Las Mujeres de Manzo

Currently in production, this film will profile the powerful accomplishments of the Founding Mothers of Chicana Feminist Activism in Tucson, Arizona.

Details

Watch the trailer:

This feature length documentary film profiles the work of four lifelong activists at the forefront of human rights organizing in Southern Arizona, known collectively as Las Mujeres de Manzo: public defense attorneys Isabel Garcia and Margo Cowan, and professors/historians Guadalupe Castillo and Raquel Rubio-Goldsmith.

Who are Las Mujeres?

Isabel Garcia

is the respected co-founder of the non-profit Derechos Humanos and a nationally prominent immigrant rights activist, who headed the Pima County Public Defender’s office for 22 years.

Margo Cowan

is a dedicated County Public Defender and organizer of Keep Tucson Together, a primarily volunteer organization that processes DACA renewals, handles detention and deportation cases, guides immigrants through the naturalization process, and runs a weekly Immigration Clinic.

Guadalupe Castillo

is a highly regarded historian and Faculty Emeritus at Pima Community College, and a Tucson human rights activist for more than 50 years.

Raquel Rubio-Goldsmith

is a historian, author, and powerful co-director of the Binational Migration Institute of the University of Arizona Mexican-American Studies Department and Founding Faculty Emeritus at Pima Community College.

This is an urgent moment.

In the ’80s, the group was the lone voice identifying and opposing the militarization of the US/Mexico border. They went on to shape many other notable humanitarian relief groups, including Coalición de Derechos Humanos, No More Deaths, Samaritans, and the Sanctuary Movement – a national campaign to provide safe haven for Central American refugees fleeing civil war. Their collective work has shaped academic research in the fields of Border and Chicanx Studies and has influenced national and local policy. Their border analysis has influenced many of the international human rights movements in our region and beyond.

It is not an overstatement to say that the Mujeres de Manzo have been key contributors to every major social movement in this region since the 1970s. Yet their names remain largely unknown beyond Southern Arizona.

The Mission of the Film

Leadership

To cultivate emerging leadership among the current and next generations. There is important work still to be done this coming new year.

Programs

To document and produce ethnic studies programs for continuing to develop the field of immigration rights and social justice.

Lessons

To find out: what can we learn from the successes and failures of these women? Which aspects of their work can be applied to the situation today?

What’s Next?

Are you inspired by the film? Continue the work of these longtime activists.

Explore the resources on this website to learn about border activism, sanctuary, detention/deportation relief and human rights, student work and the local involvement of Las Mujeres de Manzo.

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