0:11:14.080 in Cuba and trained in military guerrilla tactics with the 0:11:14.160 --> 0:11:20.280 intent of overthrowing through Villo. On June fourteenth, nineteen fifty nine, 0:11:20.320 --> 0:11:23.640 a Dominican named Enrique Humenes Moya led a group of 0:11:23.679 --> 0:11:30.200 insurrectionists who landed in several Dominican cities. Besides Dominicans, Cubans, Spaniards, 0:11:30.240 --> 0:11:34.840 Puerto Ricans, Venezuelans and Americans also took part in the insurrection, 0:11:35.600 --> 0:11:38.079 but the Dominican Republic had been given a heads up 0:11:38.080 --> 0:11:40.959 for the attack and the army and air force shut 0:11:40.960 --> 0:11:44.560 it down. Most of the people who participated in the 0:11:44.640 --> 0:11:49.360 uprising were killed and many were tortured in prison. This 0:11:49.480 --> 0:11:52.800 uprising was the namesake for the Cotors de Junio movement 0:11:53.120 --> 0:11:56.120 or fourteenth of June movement, also known as one j 0:11:56.320 --> 0:11:59.880 four or one four j. Though the attempts to overthrow 0:12:00.000 --> 0:12:03.959 Trullo had been unsuccessful, people in the Dominican Republic were 0:12:04.000 --> 0:12:07.440 stirring up rebellion. The Meat of All Sisters and their 0:12:07.520 --> 0:12:10.920 husbands helped form the fourteenth of June movement a year 0:12:10.960 --> 0:12:16.560 after the revolutionaries victory in the Cuban Revolution. Manola travadez Usto, 0:12:16.760 --> 0:12:20.120 a lawyer and Minerva's husband, was the president of the group. 0:12:20.640 --> 0:12:25.360 Leandro Gusman, Maria Theres's husband was named treasurer. Many of 0:12:25.400 --> 0:12:28.800 the people involved in the movement, including peasants, factory workers, 0:12:28.840 --> 0:12:33.040 the wealthy, and intellectuals, were from Puerto Plata, an industrial 0:12:33.080 --> 0:12:36.679 northern city. Trullo flexed his muscle against the city by 0:12:36.679 --> 0:12:39.640 cutting off rail services to the area and isolating his 0:12:39.720 --> 0:12:42.719 shipping ports. Many of the people in the movement were 0:12:42.760 --> 0:12:46.559 also members of prominent families and relatives of Thruvio himself. 0:12:47.360 --> 0:12:52.040 Despite Throo's attempts to suppress his opposition, criticism and defiance 0:12:52.080 --> 0:12:56.920 of the dictator and his policies only grew. We're going 0:12:56.960 --> 0:13:10.880 to take a quick break. The meet of Ball sisters 0:13:10.920 --> 0:13:14.840 and their husbands began organizing the resistance. They got hundreds 0:13:14.840 --> 0:13:17.960 of people to pass out pamphlets detailing the crimes the 0:13:18.000 --> 0:13:22.640 regime had committed. They began gathering guns and bombs, and 0:13:22.679 --> 0:13:26.480 through their work in the resistance, they were incarcerated several times. 0:13:27.080 --> 0:13:30.520 The sisters were given the underground name Las Mariposas or 0:13:30.559 --> 0:13:35.719 in English, the Butterflies. The movement planned to assassinate thru 0:13:35.760 --> 0:13:39.640 Heio using a bomb at a cattle fair on January one, 0:13:39.920 --> 0:13:45.079 nineteen sixty, but the plan was foiled when the Servicita, 0:13:45.600 --> 0:13:49.400 or military intelligence service, rounded up supporters of the movement 0:13:49.480 --> 0:13:53.959 the day before the assassination was supposed to happen. Trhio's 0:13:54.000 --> 0:13:58.920 regime arrested and tortured people, brutality that many people rejected. 0:13:59.559 --> 0:14:03.120 Me Not and Maria Teresa, their husbands, and Patria's husband 0:14:03.320 --> 0:14:11.080 named Pedro Gonzalez, were jailed. The Catholic Church protested the 0:14:11.080 --> 0:14:15.559 witchhood and denounced the dictatorship. But despite all the atrocities 0:14:15.559 --> 0:14:18.920 through Hio had already been complicit in, it took Trujillo 0:14:19.000 --> 0:14:23.960 attempting to assassinate Venezuelan President Romolo Betancourt before other nations 0:14:24.080 --> 0:14:28.600 decided to draw the line. Beaton Court was vehemently anti Trujillo, 0:14:29.040 --> 0:14:34.240 and Trullillo had tried to have him overthrown many times before. Regardless, 0:14:34.280 --> 0:14:36.680 when through Hio's people put a bunch of dynamite in 0:14:36.680 --> 0:14:39.800 a car that exploded and injured beaton court, and killed 0:14:39.840 --> 0:14:44.840 a person. The Organization of American States condemned his regime's actions, 0:14:45.360 --> 0:14:49.560 imposed sanctions, and sent representatives to Dominican jails on a 0:14:49.640 --> 0:14:54.480 fact finding mission. Because of this investigation, many women prisoners 0:14:54.480 --> 0:14:57.960 were freed, including the Meta Balls. Their husbands were sent 0:14:58.000 --> 0:15:01.960 to a prison in Puerto Blata. Trujillo responded to his 0:15:02.000 --> 0:15:06.360 growing opposition and his sworn enemies, the Meata Balls, with vengeance. 0:15:06.920 --> 0:15:09.560 He made it clear that the Catholic Church and the 0:15:09.560 --> 0:15:12.880 Meat of Ball Sisters were his main foes, problems that 0:15:12.960 --> 0:15:15.760 he needed to get rid of. When it came to 0:15:15.840 --> 0:15:23.040 the Meat of Ball sisters, that meant death. Friends of 0:15:23.040 --> 0:15:25.840 the sisters warnant them not to visit their husbands in prison, 0:15:26.520 --> 0:15:29.320 but even though they knew the visits were dangerous, they 0:15:29.320 --> 0:15:31.880 had already made the trip to the north coast without 0:15:31.920 --> 0:15:35.280 any problems. They had even decided that they were going 0:15:35.320 --> 0:15:37.800 to rent a house in Puerto Plata so they could 0:15:37.840 --> 0:15:44.000 be closer to their husbands. November nine sixty, Patria Maria 0:15:45.320 --> 0:15:49.920 were leaving Plata after visiting their husbands in prison. As 0:15:49.920 --> 0:15:53.360 they drove down a desolate road, some of Trujillo's agents 0:15:53.480 --> 0:15:57.000 ordered their driver to stop. Patria was able to get 0:15:57.000 --> 0:15:59.440 out of their jeep and tell a passing truck driver 0:15:59.760 --> 0:16:03.000 that the agents were about to murder them, and told 0:16:03.040 --> 0:16:05.120 him to send word to the meat of all family 0:16:05.200 --> 0:16:09.000 in their hometown. But the agents beat the sisters and 0:16:09.040 --> 0:16:12.760 their driver, strangled them and put them back in the jeep, 0:16:13.280 --> 0:16:15.640 pushing it over a cliff to make it look like 0:16:15.680 --> 0:16:19.560 an accident. Dede, who was the least politically engaged of 0:16:19.640 --> 0:16:21.960 the four sisters and who had not been in the 0:16:22.000 --> 0:16:25.200 car at the time of the assassination, was the only 0:16:25.240 --> 0:16:31.000 surviving sister. It didn't take long for news of the 0:16:31.000 --> 0:16:35.160 assassinations to spread. It was pretty obvious that the deaths 0:16:35.160 --> 0:16:39.480 were not an accident but murder ordered by Trujillo. There 0:16:39.480 --> 0:16:43.040 were reportedly still fingerprints on their necks where they had 0:16:43.040 --> 0:16:46.800 been strangled when they were brought into a hospital for autopsy. 0:16:47.680 --> 0:16:52.000 The assassinations intensified resistance in the Dominican Republic even more, 0:16:52.800 --> 0:16:57.040 not the effect that Trujillo had intended. On May thirtieth nine, 0:16:58.360 --> 0:17:01.560 Trujillo was ambushed as he was heading home and killed 0:17:02.640 --> 0:17:05.000 some of the people who murdered him were part of 0:17:05.080 --> 0:17:08.359 his armed forces. The assassins who killed the Meat of 0:17:08.400 --> 0:17:11.760 All Sisters went to trial in nineteen sixty two. They 0:17:11.760 --> 0:17:14.359 were sentenced to twenty to thirty years of heart labor, 0:17:14.760 --> 0:17:17.160 but they did not serve out their sentences as they 0:17:17.200 --> 0:17:20.439 had escaped from prison during the Dominican Civil War of 0:17:20.560 --> 0:17:24.879 nineteen sixty five. Dada ensured the persistence of her sister's 0:17:24.960 --> 0:17:29.320 legacy and helped raise their children. Minatava, Maria, Teresa, and 0:17:29.359 --> 0:17:33.200 Patria died tragically under the thumb of a cruel dictatorship 0:17:33.480 --> 0:17:37.159 that they risked their lives to subvert. They mobilized women 0:17:37.160 --> 0:17:40.280 to join the resistance movement. They injected a sense of 0:17:40.320 --> 0:17:43.919 hope for social and political progress into the Dominican people, 0:17:44.480 --> 0:17:48.960 though the rule that followed their deaths was nowhere near revolutionary. 0:17:49.640 --> 0:17:52.159 But the Meat of Ball Sisters stand as a model 0:17:52.200 --> 0:17:54.919 for middle and upper class young folks who wished to 0:17:54.920 --> 0:17:59.480 reject silence and complacency in favor of action and optimistic 0:17:59.520 --> 0:18:04.520 resistance when rebellion is necessary. The Meat Up Ball Sisters 0:18:04.560 --> 0:18:07.000 weren't the only people who took part in the fourteenth 0:18:07.080 --> 0:18:10.680 of June movement or the resistance against through Heeo's dictatorship. 0:18:11.600 --> 0:18:13.840 Though they played a major role in the road towards 0:18:13.840 --> 0:18:17.400 through Heeo's downfall, it wasn't their actions alone that put 0:18:17.400 --> 0:18:20.400 an end to the oppressive regime. I don't say that 0:18:20.440 --> 0:18:23.520 to diminish the importance of their leadership and movement work. 0:18:24.160 --> 0:18:26.840 I just like to acknowledge the huge amount of work 0:18:26.920 --> 0:18:30.960 and people it takes to transform our tear down massive establishments. 0:18:31.640 --> 0:18:37.080 But one person's actions can have a rebel effect. It 0:18:37.160 --> 0:18:40.120 is definitely easy to just accept things as they are 0:18:40.200 --> 0:18:43.040 a lot of the time. That's the case when issues 0:18:43.080 --> 0:18:46.600 don't directly affect us, or when they do directly benefit us. 0:18:47.080 --> 0:18:49.320 When we don't have enough knowledge of an issue or 0:18:49.359 --> 0:18:51.600 have not taken the time to research it and are 0:18:51.640 --> 0:18:54.960 not emotionally affected by it. When the prospect of harsh 0:18:54.960 --> 0:18:58.199 punishment seems too scary, when we don't know what the 0:18:58.240 --> 0:19:00.480 outcome of a challenge would be so we don't want 0:19:00.560 --> 0:19:03.399 to risk putting in the work. When something seems so 0:19:03.440 --> 0:19:06.240 impossible to change that it doesn't seem worth putting any 0:19:06.280 --> 0:19:09.200 effort into it. The meat of All Sisters and all 0:19:09.200 --> 0:19:12.520 the other Dominicans who resisted the regime were up against 0:19:12.520 --> 0:19:17.280 a dictatorship that stripped away civil liberties and killed people ruthlessly, 0:19:17.760 --> 0:19:21.320 and that did so while exalting itself. They could not 0:19:21.640 --> 0:19:24.520 and did not accept the way things were, even though 0:19:24.560 --> 0:19:28.199 the terrorism that surrounded them was a constant reminder of 0:19:28.240 --> 0:19:35.199 the horrible consequences their actions could have. Tria was in 0:19:35.280 --> 0:19:39.280 power for thirty one years, and those years were characterized 0:19:39.320 --> 0:19:42.080 by a lot of violence and death. The Meat of 0:19:42.160 --> 0:19:46.119 All Sisters activism not only ignited and effective movement, but 0:19:46.320 --> 0:19:49.560 also showed that a life without violence was within the 0:19:49.600 --> 0:19:54.040 realm of possibility and influenced later activists to strive for liberation. 0:19:54.920 --> 0:19:59.720 They helped make the other side conceivable. Thanks again for listening. 0:20:00.080 --> 0:20:02.840 We'll see you next week with another episode of Unpopular. 0:20:05.280 --> 0:20:10.120 Our producer is Andrew Howard. Holly Fry and Christopher Hasiotis 0:20:10.160 --> 0:20:13.320 are our executive producers, and you can subscribe to the 0:20:13.320 --> 0:20:16.760 show on Apple Podcasts, the I Heart Radio app, or 0:20:16.760 --> 0:20:20.719 wherever you get your podcast. I'd also like to give 0:20:20.760 --> 0:20:23.560 a shout out to Tracy and Holly of Stuff you 0:20:23.600 --> 0:20:26.199 missed in History Class, who have a great episode on 0:20:26.280 --> 0:20:30.440 the Meat of Ball Sisters. So take a listen, and 0:20:30.560 --> 0:20:33.080 if you are so inclined, You can send us an 0:20:33.080 --> 0:20:38.240 email at unpopular at i heart media dot com.