CaribSeek Books | Ma Libertina | Roots of our Future by Linda M. Rupert

Ma Libertina

The street peddler is an enduring Willemstad image, dating from at least the early eighteenth century and continuing well into the twentieth. Black women selling their wares in the streets of Willemstad were a common nineteenth century sight. Often holding their goods in large baskets perched on their heads, the women hawked sweets or other homemade foodstuffs in the hot tropical sun, their cries piercing into the cool interiors of city mansions and shops. As the early twentieth century Curaçaoan writer John de Pool pointed out, such common people "form part of the live history of each generation."[40] Although their names are often lost to history, occasionally one has survived, giving a human face to an otherwise vague image.

Reminiscing on his late nineteenth century childhood, de Pool recalls one such impressive woman from over fifty years before. Although he devotes just a few sentences to her, it is clear that Ma Libertina made a vivid impression on him, and she can represent the hundreds of small scale women entrepreneurs who remain anonymous:

She was old, tall, although doubled over and thin. She was black and sold "Èrte Bèrde" on big planks. These were unripe beans, boiled with salt until somewhat tender and then cut into chunks. Each piece was about three square inches; it came with a piece of coconut and you ate a bite of beans and then a bite of coconut. She announced her wares in the streets, with long but measured strides, her feet in large and old shoes (probably a gift from a merchant) and shouting in a strong voice: "Èrte Bèrde,! Èrte Bèrde!" There must have been some secret formula to the preparation of her wares, because once she died there were others who imitated her but none could equal the concoctions of Ma Libertina.[41]

Ma Libertina (CHA)

Many prosperous Curaçaoan merchants, especially immigrants, began their businesses as humble street peddlers, hauling their wares through the streets, eventually accumulating enough money to open small shops. Some of the island's best known and wealthiest businessmen began this way, their hard-working owners rising to become household names, their large, established stores now well-known city landmarks. But black women peddlers such as Ma Libertina were fated by their times never to become wealthy or famous. No matter how hard they worked their talents

were insufficient to raise them above the triple hurdles of race, gender and class. Most of them have receded into the anonymity of history, their names lost, their cries and faces a receding memory. The impressiveness of their endeavors is no less for the fact that they were destined to remain obscure. Today the entrepreneurial descendants of these women venders are still a colorful part of town life, selling sandwiches and drinks in the markeplace, sweets from small streetside carts, or lottery tickets from a folding chair positioned under a large shade tree on busy roadsides.

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Curaçao Chamber of Commerce & Industry