Rigoberta Menchu (b.1959) Guatemalan human rights activist, feminist

Rigoberta was a member of the resistance movement in Guatemala during its brutal civil war (1960-96).
She followed in her father’s footsteps by joining the Committee for Peasant Unity in 1979 and becoming a member of the National Coordinating Committee 7 years later (1986).

She escaped to Mexico in 1981. In 1983 she published book 1 Rigoberta Menchu
which brought the world’s attention to this Silent Holocaust.

Working with numerous local and international organizations she became a leading representative of indigenous and women’s rights around the world.

In 1992 she won the Nobel Peace Prize. She was the first indigenous recipient and the youngest at the time.

She was Presidential Goodwill Ambassador for the 1996 peace accords in Guatemala. She unsuccessfully stood for president in 2007 and 2011.

Rigoberta’s activism for political and economic equality, human rights and climate change action continues Maliha Abidi

Sources
Wikipedia
RISE: Extraordinary Women of Colour Who Changed the World by Maliha Abidi