Not sure how I missed this, but radical Latina feminist theologian Ada Maria Isasi-Diaz passed early last month from cancer at the age of 69. Ada Maria developed a cogent critique of the Catholic Church in the mid-80s, identifying the concept of “structural sin” for those enjoying the privileges of inequality, and developing a “mujerista” theology as an alternative frame of reference.

By Paul Vitello, NY Times

Ada María Isasi-Díaz would have become a Roman Catholic priest, she told friends, if not for the church’s ban on ordaining women. Instead, she became a dissident theologian who spoke for those she considered the neglected spiritual core of the church’s membership: Hispanic women like herself.

Dr. Isasi-Díaz, who died of cancer in New York on May 13, was widely known in North and South America as the chief theorist behind Mujerista theology — she published a book of the same name in 1996 — which extols the role of Hispanic women, especially the poor, in personifying Christian faith in the everyday struggles of life. She was 69.

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“Community organizer’s childhood led to her activism”
from the Bay Area Reporter

Olga Talamante was 11 years old when her parents plucked her from Mexico to drive their family across the U.S. border, settling in Gilroy, California. Five decades later, Talamante will be riding in a red low-rider convertible during Sunday’s LGBT Pride Parade as one of six community grand marshals selected by the San Francisco LGBT Pride Celebration Committee for their outstanding contributions to the LGBT community.

“It’s an amazing honor,” Talamante said. “I’ve had a lot of public life, but to be acknowledged is very humbling. I feel fortunate to be one among many deserving people.”

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