Testimonios

History has always been written and told from the perspective of men. There is little evidence of oral or written history told by women. Even the term “his-tory” exemplifies that it is his story which is being told by his perspective. What happens when women start writing and telling their stories? It no longer becomes “his-tory”, but “her-story” where she tells her life experiences through her perspective. Women have started to use different forms and methods of written and oral techniques to let their stories be heard. Eulalia Perez and Teresa De La Guerra are two examples of women who have created their human agency and political stance by letting their voices be heard. I will discuss how Perez and De La Guerra’s testimonios provide them with human and political agency by having their stories be told.

Testimonios are a great way to reclaim memory and express ones thoughts and feelings through difficult and easy times. In Papelitos Guardados: Theorizing Latinidades Through Testmonio by Latina Feminist Group, they discuss how papelitos guardados are stories tucked away that have been written and stored in secret places ready to be revealed (Latina Feminist Group, 1). These papelitos guardados provide these women with the chance to reflect back and remember their experiences by telling their testimonios. Testimonios help one go back into their memory and tell the story they want to tell based off the memories they recall. Testimonios let individuals recall that not everyone has the same story or has lived the same experiences as the rest. For example, the Latina Feminist Group expresses “Initially, we mistakenly assumed that we knew each other simply because we were Latina academics and writers” (10). The passage explains that ...

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...’s history can be seen as political because she is taking control of how her father will be remembered as for herself.

Perez and De La Guerra became historians the moment they decided they wanted to tell their stories. Their testimonios provide them with establishing their part in history by telling counter stories to the history told by men. Having women like Perez and De La Guerra tell their testimonios strengthens and provides women with a collective identity because it allows for other women to open up and tell their stories. By addressing these issues through the work of testimonios makes it easier to tackle and discuss the lack of women’s part in history, and it helps provide women with a voice. De La Guerra and Perez are two examples of how women are taking control of their histories and are taking action like many others to express their roles in history.