Los Piratas de Pittsburgh - 29.5" by 16"

29.5in by 16in

The popularity of the healer grew, especially known for healing children using applications of saliva and water from a spring near her home, which is now known as La Poza de Ma' Dolores. The beneficial powers of the African Black woman continued to trouble the Spanish authorities, who soon accused her of sheltering the insurgents and claimed her home was a center of conspiracies against the Crown. 

On May 15, 1875, Ma' Dolores was taken to jail along with twenty other accomplices. However, during the search of her home, no weapons were found—only seashells, herbs, owl feathers, animal bones, and an altar with all her saints. Even so, she was sentenced to death. The incident only reinforced the belief in the convict's supernatural powers. The judge who had insulted María Dolores during the trial woke up the next morning ill, diagnosed with a cerebral hemorrhage. 

The night before, the sky had darkened, and a lightning strike set fire to the hut in front of the courthouse. Meanwhile, the sergeant chasing the mambises with a group of volunteers fell from his horse and broke his leg. The authorities, nervous about what was happening, didn’t know what to do with the healer. Despite this, they reaffirmed the death sentence by firing squad. However, the condemned woman remained calm, fearing nothing. 

Finally, the day of the execution arrived. From early in the morning, the townspeople made their way to La Mano del Negro, where she was to be executed. Soldiers tried to maintain order. Enslaved Black people prayed for their compatriot. And the Black woman sang: 

“They won’t kill me! The little angels are coming to save me!” 

The unexpected appearance of a Spanish officer holding a document aroused the crowd’s curiosity: the gangá witch had been spared from an unjust death. Her death sentence had been commuted to exile in Havana. On March 14, 1876, she left for that city. María Dolores Iznaga was flesh and blood—only a mystic aura grew around her, perhaps because of the virtues she spread through her healing. The enslaved people brought from Africa did not come alone; with them came the power of spirit, their potions, and their inner strength.