Dear Reader:
Here is my official interview with Dede Mirabal, the surviving butterfly. We talked most of the day, and continued to exchange letters for a while afterwords, but these are the questions that really helped me work through her side of the story as well as answer my most important question, what empowered these women to fight for freedom? The recording was in Spanish, so I wrote it out for you in English. I hope it helps you as much as it did me!
-Maria
Here is my official interview with Dede Mirabal, the surviving butterfly. We talked most of the day, and continued to exchange letters for a while afterwords, but these are the questions that really helped me work through her side of the story as well as answer my most important question, what empowered these women to fight for freedom? The recording was in Spanish, so I wrote it out for you in English. I hope it helps you as much as it did me!
-Maria
_
M: Ms. Mirabal, are you ready to begin?
D: Yes, yes, question away dear.
M: Okay. Well my first question to you is simple, can you tell me about what it was like growing up under Trujillo’s rule? When did you really start to realize the injustice?
D: Jumping right in aren’t we? Well, my early memories are mostly happy ones. Playing with my dolls, riding on Papa’s shoulders through the fields, helping Mama cook tamales… it wasn’t really until Minerva went off to school that I really began to notice anything was off. Even then, it was a few years before I was old enough to realize anything. But even if I realized it, I just brushed it off. We were happy, and Papa was successful. We always had food on the table and I never wanted for anything significant. I chose to focus my attention on boys instead, while Patria focused on beginning a family, Maria Teresa with her dolls and hair, and Minerva with her freedoms.
M:So when did you begin to feel affected by Trujillo?
D: Once Minerva started coming home from school and talking with Papa, I began noticing a change in her. It was like a fire was lit in her heart, and some endless resource was fueling it. She started off by asking lots of questions that Papa and Mama couldn’t or wouldn’t answer. She would return to school, and come home with answers, answers that weren’t supposed to be spoken. She then returned to school again, and began finding herself in trouble, trouble that gained her the eye of el Hefe. From there I began to worry not about the political injustice, but about the welfare of my sister.
M:So what you’re saying is that you never really felt affected?
D: Personally? At that point in time, no. I feared for the safety of my loved ones, but blamed them for putting themselves in danger. Someone else would fight the battle, Minerva just needed to find a good man and stay away from the Capitol.
M: So when did the others begin to get involved?
D:Minerva had been fighting for our freedom long before the others. Somehow Mate ended up at school in the Capitol, at which point Minerva had found a partner in crime. They got her first, and she had a spirit in her. Minerva had the brains, and Mate had the willpower.
M:What about Patria? When did she come into the picture?
D: Patria came later. After losing her baby, she felt an open space in her heart she needed to fill. Nelson was growing up, and after a close encounter with the revolution, she realized she couldn’t lose him too. She found herself opening her heart and home to the cause. Soon enough, they were storing weapons and ammunition in her little girls bedroom closet.
M: Alright, and if I remember correctly, this is about when you tried to get involved, correct?
D: You could say that. I was having a tough time with my marriage, my husband controlled my every move and thought, and held my sons above me. I saw how determined and dedicated my sisters and their families were to our futures, and wanted to be a part of it all as well. But I didn’t have the heart or the willpower. My husband not only kept me from turning against el Hefe, but called the police on my sisters to stay in good standing. It broke my heart.
M: What provoked them to risk their lives for their country?
D: “They each had their own reasons for revolution, whether to fight for a better country, for justice, freedom, or simply just a better life for their children. They were living in forced poverty, fear, oppression… it was like continuously pushing them down. They all had an inner fire, a desire to get back up after getting pushed down. They managed to look deep inside themselves and find what they really and truly wanted. They reflected on the lives that they were living as well as the others around them. They realized that something needed to change, and realized it would need to be them. They knew society’s expectations, but they knew what they needed as well. They were young when the old were in control. They were women in a patriotic society. They were repressed when others had the resources to create change. They reflected on their situations and realized if change was to happen, they needed to be the catalysts. They were no damsels in distress, they were ready to fight for their friends and families, and their fellow countrymen and women." (7)
M: Now that you are no longer together, do you feel you made the right decision? Not that you especially had a choice in the matter, but would you have followed your sister’s lead?
D: It’s hard to say. I wanted to give my boys a brighter future, but I felt that by staying out of trouble with the government would give it to them. I was envious of my sisters’ willpower and determination, but I think that they also sacrificed too much to the cause. Their motherless children may love their freedom, but I don’t know if they would trade their parents for it if they had gotten to choose. While many times I wish I had been with them that day so I wouldn’t have to suffer the losses, I feel like I am fulfilling my own important role. Minerva was the brains, Mate the fire, Patria the glue, and me? I am the one who gets to spread their story for generations. It may hurt when I reflect on all that I have lost, but I beam with pride when I reflect on how much we have gained from them. It is an honor to spread their story.
M: Thank you so much for your time, Ms. Mirabal, and I'm sure I will have many more questions for you after going through all these items!
M: Ms. Mirabal, are you ready to begin?
D: Yes, yes, question away dear.
M: Okay. Well my first question to you is simple, can you tell me about what it was like growing up under Trujillo’s rule? When did you really start to realize the injustice?
D: Jumping right in aren’t we? Well, my early memories are mostly happy ones. Playing with my dolls, riding on Papa’s shoulders through the fields, helping Mama cook tamales… it wasn’t really until Minerva went off to school that I really began to notice anything was off. Even then, it was a few years before I was old enough to realize anything. But even if I realized it, I just brushed it off. We were happy, and Papa was successful. We always had food on the table and I never wanted for anything significant. I chose to focus my attention on boys instead, while Patria focused on beginning a family, Maria Teresa with her dolls and hair, and Minerva with her freedoms.
M:So when did you begin to feel affected by Trujillo?
D: Once Minerva started coming home from school and talking with Papa, I began noticing a change in her. It was like a fire was lit in her heart, and some endless resource was fueling it. She started off by asking lots of questions that Papa and Mama couldn’t or wouldn’t answer. She would return to school, and come home with answers, answers that weren’t supposed to be spoken. She then returned to school again, and began finding herself in trouble, trouble that gained her the eye of el Hefe. From there I began to worry not about the political injustice, but about the welfare of my sister.
M:So what you’re saying is that you never really felt affected?
D: Personally? At that point in time, no. I feared for the safety of my loved ones, but blamed them for putting themselves in danger. Someone else would fight the battle, Minerva just needed to find a good man and stay away from the Capitol.
M: So when did the others begin to get involved?
D:Minerva had been fighting for our freedom long before the others. Somehow Mate ended up at school in the Capitol, at which point Minerva had found a partner in crime. They got her first, and she had a spirit in her. Minerva had the brains, and Mate had the willpower.
M:What about Patria? When did she come into the picture?
D: Patria came later. After losing her baby, she felt an open space in her heart she needed to fill. Nelson was growing up, and after a close encounter with the revolution, she realized she couldn’t lose him too. She found herself opening her heart and home to the cause. Soon enough, they were storing weapons and ammunition in her little girls bedroom closet.
M: Alright, and if I remember correctly, this is about when you tried to get involved, correct?
D: You could say that. I was having a tough time with my marriage, my husband controlled my every move and thought, and held my sons above me. I saw how determined and dedicated my sisters and their families were to our futures, and wanted to be a part of it all as well. But I didn’t have the heart or the willpower. My husband not only kept me from turning against el Hefe, but called the police on my sisters to stay in good standing. It broke my heart.
M: What provoked them to risk their lives for their country?
D: “They each had their own reasons for revolution, whether to fight for a better country, for justice, freedom, or simply just a better life for their children. They were living in forced poverty, fear, oppression… it was like continuously pushing them down. They all had an inner fire, a desire to get back up after getting pushed down. They managed to look deep inside themselves and find what they really and truly wanted. They reflected on the lives that they were living as well as the others around them. They realized that something needed to change, and realized it would need to be them. They knew society’s expectations, but they knew what they needed as well. They were young when the old were in control. They were women in a patriotic society. They were repressed when others had the resources to create change. They reflected on their situations and realized if change was to happen, they needed to be the catalysts. They were no damsels in distress, they were ready to fight for their friends and families, and their fellow countrymen and women." (7)
M: Now that you are no longer together, do you feel you made the right decision? Not that you especially had a choice in the matter, but would you have followed your sister’s lead?
D: It’s hard to say. I wanted to give my boys a brighter future, but I felt that by staying out of trouble with the government would give it to them. I was envious of my sisters’ willpower and determination, but I think that they also sacrificed too much to the cause. Their motherless children may love their freedom, but I don’t know if they would trade their parents for it if they had gotten to choose. While many times I wish I had been with them that day so I wouldn’t have to suffer the losses, I feel like I am fulfilling my own important role. Minerva was the brains, Mate the fire, Patria the glue, and me? I am the one who gets to spread their story for generations. It may hurt when I reflect on all that I have lost, but I beam with pride when I reflect on how much we have gained from them. It is an honor to spread their story.
M: Thank you so much for your time, Ms. Mirabal, and I'm sure I will have many more questions for you after going through all these items!