Celestina Cordero y Molina: A Legacy of Labor, Gender, and Racial Equity

Celestina Cordero y Molina opened the first girls’ school in Puerto Rico. Cordero y Molina was an Afroboricua and lived as a liberta, or free Black woman, before abolishing slavery in Puerto Rico. She was influenced by her parents and brother, fellow teacher Rafael Cordero y Molina, to become a teacher, and her school was noted for its revolutionary framework. That is, she broke gender stereotypes and taught female students. She also broke down racist and socioeconomic barriers and created a school where students from all backgrounds learned together. Celestina Cordero y Molina was immortalized in the government ledgers for her fight to secure the funds her school needed to serve the over 100 students in attendance. She is also known for her fight to be acknowledged as a teacher by the Spanish government, a crucial step to her claim for remuneration and a pension. Celestina Cordero y Molina put into practice her beliefs of racial equity and gender and labor rights, embodying decolonizing structures to dismantle systems of oppression.