Silvia Agüero (born 24 August 1985) is a Spanish feminist writer and

human rights activist A human rights defender or human rights activist is a person who, individually or with others, acts to promote or protect human rights. They can be journalists, environmentalists, whistleblowers, trade unionists, lawyers, teachers, housing campai ...

who recovers the memory of the oppression of the ''

gitanos The Romani in Spain, generally known by the Endonym and exonym, endonym ''Calé'', or the Endonym and exonym, exonym (), belong to the Romani people#Romani subgroups, Iberian Romani subgroup known as Calé, with smaller populations in Portugal ...

''.

Biography

Silvia Agüero Fernández was born in

Vallecas Vallecas was a municipality of Spain that disappeared as such in 1950, when its annexation to the municipality of Madrid took place. Nowadays, the territory is roughly occupied by two districts: Puente de Vallecas (population 240,917) and V ...

(a district in Madrid) into a gadjo family who espoused an anti-gypsy ideology. Silvia became aware of what it meant to belong to

Romani society and culture Romani culture encompasses the regional cultures of the Romani people. These cultures have developed through complex histories of interaction with their surrounding populations. Romani people constitute the largest ethnic minority in Europe. ...

and created an intercultural association led by Roma people: (We intend to Romaize the World). She leads the (Revolution of the Roma Roses), an activist group against abuse during childbirth. She coordinates the ."Silvia Agüero Fernández" – Asambleas Autonómicas 2020 She collaborates with the community radio station Radio Vallekas, with ''Pikara Magazine'', and with . While living in

La Rioja La Rioja () is an autonomous communities in Spain, autonomous community and provinces of Spain, province in Spain, in the north of the Iberian Peninsula. Its capital is Logroño. Other List of municipalities in La Rioja, cities and towns in the ...

, Agüero appeared on the Podemos lists for the 2020 municipal elections. Among her inspirations are the flamenco singer La Paquera de Jerez, the lawyer Pastora Filigrana, and Rosa Cortés, the protagonist of the Great Gypsy Round-up of 1749. In the book ''Resistencias Gitanas'', written together with Nicolás Jiménez, they denounce the erasure of the history of the gypsy people. Examples of this are the absence of Roma repression in the school curriculum, the ignorance of the model of resistance of Roma women to the laws of Felipe II, or the questioning of the anti-Roma cultural model, such as the stereotype of '' La gitanilla'' by

Miguel de Cervantes Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra ( ; ; 29 September 1547 (assumed) – 22 April 1616 Old Style and New Style dates, NS) was a Spanish writer widely regarded as the greatest writer in the Spanish language and one of the world's pre-eminent novelist ...

. All of this is behind the discrimination that the Roma people continue to face. In 2022, together with the actress and director Nüll García, and with the acting support of Pamela Palenciano, Agüero created the theatrical

monologue In theatre, a monologue (also known as monolog in North American English) (in , from μόνος ''mónos'', "alone, solitary" and λόγος ''lógos'', "speech") is a speech presented by a single character, most often to express their thoughts ...

, at the Teatro del Barrio that deconstructs the historical public image of gypsy women from 1499 to the present. García directs Agüero in this work whose name is inspired by the title of the documentary film ''

I Am Not Your Negro ''I Am Not Your Negro'' is a 2016 documentary film and social critique film essay directed by Raoul Peck, based on James Baldwin's unfinished manuscript '' Remember This House''. Narrated by actor Samuel L. Jackson, the film explores the his ...

'', based on the work of the American writer and

civil rights Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' political freedom, freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and ...

activist,

James Baldwin James Arthur Baldwin (né Jones; August 2, 1924 – December 1, 1987) was an American writer and civil rights activist who garnered acclaim for his essays, novels, plays, and poems. His 1953 novel '' Go Tell It on the Mountain'' has been ranked ...

Selected works

* 2019 – ''Disidencia en el cuerpo: perspectivas feministas.'' VVAA. Editorial Menades. * 2020 – ''Resistencias gitanas.'' Junto a Nicolás Jiménez. Libros.com. * 2021 – ''Pretendemos Gitanizar el mundo.'' Revista. VVAA. * 2022 – ''Mi Feminismo es Gitano''. Monograph with Maria Ágeles Fernández. ''Píkara Magazine''. * 2022 – ''No soy tu gitana.'' with Nüll García. Monólogo teatral.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Aguero, Silvia 1985 births Living people Spanish Romani people 21st-century Spanish writers 21st-century Spanish women writers Writers from Madrid Spanish feminist writers Women human rights activists Spanish anti-racism activists Romani feminists