Born on this day in 1926, Argelia Laya was an Afro-Venezuelan political organizer, women's rights activist and educator. Laya was raised by radical parents but an important politicizing event in her early life was when she became pregnant after an assault while working as a teacher. She decided to keep the child, at risk of losing her job and was punished by being transferred to a different school. She remained commited to women's reproductive freedom, becoming the first Venezuelan woman to talk about this issue openly. From Venezuelanalysis: "Laya was also a passionate communist militant. In the 1950s, after a brief period in the Democratic Action (AD) political force, she joined the Communist Party (PCV), playing an active role in the resistance against Marcos Pérez Jiménez’s dictatorship. Additionally, she was elected for Caracas’ city council and as a member of the national parliament several times." Laya was a guerilla fighter and an active member of the Armed Forces of National Liberation (FALN) from the coup in 1958 until 1964. She continued to fight for the rights of the poor and for women for the rest of her political career. She served as vice president of the First Congress of Venezuelan Women and helped draft laws for maternity leave and childcare centers in public and private institutions. Additionally, Laya created the Women’s Socialist Movement and was an advisor to the Transcultural Institute of Studies of Black Women. “The violation of black women and indigenous peoples’ human rights is a crime against humanity. We have to resist actively, organize and persevere for ourselves and future generations" -Argelia Laya in "Our Cause (Nuestra Causa)".