Maymie de Mena (December 10, 1879 - October 23, 1953, also known as Maymie Aiken or Madame DeMena Aiken in a later career) was a birth activist America who became one of the highest officers in the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA). He has been credited with keeping the organization alive after Marcus Garvey's conviction for mail fraud and deportation from the United States.
De Mena was born into the Creole family at St. Martin Parish, Louisiana, and obtained his education in the United States before marrying Nicaraguans and moving to Central America. After a decade in which he raised a daughter and taught school, she divorced, returned to the US, and joined UNIA. Rapidly promoted by an interpreter, since he is fluent in Spanish, de Mena became one of the leaders of the pan-African movement. He is responsible for increasing membership of organizations in the Caribbean and Latin America. When Garvey left the US and moved to Jamaica, de Mena became Garvey's official representative in New York and was the first woman to have a very high distinction in the organization.
After Garvey moved to London, de Mena, now remarried and organized himself as Madame Aiken, directing his attention to the issues of women and children in Jamaica. She fights for women's suffrage and birth control rights, while establishing trade organizations to help working class women improve their economic status.
Early life
Leonie Turpeau was born on December 10, 1879, on a farm on the eastern edge of Bayou Teche near St. Louis. Martinville, St. Martin Parish, Louisiana, to Isabella Hill (nÃÆ'Â © e Regis or Reggis) and Michel Turpeau Jr. His father's grandfather, Michel Turpeau Sr. is a color-free man from Martinique who once worked as a shipwreck and later at the Banker plantation, allowing him to buy a small piece of land and bringing Guianese's wife, Odeline "Dina", to Louisiana. Mrs. Turpaeu is the daughter of Maturin Regis, once a slave in Virginia, and Carrie Hill a Louisiana Creole woman. Wedding between Michael Jr. and Isabella caused anxiety from its beginnings, since the Louisiana community usually did not approve of freedmen marrying former slaves.
Turpeau is the seventh brother in the family. Biography in Garvey's collection shows that he was educated personally and also studied at Metropolitan Business College in New York City, Greensboro Commercial College in Greensboro, North Carolina and at the University of New Orleans. The University of New Orleans was not founded until 1956, but Carrie, Turpeau's sister studied at Gilbert Academy, an agricultural/industrial college founded for freedman who later became part of the University of New Orleans. The university record shows three alumni between 1895 and 1917 with the Turpeau family name: Carrie B. who graduated in 1899, Angella (a younger sister) who graduated in 1906 from both the College of Liberal Arts, and Mary L. (nÃÆ'Â © e Turpeau) Thompson, then Hammett who graduated in 1899 from a normal school. Both Carrie and Mary L. Turpeau are from St. Martinville.
Reconstruction and riots, coupled with the application of Jim Crow law in Louisiana, caused most of the Turpeau family to leave the area and become professionals in the north. David DeWitt became a renowned preacher and a member of the Ohio House of Representatives and his daughter, Leontine T. Kelly, born in Washington, D.C. was the first black women's bishop of the United Methodist Church. George lives in Louisiana, living in Lake Charles, which is very close to Jennings, the destination of several future trips of Turpeau from Nicaragua.
Turpeau, instead of moving north, chose to go south to Bluefields, Nicaragua, with her new husband Francisco Hiberto Mena (aka Francis or Frank in English sources), a Creole planter, activist and journalist. When or where they meet or marry is unknown. On May 12, 1912, Maymie Leona Turpeau de Mena, as she now styled herself, sailed in S.S. Dictator from Bluefields, to New Orleans. His passenger records indicate he will be visiting his sister in Jennings, Louisiana, born in St. Louis. Martinville, and declared his citizenship "Nicaragua by marriage". By the time de Mena arrived at Bluefields, Mosquito Coast had switched from the British protectorate to the Nicaraguan capital of the Zelaya Department with a strong commercial relationship to the United States. The society is quite storied with white North Americans in the highest social position followed by Mestizos and upper class Creoles, the European mixed race elite. Those with darker skins from Asia, the Caribbean, and indigenous peoples have lower status. Although de Mena manages himself as a Spanish American, he will be considered part of the Afro-Caribbean diaspora.
Video Maymie de Mena
Liquid identity
By the time de Mena married Francisco Mena, US law stated that he lost his American citizenship and got her husband. Until the Cable Law was passed in 1922, he would not be able to regain American citizenship. Thus, his statement that he "Nicaragua through marriage" is accurate, unless he has petitioned the Naturalization Bureau to regain his citizenship. Because he used a Nicaraguan passport in 1926 to get Pullman's place, he had not been nationalized back at that time. In 1936, other US laws were passed that allowed women who had lost their nationality by marrying strangers between 1907 and 1922 to cancel the request for naturalization, only if their spouse had died or the couple had divorced and if the woman was willing to swear an oath of allegiance. But at the moment, de Mena is marrying a Cameroonian and a Jamaican. Although French law, under which part of its jurisdiction of Cameroon falls, was amended in 1927 to enable women to retain their citizenship at marriage, Nicaragua and English law, under its jurisdiction both the rest of Cameroon and Jamaica fell, still held in 1933 a women lose their citizenship when they get married again and become strangers with their spouse's citizenship.
Although not a native of Nicaragua, living in a storied social order of Hispanic country, de Mena was able to empathize with Afro-Latina's dissatisfaction on its journey through Latin America to UNIA and he spoke in their language. De Mena's identity shifted as needed. When he was denied a place in a Pullman car, de Mena used a Nicaraguan passport to get one. On the ship's passenger manifest, he claimed to be African, colored, Negro, Spanish American, West Indian and white on various voyages and known to travel well in both Nicaraguan and British passports. On the other hand, the "stranger" is often challenged by the male hierarchy, which has problems with its autonomy. In the same way, he was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation for its activities and relations with foreigners. De Mena, dedicated to improving her race, uses her shifting identity for political purposes. Duncan's eyes, even observing that he chose her husband based on whether they can advance the cause of racial improvement and get rid of it when they become obligations or do not support their goals.
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Careers
Nicaragua
While de Mena may have been involved with the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA) at Bluefields, as he later claimed, there is no documentation that affirms his participation in organizations in Nicaragua. UNIA, founded by Marcus Garvey in 1914, is a Pan-African movement with the dual purpose of bringing self-authority to blacks around the world and taking on African ownership as a Negro right. De Mena's husband was a member of the Union Club, serving as vice president for several terms in the 1920s, which would give him access to the Creole elite. She is also involved with the Bluefields Weekly , a local English-language newspaper. Both serve as a mechanism for the political mobilization of the Creole population and although women are not allowed to become club members, they are active in regulating political influence. In 1913, de Mena enlisted his work on the return journey as a nurse but within the next four years, he arranged himself as a housewife. He also traveled that year to Panama, to give birth to his daughter Berniza I. Mena who was born in Panama City on February 26, 1913. In 1917, de Mena showed his work as a scribe and in 1919 La Información The newspaper publishes ads for schools run by de Mena where he teaches English, French, bookkeeping, music, short writing and typing. In 1922, de Mena returned to the United States with his daughter. The passenger manifesto indicates he's divorced. He will settle near his family members in Chicago.
United States
Around the time when de Mena returned to the US, a convention took place at Liberty Hall, UNIA headquarters in Harlem. The organizational structure is patriarchal, with a clear portrayal of gender roles. Women are meant to be virtuous mothers, who need protection and protective men and their mighty warriors. Though not on the agenda of 1922, women's delegates lifted a set of resolutions wishing to gain more autonomy, leadership positions and authority without male supervision. Marcus Garveus changed the resolutions so that they had little real influence, but the event marked a turning point and increased women's leadership in the organization. In 1929 although the organization suffered a decline, 39.5% of the delegates were women, increasing to 49.1% in 1938. In various ways, women began to part with the UNIA philosophy on issues they felt, such as a woman's right to controlling his own children and the use of birth control, as well as women's opposition to their lack of political power. De Mena's leadership of UNIA, as a single mother, "proves that [women] are intellectually equipped to be local leaders and transnational policymakers within the organization." Immediately after the convention, Garvey was arrested on fraudulent allegations of a letter involving the Black Star Line scheme to bring American Negros "home" to Liberia. He was jailed and given a five-year sentence, but appealed against his conviction and was released on bail.
De Mena joined the UNIA in Chicago and in 1924 was sent as a delegate to the annual convention in Harlem. At the service, he asked the leadership to acknowledge Daughters of Ethiopia, a group of honors who contributed to racial repairs, as UNIA's official maid. By getting organizational approval, female members of UNIA get recognition for their contributions. In 1925, Henrietta Vinton Davis toured the Caribbean and was accompanied by de Mena, who served as translator and organizer on the trip. De Mena proved successful in fundraising and recruiting new members, and his language skills with Spanish were rewarded with a higher salary than Davis'. By the time the women returned, now enjoying a reputation as a motivational speaker, de Mena was asked to join Garvey on stage on July 5, 1925, to call for unity. Garvey lost his appeal for his fraud case that same year and was handed over to the Atlanta Jail. Throughout the summer and fall of that year, de Mena accompanied Amy Jacques-Garvey on a talking tour covering many major cities in the Midwest, along the Atantic coast and into New Orleans. The tour strengthened his position in Garvey's inner circle. At an emergency convention in 1926, de Mena was elected as an international organizing assistant and the following year replaced Davis as fourth vice-president, becoming Garvey's official representative. She keeps close contact with her both through correspondence and visits despite her travel itinerary. After Garvey was released from prison in 1927 and deported to Jamaica, de Mena led a parade of UNIA celebrating through Kingston. Perched on a horse and swinging a sword, he is a visible symbol of the Crusade woman.
In 1928, de Mena married a Cameroon medical student, Milton Tube Ebimber, who had studied in Germany, Japan and China and spoke several African, Asian and European languages. He was studying medicine at Columbia University when they got married. Their luxurious wedding, where the bride was given by her brother, David DeWitt Turpeau, was held at UNIA's Liberty Hall headquarters which attracted extensive coverage in the black newspapers. Immediately after the marriage, Ebimber was arrested and imprisoned in New York State Prison on a bigami charge. In 1929, he again used de Mena as his last name. Beginning in 1928 and until he turned to the Father Divine movement, de Mena was the most visible officer in UNIA. He is the key to increasing membership in organizations in the Caribbean and Spanish-speaking South American regions. When Garvey reorganized the movement in 1929, he became an international organizer and official in charge of America. He sat in the pulpit at the convention that year and on his conclusion returned to the United States as his official representative. The following year, Garvey appointed de Mena the officer in charge of North America and his personal representative in the US, as he formally broke away with UNIA, Inc. in New York and created the Universal Negroid Enhancement Association and the African Community League of the World operating from Jamaica. "Strong, mesmerizing and enchanting style" De Mena played a key role in keeping the movement alive after Garvey's deportation from the US. When Davis abandoned the movement in 1931, de Mena became the only leader, although many challenged his authority. Around the same time, de Mena reorganized the Costa Rican Port LimÃÆ'³n branch of UNIA, after factionalism had created a local branch that competed for authority with the parent organization.
As director of the newspaper UNIA Negro World from 1932, de Mena worked with Jacques-Garvey to create a women's yard, opening a new land at the time. Jacques-Garvey has introduced "Our Women and What They Think", with articles focusing on women's activism, not on fashion or household tips. They use the voice of Negro World to give African diaspora members a different narrative than the ones that are lower than the races that are generally presented in the media. In a racially-filled environment in the 1930s, black women were often described as immoral people. Through women's page articles, women are encouraged to increase race through motherhood; the articles helped change the perception of African-Caribbean women by affirming the honor of women. In Costa Rica, where they were denied citizenship, Western Indian women argued that they deserve to be citizens. The UNIA chapters have sprung up in countries from Brazil through Mexico and throughout the West Indies. Although Caribbean migrants to the regions accounted for part of the membership, not all of those interested in Garveyism were immigrants from the West Indies. The Negro World has a Spanish section that contains news about issues affecting Afro-Latinos. Under de Mena's leadership, it was obviously feminist. He urges members to fight for women's rights and to remove restrictions on the role they are given.
Jamaica
On June 11, 1932, de Mena married Percy Aiken, a contractor and Jamaican activist, who would become an officer on Bahá¡A Faith on the island. Garvey tried to bring UNIA back to the previous status of Jamaica, continued to write articles for Negro World and developed two other short papers, The Blackman and The New Jamaican >, but all have been folded by 1933. In 1934, now adopting his husband's surname and styled as "Madame Aiken" he started a newspaper using pressure from Negro World called World Echo . While the paper seems to be another organ for UNIA, many articles are devoted to the Divine Father's Peace Mission. Aiken used the paper to call for anti-piracy laws and fight for African-American civil rights, including liberation in "spiritual, economic, political and industrial emancipation." The Father Divine movement was in direct conflict with Garvey, where Garvey insisted on racial consciousness and sanctity, while Divine argued that the race was unimportant and that blacks had to integrate into a larger society. The opposite voices of these two movements are difficult for Aiken and the other members of the diaspora to make peace. He finally closed the newspaper office and UNIA in New York, moved to Jamaica in 1935. Although he continued some involvement with UNIA until the 1950s, the organization suffered a setback. Garvey's financial problems resulted in foreclosures at his home, and in 1935, he moved to London permanently. Around the same time, Aiken withdrew his support from Father Divine and revived the World Echo to the World of Ethiopia. Although many left Garvey, Aiken maintained a good relationship with him until his death.
Aiken is increasingly involved in social work, joining the Women's Liberal Club and the Council of Trade Unions. He supports a variety of causes including improving conditions for children and orphans, hygiene and licensing rules for beauticians, care facilities for parents, better schools, and government waste control. Aiken served as Secretary of the Save the Children organization and became a member of the executive board until his death. He is also involved in the birth control movement alongside other reformers like Amy Bailey and May Farquharson. He believes that until women can plan the size of their own families, they will not be able to improve the economic, educational, or moral status of the black community because they will not be able to devote quality support to a large number of children. He joined the Bustamante Industrial Workers Union (BITU) and although most of the organizations did not involve women, he stressed the social and economic improvements for women. Aiken also helped establish a union for tailors, founded the Housecraft Training Center and was the only woman serving on the Council of Trade Unions.
In 1939, when Mary Morris Knibb launched his offer to sit in the Kingston/Saint Andrew Parish Council, Aiken was a supporter and faithful campaigner. After Knibb's victory, Aiken deployed UNIA and other organizations for a victory celebration for the first woman elected to the political office in Jamaica. That same year, he traveled back to the US, partly to entertain one of his sick sisters, but also visited the Birth Control Research Bureau, attended a lecture at Howard University and participated in a round table discussion with the National Women's Party. When Garvey died in 1940 and the following year the UNIA Commissioner in Jamaica resigned, Aiken submitted as a substitute. He continued to press for women's political participation, entering his own local elections in 1947. Although he did not win, he encouraged others to vote for female candidates.
In 1949, Aiken became president of the UNIAN Garvey Division and served in that capacity until his resignation in July of the following year. He was eventually appointed by UNIA Inc. in New York as Commissioner for Cuba, Central America and Jamaica in 1952. He was president of the Women's Liberal Club when he boarded the ship in September 1953 to see a doctor in the United States.
Death and inheritance
Aiken died on October 23, 1953, due to cancer and was buried at the Graceland Cemetery in Chicago. A year after Aiken's death, his portrait was inaugurated by Lady Foot, wife of Governor of the Foot and donated to the Housecraft Training Center, a facility established by Aiken to teach domestic science.
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Source of the article : Wikipedia
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