Posted in June 2016

The first women’s strike in Europe: the jasmine-pickers of Milazzo

They rose at midnight and took to the fields, barefoot. At night, because the sun turned the petals yellow. Children, forbidden but necessary, entered the fields hidden between their mothers’ skirts. Infants were tucked, drowsy with the scent, in wicker baskets; older daughters plucked the white flowers with nimble fingers, taught by their mothers. Ten … Continue reading