<p>During the First War of Independence in Cuba, pro-Spanish propagandists spread degrading representations of enslaved and free Afro-descendant women throughout the Spanish Atlantic. Representations of racialised women were central to colonial imaginations and efforts to curtail support for the insurgents inside and outside the island. These stereotyped visions contrasted with the actual participation of African and Afro-descendant women in the insurrection, despite the racism of White rebel leaders. While a gendered colonial imaginary centred around Black women moved back and forth across the Atlantic, actual African and Afro-descendant women were trying to find ways to seek freedom by taking part in the war and by expressing their anti-colonial politics in the face of military prosecution.</p>