Discarded Pages: Araceli Cab Cumí, Maya Poet and Politician

by Kathleen Rock Martín

Araceli Cab Cumí­ is a contemporary Maya writer, grassroots leader, and political party activist from Mexico. She is also the only indigenous woman to have been elected to the State Congress of Yucatan, serving two terms of office. Discarded Pages is Cab Cumí's life narrative accompanied by her essays, poems, personal narratives, and political and public policy papers. Titled in honor of Cab Cumí's earliest writings which she had thrown away thinking them of little value, Discarded Pages showcases her expressions and thoughts within the context of her eventful and unusual life. In addition to translations of her work, Cab Cumí's original Spanish and Yucatec Maya writings are included in the book. Gramsci's theoretically innovative concept of the "organic intellectual" is used to analyze Cab Cumí's life and career. The book expands on Gramsci's original concept to include discussions of gender, new social movements, and the social context in which organic intellectuals labor as activists and thinkers. Throughout Discarded Pages Cab Cumí­ movingly represents the worldview of a Maya woman seeking to represent other Maya women.

332 pages, Hardcover

First published September 16, 2007