Sylvia Rivera, born on July 2 in 1951, was a Latina American queer rights activist, member of the Gay Liberation Front, and community worker from the state of New York.

Rivera, who identified as a "half-sister", participated in demonstrations with the Gay Liberation Front. With her close friend Marsha P. Johnson, Rivera co-founded the Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries (STAR), a socialist group dedicated to helping homeless young drag queens, gay youth, and trans women.

At different times in her life, Rivera battled substance abuse and lived on the streets, largely in the gay homeless community at the Christopher Street docks. Her experiences made her more focused on advocacy for those who, in her view, mainstream society and the assimilationist factions of the LGBT community were leaving behind.

Rivera died during the dawn hours of February 19th, 2002, at St. Vincent's Hospital, of complications from liver cancer. Activist Riki Wilchins said this of her: "In many ways, Sylvia was the Rosa Parks of the modern transgender movement, a term that was not even coined until two decades after Stonewall".

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  • ButtBidet [he/him]
    ·
    2 months ago

    I think it's worth pointing out that Lenin was writing to get past the Czarist censors. How Europe Underdeveloped Africa or Against Empire are more readable. I haven't yet read Imperialism in the Twenty-First Century but I've seen it suggested.

    I guess it's nice reading it from the OG founder of it all, especially as it's relatively thing. Not gonna blame you if you change books, though.

    • Frank [he/him, he/him]
      ·
      2 months ago

      There's probably also some "this was a new idea when it was written but now a lot of it is general knowledge" going on.

      • ButtBidet [he/him]
        ·
        2 months ago

        Definitely. Although you and I might take monopolisation, imperialism, and labour aristocracy for granted, I'm sure most libs are clueless to it.