Meet the Authors

Heider Tun Tun, Ph.D. (hutntun@regis.edu) is an Assistant Professor of Latin American and Native history in the Department of History, Politics, and Political Economy at Regis University in Denver, Colorado. Heider completed his Ph.D. in History from the University of Minnesota and postdoctoral studies in the Department of History at the University of California, Irvine. Heider is currently directing a digital archive and public history project at Regis University that preserves the historical memory of the activism of Catholic communities in El Salvador, Guatemala, and the United States, particularly in the Denver metro area.

Ruby Steigerwald is a mom, grandmother, and English as a Second (or Third) Language teacher. Ruby is an activist who has worked since the 1980s for human and civil rights, especially for women and members of the LGBTQ community, and for equity and justice for African Americans in the United States. After meeting some mothers in 2005, Ruby wanted to learn how mothers were able to continue their work without succumbing to depression and inability to function. For Ruby, we must learn the fighting spirit of Co-Mothers as it can help us face the challenges of today's life. A few months before she died, Alicia asked Ruby to write this book. Finally, this promise is being realized. Apart from this, Ruby loves her life in this beautiful world and likes riding bikes with her wife and friends, cooking, and growing plants.

Inez Steigerwald is a teacher and librarian in Washington, D.C. She has worked with students for over ten years. She lived in Costa Rica for a few years as a child, and it was this experience that triggered her appreciation and love for Latin American culture, languages, and history. Inez began recording the Co-Mothers' oral histories as an undergraduate at Haverford College. Her work with the Mothers' Committee has impacted the way Inez, as an American citizen, views the world. Her interaction with mothers and the history of the Committee has made it her role and responsibility to create a better world through her work. Currently Inez is the mother of a girl, whose middle name is Emelina, in honor of Alicia Emelina Panameño de García, or mother Alicia.