A noted feminist theorist and author, Gloria Anzaldúa paved the way for a more intersectional feminism, especially inclusive of Chicana women. A Mexican-American native of Texas, Anzaldúa was invested in academia and scholarship from a very young age, fighting segregation throughout her own education and early career as a teacher. In her early activism, she was involved in the farmworkers movement and the Mexican American Youth Organization, though she was vocally critical of the male focus in both.
Along with feminist scholar Cherríe Moraga, Anzaldúa co-edited the highly-influential book This Bridge Called My Back: Writings by Radical Women of Color, one of the first books to place women of color at the center of the feminist conversation. Perhaps her most famous solo work, Borderlands/La Frontera: The New Mestiza, was released a few years later, documenting Anzaldúa’s life as a Chicana-Tejana lesbian feminist. Through countless essays, books and poetry, Anzaldúa — who died in 2004 — documented Chicana struggle and resilience in a way that still impacts Hispanic women and feminism today.
