Maria Chiquiquirá Díaz was an Afro-Ecuadorian woman enslaved in Guayaquil, Ecuador in the 1700’s. In 1794, she entered a legal battle, fighting for her and her daughter’s freedom. She was aware of some of her rights and fought based on that information. Consequently, she became the first slave in Ecuador to win her freedom. Today, her portrait hangs in the Museum of Nahim Isaias in Guayaquil, Ecuador.