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Three Rebel Queens
In 1848 the emancipation of all slaves in the West Indies was declared but that didn’t exactly change anything. Various African Americans were still forced into slavery and had to work under slave-like conditions. After a long time of built-up anger and oppression, the African Americans finally rebelled. Is Mary Thomas, Alexline Elizabeth Salomon, and Matilda McLean are the three queens who organized the people and let the rebellion, therefore, today they are known as “The Three Rebel Queens.” On October 1, 1878, the workers, working in the Croix plantations came together to protest for their inhumane treatments. They were awful working conditions. In the beginning, the protest was peaceful but after rumors were spread of African Americans being murdered by the Danish soldiers, the protest then became violent. The rioters then rule stones out of the game soldier and the Danish soldiers responded with gunfire. The protest became so violent that soldiers had to barricade themselves inside a fort. The African laborers destroyed everything in their path by setting fire to homes and Burning down Sugar Mills and plantations. They burned down half of the city of Frederiksted. The Crucian women add people who lead and organize this rebellion known as the fire burn. These women were included in multiple different riots and continue to encourage people to seek freedom, blood and fire. The danish people arrested 400 rebels on average and 12 were sentenced to death or shot on the spot. The rebel queens Life sentences were definitely not shortened. Queen Mary Thomas was the most famous of the three queens as she is known to be involved in almost every riot in St Croix. Once she even called for the decapitation of the black slaves that did not join the rebellion. She was extremely active in vandalism and she was sentenced to death for looting and arson. Matilda Matilda joined the rebellion at the age of just 21. She left behind three children including a four month old daughter to participate in the rebellion and burn down the island. They served their sentence in Copenhagen in 1887 until they were sent back to St Croix to serve the remainder of their sentence. To honor the sacrifice the locals in the West Indies not a fountain the fountain stands on a hill above Charlotte Amalie City.
Marcella Nunez Smith
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Marcella Nunez Smith is the head of the COVID Equity Task Force, recently appointed by the Biden administration. She was born in the Virgin Islands, and raised in St. Thomas, after which she went to college at Swarthmore College and Jefferson Medical College, where she got her degree in medicine (which she was inspired to do by her mother, a registered nurse). In this time, she became aware of the dreadful inequalities in the health care system. She then began to teach at Yale University, as an associate professor of internal medicine, public health, and management, doing lots of community outreach. She founded and directed lots of organizations focusing on equity in health care, like the Equity Research and Innovation Center. In her new position, she has already received and allocated funding for the COVID 19 testings in the USVI and Puerto Rico and made sure hundreds of marginalized communities received vaccines, and extra front-line works if needed. However, to truly solve the inequality in this field, she says all other issues of systemic racism have to be tackled, like food security, housing stability, education opportunities, etc. She plans to continue this fight, even after COVID is after. She is an inspiring example of a Virgin Islands woman doing enormous good in our community and around the country.Stay tuned for the other incredible Virgin Islands’s women of color we plan on featuring this March!
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Gwen-Marie Moolenaar
Dr. Gwen Marie Moolenaar was the first black woman ever to receive her Ph.D. in neurophysiology, and she then did her postdoctoral studies in neuroanatomy and neuropharmacology at Cornell University Medical School. Afterwards, she joined the faculty of the Howard University School of Medicine where she taught medical and dental students in the area of medical neurophysiology. She was also a member of biomedical programs at the National Institute of Health that helped to develop biomedical programs for students at HBCUs (Historically Black Colleges and Universities). She returned to the VI in 1989 and became a Professor of Biology at the University of the Virgin Islands. Dr. Moolenaar then headed the Boston University-UVI Early Entrance to Medical School Program to help students go to Boston University, a top college. After this, she became Vice President of Institutional Advancement, and later Provost of the University, before retiring. In 2013, she was awarded an honorary doctorate by the College of St. Elizabeth’s to honor her over 30 years of leadership and commitment to higher education. She then started her journey in becoming even more involved in the community. She became (and still is) president of the League of Women's Voters, following in the footsteps of her mother, Ruth Moolenaar. She is a strong, reliable, and dependable voice on topics and issues in the community, up to this day, such as opposing the legalization of gambling in the VI and many other 'political status and constitution topics. Now, Dr. Moolenaar is working on a documentary revolving around the topics of women's history. Dr. Gwen-Marie Moolenaar is a great example of a strong, virgin island woman working to make a change in not only our community but the world!
Ms. Fawkes was born in Frederiksted, St. Croix, where she grew up and attended and graduated from St. Croix Central High School in 1979. She then joined the Virgin Islands National Guard (Signal Unit) as a Teletype Operator. Ms. Fawkes then attended the first officer candidate school held in the V.I., and graduated as a Second Lieutenant in August 1982, as a Transportation Officer. In June of 1985, Ms. Fawkes attended the Rotary Wing Flight School at Fort Rucker, Alabama. She returned to flight school for the Fixed Wing School and graduated as an Airplane pilot in 1992. In 1997, she obtained her Airline Transport Pilot License. Her most notable accomplishments in the military include Becoming First Female Aide-de-Camp to a General Officer selected within the V.I. National Guard. First Female Virgin Islander to become a pilot and serve in the Virgin Islands National Guard. The First and only female of the USA in the State Army Aviation Officer within the National Guard. First and only female in the USA within the Armed Forces to pilot the C-23B Sherpa Aircraft. The Obtained the Master Aviator Wings for over sixteen years and 4,000 Accident-Free flight hours. Received the Legion of Merit and Defense Meritorious Service Medal. She then retired from the military after 32 years of exemplary service and then returned to live full time in the VI. She became the Supervisor of Elections on August 19, 2013. As Supervisor of Elections, she is charged with the responsibility of administering and regulating the election laws of the Territory and is subject to the direction, control, and supervision of the Boards of Elections. Her vision is to regain and increase public confidence in the election system by assuring all of our Elections are Fair, Accessible, and Transparent. Ms. Caroline F. Fawkes is a great example of a strong, virgin island woman working to make a change in not only our community but the world!
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