Minou Mirabal will speak at the March 9 White Fund lecture.

Minou Tavárez Mirabal, famed activist, politician, and philologist, will serve as speaker for the second lecture of three in the Spring 2018 White Fund Enlightenment Series, presented by Northern Essex Community College. Titled “Uniting the Women of Today for a Better Tomorrow,” the talk will be held on Friday, March 9 at 6:15 p.m. in the Lawrence Public Library Auditorium, 51 Lawrence Street, Lawrence.

The lecture, which is free and open to the public, will be in Spanish. English translation will also be available on site.

Mirabal is the daughter of the late Dominican Republic political activist Minerva Mirabal Tavarez, who, along with two of her sisters, founded the 1960 Movement of the Fourteenth of June to overthrow Dominican dictator Rafael “El Chivo” Trujillo. The story was widely popularized through the award-winning 1994 novel “In the Time of the Butterflies” by Julia Alvarez.

Her talk will use the Mirabal sisters’ account as a foundation to discuss national policy, female empowerment, and violence against women in today’s world.

Mirabal currently serves as president of the Committee on Foreign Affairs for the Dominican Republic and previously held positions as Congress representative for the National Committee of the Lower House and as deputy foreign minister. In 2016, she was selected as presidential nominee for both the Alliance for Democracy and Democratic Choice parties in the sovereign state’s general election.

The White Fund Enlightenment Series presents free interactive discussions for Lawrence-area adults, youth, and children. The program aims to encourage wisdom, cultural enrichment, and intellectual enhancement through public attendance of and participation in events.

The views expressed in this and other White Fund Enlightenment Series presentations are those of the speaker and do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of Northern Essex Community College.

Funded by the generous support of the Honorable Daniel Appleton White, The White Fund Lecture Series continuously provides cultural conversations featuring well-known lecturers in the fields of history, literature, travel, the arts, politics, and more. This series is part of a collaboration with Northern Essex.

On Sunday, March 4, Emmy Award winning historian and educator Christine Kinealy will speak on “How Ireland changed Frederick Douglas” at 2 pm at Lawrence Heritage State Park Visitor Center, 1 Jackson St, Lawrence, and, on Thursday, April 12, Lydia X. Z. Brown, disability justice advocate, organizer, and writer, will speak from noon to 1 pm in the NECC El-Hefni  Allied Health & Technology Center, Room 301, 414 Common St., Lawrence.  All White Fund Enlightenment Series lectures are free and open to the public.

For additional information, or to be notified of other upcoming events in the White Fund Enlightenment Series, please contact Analuz Garcia at agarcia@necc.mass.edu or call 978-738-7423.