In this article, I invite you to commemorate the lives of women who faced segregation and racism, fought for independence and civil rights, and advocated for dignity, inclusion, and the feminist struggle to uphold every basic and fundamental right of citizenship.

^{Photo 1. Women's struggles in the USA. Source: lasherasnoticias.com}

Through United Nations Resolution 3010, 1975 was proclaimed International Women's Year and since then, every March 8 is commemorated as the International Day for Women's Rights and World Peace.

Scrutinizing the history of resistance and the construction of possibilities for dignity, the presence of women and feminist struggles becomes evident. Despite the names of recognized women, there are historical debts to many women who made history whose names were not written. This article commemorates named women but also those without a face and without a name who contributed to the struggles against segregation, racism, in favor of civil rights and for the dignity of life.

MARCH 8, 1857, THE PAINFUL DATE OF THE COMMEMORATION OF WOMEN'S DAY

^{Photo 2. Women of the United States in the struggle of March 8, 1857. Source: alienzaestratégica.info}

In the midst of the industrial revolution, on March 8, 1857, thousands of textile workers in New York, some sources cite that 15,000 women who worked in the garment industry, organized a strike at the Triangle Shirtwaist factory to publicly demonstrate against the miserable working conditions and also demand a wage increase. The garment workers marched under the slogan "Bread and Roses" because of the symbolism of economic security and a better quality of life. On this day, 123 women died as a result of a fire in the factory in the middle of the strike. As a result of this painful event, 8M began to be set worldwide as International Women's Day.

For their part, in 1917, the women of Russia won their right to vote, on February 23 of the Julian calendar – that of the regime of the tsars – March 8 in the Gregorian calendar.

WOMEN IN STRUGGLES FOR INDEPENDENCE, SUFFRAGETTES, FEMINISTS AND CIVIL RIGHTS 

Thousands of women fought and continue to fight for equality. We will name some who dedicated their lives to claiming political, civil, educational and labor rights:

• The League of Feminists with Elvia Carrillo Puerto (1881-1967) in Mexico; ⎫ The independence of knowledge with Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz (1648-1695), in Mexico, who placed women as the basis of reason instead of the passion to which they had been conventionally reduced; 

• The bases of modern feminism with Rosario Castellanos (1925-1974) in Mexico, who laid the foundations of modern narrative feminism with her thesis On feminine culture. She dedicated her work to denouncing discrimination against women against men. His remains rest in the Rotunda of Illustrious Men in Mexico City, whose name was updated by the "Rotunda of People";

• The suffragette league in Brazil, with Bertha Lutz (1894-1976); 

• The rebel, the poet and politician of Peru Magda Portal (1900-1989), who as an activist and artist put all her efforts into the development of women's education, literacy and the dignification of labor contracts and led the feminist wing of APRA (American Popular Revolutionary Alliance) advocating for social justice;

• The struggle against inequality and for the right to vote, with Matilde Hidalgo Procel (1889-1974), Ecuador, who questioned the law that prevented women from entering to study medicine. She was the first woman doctor in the country. In 1924 she wanted to vote and could not, also because she was a woman, and she rose up against this inequality that did not end until 1929. Matilde was the first woman to hold public office in Ecuador; 

• The feminist struggle in the political exercise with Eva Peron (1919-1952), in Argentina, who synthesized her feminist struggle in the famous words: "Argentine women have overcome the period of civil tutoring... The woman must affirm her action. Women must vote. Women, the moral spring of their home, must occupy their place in the complex social machinery of the people", She was, along with other Argentines, the promoter of the Women's Suffrage Law in 1947 and formed the Peronist Feminist Party in 1949; 

• From narrative, poetry, theater and teaching: Alfonsina Storni (1892-1938) She was a teacher in rural areas when she was just a teenager, and was part of a theater group. It dealt with female sexuality, gender roles and subordination to men. She was the first woman to enter the community of writers in Argentina.

• For the restoration of women's civil and natural rights: Carolina Muzzilli (1889-1917), in Argentina. The daughter of Italian workers, she dedicated her life to fighting for workers' rights and improving their conditions in factories. She led demonstrations and rallies, and left phrases like this: "The time has come for Argentine women to recognize that they are not inferior to men, and that even if they have a different mission, their civil and natural rights must be restored."

• In the feminist and academic struggle: Paulina Luisi (1875-1949) Argentina/Uruguay. She dedicated her life to the struggle for the approval of women's suffrage in Uruguay. She obtained the achievement of being the first woman surgeon in the country, and acted as editor in the magazine “Acción Femenina”. Her words still resonate: "Woman is something more than a material created to serve and obey man like a slave, she is more than a machine to produce children and take care of the home," she announced to the world in 1917.

• The School for Women with Adela Zamudio (1854-1928) in Bolivia. This school was the starting point for her fight for equality in education and the fundamental rights of women. (https://www.univision.com/estilo-de-vida/identidad-de-genero/12-mujeres-historicas)

^{Photo 3. Women of Colombia dream and bet on life with dignity}

• In the struggle for independence, politics, education, human rights and their contribution to history in Colombia: La “Cacica Gaitana”, indigenous leader of the region of Timaná Huila, recognized for bringing together around her person one of the most important indigenous resistance movements of the sixteenth century. Also known as Guaitipán, she was a symbol of rebellion and resistance, she led her people and a large number of vassals who accompanied her against the invasion of the Spanish conquistadors between 1539 and 1540. Policarpa Salavarrieta (1795-1817) who transmitted key information about the royalists and organized the resistance. Captured by the Spanish authorities, she was executed on November 14, 1817, becoming a symbol of sacrifice and bravery in the fight for freedom. 

• Manuela Beltrán Archila de Confines, Santander (March 13, 1724 – July 28, 1819) known as the Women's Lighthouse of Freedom. His protest against an excessive increase in taxes was a catalyst for the outbreak of the Rebellion of the Communards of 1781; 

• María Antonia Santos Plata, born in Pinchote, Santander on April 10, 1782, condemned to death by the Spaniards, in Socorro on July 28, 1819, fighter and martyr of the Independence of Colombia (https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/); 

•  In The Struggle for Workers' Rights, Social Justice and Gender Equality, María Cano (1887-1967), was the first political and trade union leader in Colombia. He led the struggle for the fundamental civil rights of the population and for the rights of wage workers. Virginia Gutiérrez de Pineda (1921-1999) – The pioneer of anthropology. Anthropologist and sociologist, she studied the Colombian family and its social structures. Her research was key to the formulation of public policies on education and social welfare in the country;

• Emilia Pardo Umaña, Esmeralda Arboleda, Débora Arango, Ofelia Uribe de Acosta, Lucila rubio, Yolanda Izquierdo, among other women fighters in Colombia 

• Claudette Colvin, on March 2, 1955, this 15-year-old young African-American woman from the United States refuses to give up her seat on the bus to a white woman. She was arrested, which led to a boycott of public transport and became an important event in the struggle for civil rights.

• Rosa Parks, a 42-year-old African-American woman, sits quietly on a bus in Montgomery, Alabama, United States, on December 1, 1955. His action challenged racial segregation and was an important moment in the struggle for civil rights in the United States.

• The "Women's Equality Day" in honor of the approval of women's suffrage in the United States, has its origin in 1920 and commemorates the adoption of the 19th amendment to the Constitution of the United States, marks the anniversary of the right to popular vote for all American women. In 1971 it was celebrated for the first time and in 1973, it was designated as a national date by the United States Congress through H.J. Res. 52. (https://us.as.com/us/2021/08/26/actualidad/1629992751_537869.htm/); 

• Names such as the Americans Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott, and the German Clara Zetkin are remembered every March 8 for their fight for women's rights.