Mariana Grajales Cuello (c. 1815-1893) remained dedicated to the revolutionary cause up until her last breath. She inspired her children and revolutionaries across Cuba to fight for independence.
Mariana Grajales Cuello (c. 1815-1893) remained dedicated to the revolutionary cause up until her last breath. She inspired her children and revolutionaries across Cuba to fight for independence.
While motherhood can take many forms, to mother is to usher forth new generations through care, work and imagination. For the entire month of December, we’re celebrating mothers — including those who raised children who went on to lead the civil rights movement and school desegregation efforts, such as Alberta King and Louise Little, as well as mothers of movements like Lorena Borjas who started the Latinx trans movement. All of the women featured this month were dedicated to the survival of children in their work and to imagining better futures for the next generation.
History classes can get a bad rap, and sometimes for good reason. When we were students, we couldn’t help wondering... where were all the ladies at? Why were so many incredible stories missing from the typical curriculum? Enter, Womanica. On this Wonder Media Network podcast we explore the lives of inspiring women in history you may not know about, but definitely should.
Every weekday, listeners explore the trials, tragedies, and triumphs of groundbreaking women throughout history who have dramatically shaped the world around us. In each 5 minute episode, we’ll dive into the story behind one woman listeners may or may not know–but definitely should. These diverse women from across space and time are grouped into easily accessible and engaging monthly themes like Educators, Villains, Indigenous Storytellers, Activists, and many more. Womanica is hosted by WMN co-founder and award-winning journalist Jenny Kaplan. The bite-sized episodes pack painstakingly researched content into fun, entertaining, and addictive daily adventures.
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Hello! From Wonder Media Network, I'm Anna Malaika Tubbs, the author of The Three Mothers: How the Mothers of MLK Jr., Malcom X and James Baldwin Shaped A Nation. My work focuses on motherhood, through the lens of feminism, intersectionality, and inclusivity, and I’ll be your guest host for this month of Womanica.
This month, we’re talking about mothers: women who ushered forth new generations and new futures through their care, work, and imagination.
Today, we’re talking about a woman who remained dedicated to the revolutionary cause up until her last breath. She had a vision for a liberated Cuba, free from slavery and colonial oppression. And she inspired her children and revolutionaries across the country to fight for independence in service of that vision.
Let’s talk about Mariana Grajales Cuello.
It’s unclear exactly when Mariana was born, but we know it was sometime between 1808 and 1815. She grew up in Santiago de Cuba. Her parents were originally from the Dominican Republic, but after the Haitan revolution they fled to Cuba to avoid the violence spreading through the region. In Cuba, Mariana was seen as a parda libre -- a free woman of color.
That freedom had its limits. Santiago’s school for free Black people required tuition, which Mariana’s parents couldn’t afford. So, Mariana didn’t receive a formal education. But living in Santiago helped her develop a keen understanding of the oppressive forces in colonial Cuba.
At the time, Cuba was still under Spanish colonial rule. And, slavery was still legal. As a child, Mariana would often watch enslaved Black people arrive in Santiago, brought to the country to farm sugarcane. Later, she began visiting the jails where the Spanish government held enslaved Black people who had tried to escape. These visits made it impossible for Mariana to forget the atrocities of slavery.
In 1831, Mariana married Fructuoso Regüeiferos y Hechavarria. They were married for nine years, and had four sons together, before Fructuoso passed away in 1840. A few years later, Mariana married Marcos Maceo, who had immigrated from Venezuela to Cuba years earlier.
Around the same time Mariana and Marcos were married, tensions in Cuba were rising. The country was in the midst of a series of rebellions led by enslaved and free Black people. It all came to a head in the mid 1840s. By this time Cuba was economically dependent on the sugar and coffee trade, and enslaved people made up about one-third of the country’s population. When the Spanish colonial leaders discovered an underground rebel movement organizing for emancipation, they cracked down: introducing draconian policies and increasing police surveillance of both enslaved and free Black people. Mariana’s new husband, Marcos, had to declare he was born in Cuba. Otherwise, he risked deportation.
Mariana and Marcos went on to have nine children together, and they all lived on a farm called Las Delicias. Later, they bought a second farm and named it La Esperanza, which means ‘hope.’ Mariana made sure all her children received a formal education. As the years passed, the Maceos became known as a well-off free Black family in the region.
Then, in September of 1868, Marcos learned that a revolution against the Spanish colonial forces was imminent -- and he had been tapped to organize the men in his region to fight. Marcos was nervous to talk to Mariana about this charge: What if she thought revolution was too risky? How would she react to her husband and sons going off to battle?
But Mariana was wholeheartedly behind the Cuban revolution movement. She told her husband to, quote, “fight tirelessly, until you see her independent, or until you die achieving it.”
A month later, the Ten Years’ War started; insurgent Cubans banding together to fight against Spanish colonization. During the war, Mariana converted their farm, Las Delicias, into a base of operations. She would stock supplies to ship out to soldiers and treat the wounded. Her son, Antonio Maceo became one of the prominent leaders of the revolution.
It didn’t take long for Spanish forces to capture the house at Las Delicias and burn it to the ground. After that, Mariana and her daughters joined her husband and sons in the field. Mariana began caring for wounded soldiers – she was renowned for her knowledge of healing herbs and plants.
In the struggle for independence, Mariana lost her husband, nine of her thirteen children, and two of her grandchildren. But even in the midst of this intense adversity, Mariana kept a cheerful and hopeful demeanor, offering words of encouragement to every soldier who crossed her path. She remained committed to the vision of an independent Cuba, free from slavery – and she helped others believe in that vision, too. The Cuban writer José Martí later wrote about Mariana: “If one trembled when he came face to face with the enemy of his country, he saw [Mariana], white kerchief on her head, and he ceased trembling!”
In 1878, Spanish forces offered insurgent leaders a pact, which would end the war without freeing Cuba or abolishing slavery. Mariana’s son Antonio rejected this pact. Instead of signing on, he, Mariana, and their remaining family fled to Kingston, Jamaica.
In Jamaica, Mariana continued her commitment to Cuban independence. Her home was a meeting point for Cubans, and she cared for the wives and children of Cuban revolutionaries.
When Mariana died in 1893, Cuba was still under Spanish rule. But Mariana never gave up hope that one day, Cuba would be free. And in 1902, nine years after her death, that day finally came.
After Cuba’s independence, Mariana became a symbol of patriotism, revolutionary spirit, and motherhood in Cuba. In 1957, 64 years after her death, the mayor of Havana, Cuba officially declared Mariana madre de la patria – the Mother of Cuba.
All month, we’re talking about mothers. For more information, find us on Facebook and Instagram @womanicapodcast.
Special thanks to co-creators Jenny and Liz Kaplan, for having me as a guest host.
Talk to you tomorrow!