Non-Western American – Manchester Historian

When a controversial bill is passed through Parliament in England, the streets surrounding Westminster may suddenly turn red or blue, either in support or opposition. Sometimes the streets turn into a rainbow. Yet in Argentina, the streets near the Palace of the Argentine National Congress have turned green for over two decades.

Many people will have differing opinions, however, there is no singular definition of Eva Perón’s legacy nor a homogenous discourse concerning her to be either good or evil.

Frida Kahlo’s legacy lives on today, not just because of her work, but because of herself as an individual. She was a resilient, creative, free-spirited person and her work continues to impact feminism and other communities. Her art was boundary-breaking and the transparency in her work continues to remind people that the moulds and boxes society attempts to put people in can be broken.

Throughout history, women have often played a pivotal but underappreciated role in political resistance. Traditional gender norms of the mid-20th century placed women in less political roles; they were subservient housewives. In reality, many women have been crucial in the fight against totalitarian regimes, the Mirabals illustrating as such.

When Pêro Vaz de Caminha arrived in Brazil on the 22nd of April 1500 aboard Pedro Alvares Cabral’s voyage of ‘discovery’, he was awestruck. The letter he wrote to the Portuguese King Manuel I is in stark contrast to those written by other explorers of the period.