In today's episode I spoke to Anika Pasilis, remembering her grandmother, Sally Rowley. Sally was a Freedom Rider, a civil rights activist who was beaten and arrested by the police for protesting against racism in 1961. She will always be remembered as a humble heroine who preferred a low profile and refused invitations to recount her heroic deeds. But after Sally died on May 14, 2020 victim of the coronavirus, her story was written about in the New York Times and later in Time Magazine. 

When I read the articles, I contacted Anika, and we talked on May 28. It was a beautiful conversation in which Anika describes the incredible character that embodied her indomitable grandmother. We were both very far from thinking that in parallel a huge social movement was developing in protest against racism in her country, which has spread to the world, and which makes Sally's story continue to be valid almost sixty years later.

I invite you to listen to this special conversation with Anika, who is a journalist student at the University of Arizona with a promising future.

You can follow Anika: Twitter @_anikapasilis

You can listen to the Aun Podemos Conversar Podcast in your favorite platform and follow @aunpodemosconversar in instagram and @aunpodemosconv1 in Twitter.

You can read the articles mentioned during the episode:

NYT: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/21/obituaries/sally-rowley-dead-coronavirus.html

Time: https://time.com/5814406/coronavirus-obituaries/?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=editorial&utm_term=world_covid-19&linkId=90510165#sally-rowley

Arizona Daily Star: https://tucson.com/opinion/local/ua-student-my-grandmother-deserved-better-than-goodbye-through-a-window/article_73c7c03e-0526-5ae3-9c15-27437732599c.html