“Hereisavoiceseldomheard,thevoiceofLatinAmerica’smajority,thosewhobeartheburdensofsociety.IfwearetounderstandHonduras,CentralAmerica,or,forthatmatter,LatinAmerica,wemustlistenattentivelytothisvoice.Ithasmuchtoteachus.Itcommandsthefuture.“--E.BradfordBurns,ProfessorofHistory,UCLADon’tbeAfraid,Gringoistheaward-winningoralhistoryofElviaAlvarado,acourageouscampesina[peasant]activistinHonduras,thepoorestcountryinCentralAmerica.TrainedbytheCatholicChurchtoorganizewomen’sgroupstocombatmalnutrition,Alvaradobegantoquestionwhycampesinosweremalnourishedtobeginwith.Hergrowingpoliticalawareness,hertravelsbyfoot,overthebackroadsofHonduras,andherconversationswithpeoplefromalloverthecountryhavegivenherinsightsintotheinternalworkingsofhersocietythatfarsurpassthoseofthemajorityofcampesinoswhohaveneverventuredfromtheirvillages.Workingasacampesinoorganizer,Alvaradohasleddangerouslandrecoveryactionsinanefforttoenforcethenationallandreformlaws.Asaresultoftheseactions,shehasbeenharassed,jailed,andtorturedatthehandsoftheHonduranmilitary.SkillfullytranslatedandeditedbyMedeaBenjamin,anexpertonCentralAmerica,Don’tBeAfraid,GringotakesusintotheheartofcampesinostruggleandpoliticalconflictinHondurastoday.
