"Empire Is in Itself the Basic Violence": Ruth Reynolds, Radical Pacifism, and the Fight for Puerto Rican Independence, 1943–60

During World War II, radical pacifists in the United States who had participated in the “Free India” movement refocused their attention on American imperialism, forming the American League for Puerto Rico’s Independence.  Among these pacifists was Ruth Reynolds, who would become the most stalwart mainland advocate of independence for the island.  From organizing ALPRI and several successor groups, to testifying before Congress and petitioning the United Nations, to participating in efforts to free Puerto Rican political prisoners, Reynolds dedicated the rest of her days to the cause of Puerto Rican independence in general, and the Nationalist Party in particular.  Since the Nationalists and their leader, Pedro Albizu Campos, did not abjure violence as a political strategy, this was something of an unlikely alliance.  Her support of the party could have embarrassing consequences as, for example, when Reynolds served eighteen months in a Puerto Rican prison for violating the territory’s “little Smith Act” after she was found riding in a car with party members who possessed firearms and explosives.  Even after Lolita Lebrón and three other Nationalists wounded five Congressmen in a 1954 gun attack on the Capitol, Reynolds defended them, arguing that “to oppress with violence is worse than to resist oppression with violence.”

This paper will explore Reynolds’ paradoxical career as a “total” pacifist who supported a political organization that asserted its right to use force in the anti-colonial struggle.  I will argue that both her gendered understanding of colonialism, and gender dynamics within the anti-colonialist and radical pacifist movements, explain how Reynolds understood and justified, to others and herself, her collaboration with the Nationalist Party, and how she withstood many efforts to persuade or coerce her to abandon her commitment.