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Dionisia Amaya

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Dionisia Amaya-Bonilla
Born
Dionisia Amaya

(1933-02-08)February 8, 1933
La Ceiba, Honduras
DiedFebruary 3, 2014(2014-02-03) (aged 80)
La Ceiba, Honduras
Other namesMama Nicha
Doña Nicha
CitizenshipUnited States
OccupationGarifuna community activist
Years active1974-2014

Dionisia Amaya-Bonilla, also known as Mama Nicha, (February 8, 1933 – February 3, 2014)[1] was a teacher and Honduran Garifuna community activist[2][3] who was the co-founder of Garifuna non-profit organization, MUGAMA, Inc., a support, education, and outreach organization that ran the Mugama Advocacy Center in Brooklyn, New York.[4]

Early life

Amaya-Bonilla was born in La Ceiba, Honduras, in 1933.[5] Amaya-Bonilla went to the United States in May 1964 from Honduras originally going to Fort Worth, Texas, where she worked as a housekeeper until moving to New York City. She first lived on Longfellow in the Bronx until moving to East New York.[6] She received her American citizenship in 1977.[6][7]

After getting her General Equivalency Diploma, in 1979, Amaya-Bonilla received a B.A. with high honors in Education from Medgar Evers College in New York City. She also has a M.A. and Advanced Certificate in Guidance and Counseling from Brooklyn College.[5]

Career

After moving to New York City, Amaya-Bonilla worked in many different jobs, one of which was with Franciscan friars, who gave her a recommendation that led to a job at World Book Encyclopedia, where she worked for five years.[6]

Amaya-Bonilla worked at the NYC Board of Education in various positions as a teacher until eventually working as a guidance counselor. She worked in these positions for over 22 years.[5]

Outside of her education and counseling work, Amaya-Bonilla worked with her church, St. Mathews Catholic Church, to provide fundraising and support to her community. Notable relief efforts included the 1974 Hurricane Fifi that hit Honduras and the 1990 Happy Land Fire.[8] In 1991, the Mugama organization created a scholarship fund in honor of a Garifuna who died in the fire.[5] From 1989 until her death, Amaya-Bonilla was a Eucharistic Minister at Lady of Mercy Church in Brooklyn, New York.[2]

Amaya-Bonilla helped to organize Committee for Development in Honduras (COPRODH) in the mid-1970s in direct response of helping Hondurans affected by Hurricane Fifi, and Hondurans in the United States.[2] Amaya-Bonilla was a strong supporter of the value of education in helping her community, so she worked to support recent Garifuna immigrants in their effort to learn English and get an education to advance themselves.[2][9]

In January 1989, Amaya-Bonilla, Mirtha Sabio, and Lydia Sacasa-Hill, and others founded an organization called MUGAMA, to recognize the contributions of Garifunan women's accomplishments. The organization was inspired by International Women's Day, in an effort to honor women in the Garifuna community.[6] MUGAMA held conferences and provided recognition within the community, gained non-profit status, and worked to help people get their General Equivalency Diploma and English as a second or foreign language, and U.S. citizenship. The name MUGAMA came from Garifuna Women Marching in Action aka Women on the Move Pro-Education=Mujeres Garifunas en Marcha Pro-Educación,[4] with Garinagu the plural word for Garifuna people.[2] MUGAMA was based out of the Riverdale Osborne Towers in East New York.[9]

In 1991, MUGAMA was a sponsor of the First Intercontinental Garifuna Summit Meeting conference that was held at Medgar Evers College in Brooklyn, New York. The event was the first of its kind to bring Garifuna people from the United States together to have a political and cultural exchange of resources and establish a large community gathering.[2]

Amaya-Bonilla was a founding member of the Federation of Honduran Organizations of New York (FEDOHNY).[4]

Honors

Personal life

Amaya-Bonilla was married to Alejandro Bonilla.[12]

Amaya-Bonilla died in 2014 in La Ceiba, Honduras, from a stroke.[13][14]

References

  1. ^ "Dionisia Amaya - United States Public Records". FamilySearch. Retrieved 25 October 2015.
  2. ^ a b c d e f Barkan, Elliott Robert; Hernández-Linares, Leticia (2001). "Amaya, Dionisia". Making It in America: A Sourcebook on Eminent Ethnic Americans. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO. pp. 13–14. ISBN 978-1-576-07098-7. OCLC 46343521. Retrieved 25 October 2015.
  3. ^ "Overseas Garifunas visit ancestral home in St. Vincent". i-Witness News. 23 July 2009. Retrieved 25 October 2015.
  4. ^ a b c Behnken, Brian D.; Wendt, Simon; Garcia, Doris (2013). "Chapter 7: Transnational Ethnic Identities and Garinagu Political Organizations in the Diaspora by Doris Garcia". Crossing Boundaries Ethnicity, Race, and National Belonging in a Transnational World. Lanham: Lexington Books. ISBN 978-0-739-18131-7. OCLC 852158416.
  5. ^ a b c d e Towns, Hon. Edolphus (12 June 2003). Tribute to Dionisia Amaya-Bonilla -- Hon. Edolphus Towns (Extensions of Remarks - June 13, 2003). Vol. 149, Part 11. p. E1235. Retrieved 25 October 2015. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)[permanent dead link‍]
  6. ^ a b c d Colon Jr., Teofilo (5 August 2012). "(Interview) PART 1 - Garifuna Woman Dionisia Amaya - Bonilla". Being Garifuna. Retrieved 25 October 2015.
  7. ^ Colon Jr., Teofilo (5 August 2012). "(Interview) PART 2 - Garifuna Woman Dionisia Amaya - Bonilla". Being Garifuna. Retrieved 25 October 2015.
  8. ^ Negron, Edna (18 August 1991). "Club Tragedy an Awakening for Garifuna". Newsday. Retrieved 26 October 2015.
  9. ^ a b Ciechanowski, Laura (1 April 2000). "Points of Entry: New York's Garifuna". City Limits. Retrieved 25 October 2015.
  10. ^ Solis, Rejil (16 January 2004). "El Presidente de Brooklyn declarará el Día de Dionisia Amaya Bonilla en Brooklyn". Garinet. Garifuna Coalition USA, INC. Retrieved 25 October 2015.
  11. ^ "MUGAMA, Inc. to Receive Garifuna Coalition Award" (PDF). Garifuna Coalition. 3 October 2009. Retrieved 25 October 2015.
  12. ^ Colon Jr., Teofilo (3 February 2014). "(With VIDEO) Garifuna Community Activist DIONISIA AMAYA ("Doña Nicha" or "Mama Nicha") Passes Away At The Age of 80 in Honduras". Being Garifuna. Retrieved 25 October 2015.
  13. ^ Colon Jr., Teofilo (24 February 2014). "Garifuna Activist Mrs. DIONISIA AMAYA-BONILLA and other Garinagu Who Recently Passed Away Were Mourned at Garifuna Memorial Mass in Brooklyn on SUNDAY February 23rd 2014". Being Garifuna. Retrieved 25 October 2015.
  14. ^ Ávila, Tomás Alberto (2008). Dionisia "Mama Nicha" Amaya-Bonilla: La matriarca del Empoderamiento Garifuna=The Matriarch of Garifuna Empowerment. Providence, RI: Milenio Publishing, LLC. ISBN 978-1-92881-024-7. Retrieved 25 October 2015.

Further reading

  • "The Garifuna Journey." Cultural Survival Quarterly. Volume 20, Number 2. July 31, 1996. Page 12. ISSN 0740-3291
  • Ávila, José Francisco, and Tomás Alberto Ávila. Mundo garifuna: pasado histórico, futuro brillante. Providence, RI: Milenio Latino Publishing, 2008. ISBN 978-1-928-81001-8 OCLC 666251850
  • Ávila, José Francisco. Garifuna World: Garinagu's Path To The 21st Century. Providence, RI: Milenio Latino Publishing, 2008.
  • Flores, Justin. The Garifuna Story Now and Then. Los Angeles, CA: J. Flores, 1979. OCLC 5990427
  • González, Nancie L. Solien. Sojourners of the Caribbean: Ethnogenesis and Ethnohistory of the Garifuna. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1988. OCLC 73998920
  • Macklin, Catherine Lynn. Crucibles of Identity: Ritual and Symbolic Dimensions of Garifuna Ethnicity. Dissertation. Berkeley: University of California, 1986. OCLC 499098636
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