Colonel Carmen Amelia Robles,

Afro Mexican Woman Leader in the Mexican Revolution.

Colonel Carmen Amelia Robles (born Amelia Robles Ávila, November 3, 1889 – December 9, 1984), an Afro Mexican woman was a leader in the Mexican Revolution who fought alongside Emiliano Zapata. General Emiliano Zapata Salazar was a leading figure in the Mexican Revolution who made alliances with battalions of Afro-Mexicans. These battalions included Afro-Mexican widows from Guerrero who also became soldiers.

Robles adopted a male identity not as a survival strategy but because of a strong desire to be a man. She dressed like a man of the times and assumed a more masculine stature fighting alongside men as did many women during this period. According to legend, she participated in many battles and could shoot her pistol with her right hand while holding her cigar in her left. Her male identity was accepted by family, society, and the Mexican government, and Robles lived as a man from the age of 24 until death.