She wasn’t trying to write history the way it had been accepted. She was trying to ask, ‘what if the version we’ve been handed is wrong?’ 
@KnitWithDeborah talking about Barbara G. Walker‘s work

Barbara Walker’s ideas were about history with a capital H. But this can easily be applied to individual histories and it is now serving as validation for my own perspective in the telling of my grandmother’s story. Questioning and counteracting the meager ‘official’ record and family narrative of her story with a totally different perspective is something that is long overdue. Who says any of what has been handed down is even close to ‘right?’ I know for sure it is neither complex nor nuanced enough but I am just about as sure these narratives are significantly biased (both politically and socially) and certainly not even close to ‘right,’ let alone just or fair.

This is my personal declaration that I – like all humans – have my own bias and that my interpretations about most of what we have been told about my grandmother is likely to differ from others, in some cases radically so. I don’t expect all, or even many, will agree with my perspectives; that’s OK. But if you don’t, I would ask that you might at least entertain the possibility that there is more than one way to frame these things, these stories and the narratives that have been put forth by those on one extreme of the spectrum, to the exclusion of any others, silenced by the intolerance that all too often leads to horrific cruelty and destruction. Also to consider that just because there is some “official” document, signed and stamped by “important” people, that does not in any way guarantee their version is historically accurate. In fact, in situations like what took place in Spain during the civil war, those versions are often quite suspect.

In telling my grandmother’s story, my goal will be to follow a similar compass to the one I chose for my dog rescue work. My ‘true north’ then was that my top priority was to do my very best to meet the needs and interests of the dogs, not the wants and agendas of the humans involved – including my own – in any aspect of the work. My critical ‘job description’ was to be a dog advocate, all other considerations were secondary. And in the telling of my grandmother’s story, especially when there is little else to go on, my ‘assignment’ is to be her advocate, because it has always been obvious to me there was no one being that in her life and that continued to be the case after her death.

Someone needs to be her voice, the voice that was so utterly and brutally silenced by the people in her life who could not tolerate her ideas, her opinions. I need to find the courage or whatever it is it requires, to put all other considerations aside; my worries about being perceived as “speculative,” offending anyone, or my own hesitation and fear of judgement for voicing uncomfortable truths that have been kept silent and repressed for way too long. I don’t expect agreement; I don’t expect understanding but I will make no apologies for giving voice to alternative perspectives, for being my grandmother’s ally.

What was done to my grandmother – like so many throughout history and sadly still today – was intended to serve as a warning to any others who had the audacity to step out of line, to believe they had the right to have their own mind, their own opinions, ideals that challenged the status quo, and that they had the right to freely express their ideas. These are fundamental human rights. Any ideology, any political or social group, any individual who insists on eliminating those basic human rights and silencing anyone who they see as a threat to their narrow-minded worldview, who would eradicate dissent, are by definition on the wrong path to a better world and a more evolved humanity.

“The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.” I do ultimately believe that Martin Luther King, Jr. was right, but this will only happen if we work relentlessly in the direction of justice. It will not happen without our constant vigilance and by following the example of others who have shown us what it looks like to stand up to the forces that, just as relentlessly, work towards injustice.

And it is about time my grandmother’s life, her story, her rare courage and strength be celebrated and honored instead of lost to memory. This world is in dire need of more like her … not less.