When I was young, I used to pretend to be Xena, the Warrior Princess. I would wear my mother’s leather jacket, grab the removable stove ring, and run around the apartment screaming Xena-esque dialogue. After ten minutes, my mother would tell me to stop and read a book. Instead of reading, I’d become the great Maa Yaa Asantewaa. She was the queen mother of Ejisu in the Ashanti Empire (modern-day Ghana); she led her people into battle with the British in 1900. The War of the Golden Stool, or the Yaa Asantewaa War, was a war against British colonialism. I used to pretend I was fighting colonialism or whatever other villain character I could think of. Xena and Yaa’s confidence and courage fascinated me, and I wanted to be like them.

I started to wonder if there were other women like Yaa Asantewaa—real warrior princesses. So, I did what any eight- or nine-year-old would do: go to the library and look for books. I’d ask the librarian to help me search for revolutionary warriors. When I wasn’t reading Amy Tan or pretending to cure cancer like Marie Currie, I’d search for real warrior princesses or women who fought in revolutions. I had a notebook filled with these revolutionaries and tried to emulate the styles of my favorite revolutionaries, whom I have dubbed WarriHers.

What Is a Revolutionary WarriHer?

Is it someone like Captain Nieves Fernandez, a schoolteacher turned assassin, who fought, ambushed, and killed 200 Japanese soldiers all by herself during the Japanese invasion of the Philippines during World War II? Known as the “Silent Killer,” she carried a makeshift shotgun and was known for her knife skills. Her specialty: slicing the carotid artery and jugular of her enemies. When she wasn’t teaching kids, ambushing invaders, or protecting her homeland, she trained 110 guerilla soldiers, freed villages, and comforted women.

But does a revolutionary WarriHer only fight on the battlefield?

A revolutionary can also be WarriHer Felicia Elizondo, a Trans activist and AIDS survivor who famously led the Compton’s Cafeteria riot, a historic LGBT community uprising in 1966. The riot was in response to police harassment and violence inflicted on drag queens and trans people in San Francisco. Besides leading the Cafeteria riot, Elizondo—a nurse’s aide, drag queen, receptionist, and sex worker—advocated for and worked with organizations like Pets Are Wonderful Support (PAWS) and the Shanti Project to improve the quality of life for people with AIDS. She also worked with other trans women of color to combat racism in the San Francisco community. Elizondo continued to fight for trans rights and against police brutality until her death in May 2021.

A revolutionary WarriHer can also be someone like Alaa Salah; she became a symbol of resistance in Sudan in 2019 when she stood on top of a car and led protesters through powerful chants against the country’s former president Omar al-Bashir.

Or a revolutionary WarriHer could be my favorite pirate, Ching Shih, who honestly needs a post of her own because once I start talking about her courage and her saving the lives of women in captivity, I might not stop.

This July to October, Amplify will introduce a new series called Revolutionary WarriHers, where we’ll share stories of revolutionary women who fought on and off the battlefield. The ones who started and ended revolutions, changed views of women in battle, fought for freedom for all, and of course, caused a lot of trouble.

Tune in as we amplify these infamous but often unknown women who influenced nations and changed women’s lives worldwide.

Joycelyn lives in Cypress, Texas. She’s the daughter of immigrants and did not go to law school, but she received three degrees (BA, MA, MPH) and is happily freelancing and working in the nonprofit world. She enjoys writing about healthcare recruitment and even worked as a Healthcare Organizer. When she’s not writing, she’s transcribing, developing community toolkits, and researching womxn’s history. Which is why she’s excited about writing for AMPLIFY. On her off days, she spends her time on Twitter, reminding everyone to drink water and enabling others to watch more dramas. Follow her on Twitter: @jg_humanitarian