Favianna.com :: Art & Activism

I Luv Vancity! Events in Vancouver this Week

I am in Vancouver since Wed. Nov 4th doing a bunch of art related stuff, including an artist in residence at W2 Community Media Arts Center (consisting of workshops, open studio time, and a group exhibit) and an exhibit at Rhizome Cafe.

I love this city! I always feel so welcome by the people here, especially the activists and the creatives. This is my second visit, and already I have done two workshops for unions, an opening at a community-based cafe, and a closing key note at the Media Democracy Day conference. I love Vancouver and it feels like Vancouverites love me back!

This week, I will be at W2 doing events and hanging a show which will open on Sat. Nov. 14th. W2 is a world-class community media arts centre in Vancouver's DTES (Downtown Eastside). I am currently in the interim space. The full space will open in 2010 and will feature a 150-capacity performance space, community TV studio, FM radio station, gallery, social enterprise café, letterpress studio, telepresence and mobile media programs, and more. The interim space is located at the Perel Building across the street (112 W Hastings).

During the month of November, W2 will host a range of workshops with artists-in-residence, including myself, and indigenous artists Tania Willard (Secwepemc) and Marika Swan (Tla-o-qui-aht). 

EVENTS AT W2 COMMUNITY MEDIA ARTS CENTER

PAPER TIGERS ART TALK & EXHIBIT OPENING
SAT. NOV. 14 @ 5-10 pm
(Artist Talk @ 5 pm // Opening @ 7-10 pm)
Join W2 Artists-in-Residence Favianna Rodriguez, Tania Willard & Marika Swan, as they discuss their art work and unveil a collaborative project. Also come check out art installation, a collaboration between Orlando Reyes & Favianna Rodriguez. Artist talk @ 5 pm, followed by Opening Reception @ 7-10 pm. Artwork available for sale. Light refreshments will be served. Exhibit runs from Nov 14-Dec 5, 2009.
Free

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OPEN DROP IN TIMES
TUES. NOV 10th  &  WED. NOV 11th @ 12 - 5pm
Artists Favianna Rodriguez, Tania Willard & Marika Swan will be working together at W2 Perel Gallery. Community is invited to drop in and see works in progress.
Free

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2- DAY LINOLEUM BLOCK PRINTING WORKSHOP (space limited)
WED NOV. 11 & THURS NOV. 12 @ 6-9pm
The workshop will explore the historical context of printmaking as agit prop, along with practice in the techniques needed to produce linoleum block prints without studio facilities or expensive specialized equipment. With an emphasis on hand printing, participants are encouraged to improvise using different textures and colors. Workshop facilitated by Favianna Rodriguez, Marika Swan & Tania Willard.
Workshop $10 suggested donation, but no one turned away
Space is limited. To sign up, email: lianne@creativetechnology.org

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POSTER DESIGN WORKSHOP (space limited)
FRI. NOV. 13 @ 4-6pm
Printmaker and arts activist Favianna Rodriguez will presents a workshop on how to create high-impact posters for use in grassroots campaigns. We will design posters from a collection of royalty-free graphics from Favianna's recent book, Reproducing Revolt (co-edited in collaboration with Josh MacPhee)
Workshop $10 suggested donation, but no one turned away
Space is limited. To sign up, email: lianne@creativetechnology.org

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CHILDREN'S WORKSHOP
SUN. NOV 15 @ 10 am -12 pm
Inviting children ages 6-12 from nearby Four Sister's Coop and Lore Krill Coop. Activities incorporate images from Favianna's book, Reproduce & Revolt, we will combine painting, and printmaking to create large prints.
Free

EXHIBIT @ RHIZOME GALLERY

ARTIST MUST DISTURB THE PEACE
An Exhibit of Prints & Posters by Favianna Rodriguez
November 5, 2009 - January 2010
@ RHIZOME CAFÉ
317 East Broadway, Vancouver, Coast Salish Territories

Art Opening Tonight @ RHIZOME! In Vancouver

THE ARTIST MUST DISTURB THE PEACE
An Exhibit of Prints & Posters by Favianna Rodriguez
November 5, 2009 - January 2010
@ RHIZOME CAFÉ
317 East Broadway, Vancouver, Coast Salish Territories

NOV. 5 / 7-10 PM :: ARTIST TALK & OPENING
NOV. 10 / 7-10 PM :: POSTER DESIGN WORKSHOP
Participants will learn to design high-impact posters for use in grassroots campaigns. We will design posters from a collection of royalty-free graphics from Favianna's recent book, Reproducing Revolt.
Space is limited! Email lisa@rhizomecafe.ca to sign up.

Facebook Event Page:

http://tinyurl.com/yebn5a4

The Crisis of the Public University

Back in 1996, I left my home in East Oakland and made the big move just a few miles up the road to UC Berkeley.  I was a student at Cal from 1996-1999 and was quickly drawn to the vibrant activism that surrounded the campus—these were the years of Prop 209, which eliminated affirmative action in California’s public schools and effectively undermined any efforts at increasing student of color representation in the UC system. (Above: A recent poster I designed for an event on Mon.Oct 26)

As a student, I lived at Casa Joaquin Murrieta, which back then was a Chicana/o co-op, where other children of immigrants and I created a home based in community and activism. It was there that many protests, takeovers, sit-ins, and actions were organized. It was there that I met the people I would work with for years to come to build institutions and to fight for our people. It was also there that I learned desktop publishing and design, thanks to my hermano, Jesus Barraza, who I continue to collaborate with today (Tumis, Taller Tupac Amaru). Actually, I also learned how to code at Cal as well, but not because I took a class, but because two techie Chicanos, jose d lopez and Marco Palma, showed me the wonders of the world wide web (which back then had just been introduced to us). These guys would also later become my partners in crime. (Here is a pic of me talking at a rally at Sproul Plaza)

In 1999, I participated as an artist, designer, and organizer in the third world Liberation Front (twLF) Hunger Strike with students who protested outside California Hall to keep Ethnic Studies alive on campus. For weeks, we organized actions targeting the Chancellor and even disrupted Gov. Gray Davis' Charter Day speech. As soon as Davis took to the podium, six students jumped to their feet and displayed banners! Even back then, art and activism were always intricately linked for me. Below is a poster designed by Jesus Barraza of Ten12 using my image. Ten12 was the name of our Chicano techie collective, which would later morph into what is known today as TUMIS. Check out Jesus’ reflections on the twLF here. (Right: Photo of banner hanging outside of California Hall)

I have been fortunate enough to stay connected with student activists at Cal and have continued to develop posters for the next generation of movement builders. The design below was done for a March 09 Event, Activism Right There.

 

The upcoming event on Monday, October 26^th follows the recent student walkouts on September 24^th when students, faculty, and staff protested State budget cuts that are placing a public education out of the reach of students.  Read more about it here.

The Crisis of the Public University
Monday, October 26, 2009, 4-7 pm
Pauley Ballroom, Martin Luther King, Jr. Building, UC Berkeley

Speakers:
Ariel Boone, ASUC Senator
Jayna Brown, UC Riverside
Stan Glantz, UC San Francisco
George Lakoff, UC Berkeley
Ananya Roy, UC Berkeley
Nancy Skinner, California State Assembly
Phil Ting, San Francisco City Assessor-Recorder
Alberto Torrico, California State Assembly

Coverage from the BastaDobbs.com campaign - NY Times!

On October 21, 2009, I was part of a nation-wide group that organized 18 cities around the country to call out Lou Dobbs’ anti-immigrant rhetoric and CNN’s hypocrisy by promoting its Latino in America series while standing behind Dobbs’ hate speech against our community. Led by immigrant rights organizations in cities such as Dallas, New York, Miami, Tucson, Sacramento, San Antonio - we told CNN - "You can't have it both ways." We even made it on the cover of the New York Times' website! You can read the article by clicking  here.

BastaDobbs.com is a campaign launched by Presente.org, an online, Latino advocacy organization I co-founded earlier this year.

I was proud to stand side by side with mi gente across the United States in saying ¡Basta! to Lou Dobbs. As the daughter of immigrants, I felt especially inspired to be in the company of all the mujeres who really were at the forefront of organizing this. Here are some of the hottest pics:

ABOVE: Graciela Sanchez, from the Esperanza Center for Peace and Justice in San Antonio, and a panel of women speaking out against hate speech. (photos by Antonia Padilla)

ABOVE: BastaDobbs.com crew in front on CNN's headquarters in NYC

ABOVE: Boston's Latina/o and Faith Communities coming together to say ¡Basta!

I was also interviewed on KPFA twice last week.  First, I was on Hard Knock Radio. click here to listen to interview. I was delighted to share the radio show con mi hermana, Rosa Clemente, vice-presidential candidate on the 2008 Green Party ticket.  In case you are short on time, the juice of the show begins after 13 minutes.  The show really takes an awesome turn at 46 minutes, when Isabel Garcia—civil-rights attorney and human rights advocate— speaks to an audience in Tucson, Arizona. A little bit about Isabel Garcia, from Latino Politico:

There is no greater promoter of human rights and advocate for migrant families in Baja Arizona than Isabel Garcia. She was a recipient of the 2006 Premio Naciónal de Derechos Humanos, presented by the Mexican government for the first time to someone who wasn't born there, in order to get an idea of the scope of work she's done. Rather than accept the award, however, she took the opportunity to call a press conference and demand that the affluent and elite south of border do more to promote economic justice among the working classes. It was a perfect example of Isabel's work to keep the focus on the underlying roots of human migration and exploitation, rather than on herself.

Its women like Isabel Garcia and Graciela Sanchez that inspire me to work for justice.

I was also on The Morning Show with Eric Boehlert from Media Matters.  Check out the link here.

Here is some press from the cities that also stood up to hate this week:

Photo by JanInSanFran

• San Francisco, CA covered in Mission Local, read more
• Minneapolis, MN speaks out,  read more
• Our friends at the Esperanza Center for Peace & Justice in San Antonio, TX, read more
• Our campaign in Spanish AP,  read more
• BastaDobbs.com in the New York Times, read more

Lou Dobbs is feeling the heat. Take a stand tomorrow and join us in denouncing Lou Dobbs!

On the eve of CNN's ‘Latino in America’ Premiere, Nation-Wide Rallies Planned to Demand CNN to Dump Lou Dobbs!

You can join the efforts! Scroll down for a list of cities and make sure you download your signs!!!

Download Graphics here:

• Sign 1 - CNN You Can't Have it Both Ways
• Sign 2 - CNN Profits From Hate
• Sign 3 - Hate Speech = Hate Crimes
• Sign 4 - CNN is Clearly Not News
• Sign 5 - CNN Profits From Hate Version 2

Community leaders, politicians and faith groups in 18 of the top U.S. Latino media markets are set to rally together in local protest events on Wednesday, October 21st in an effort to increase the pressure on CNN to remove Lou Dobbs from its programming. Calling CNN hypocritical for airing “Latino in America,” an advertising-driven special on Latinos, while at the same time hosting the anti-immigrant rhetoric of Lou Dobbs, the events are part of our BastaDobbs.com campaign, a coalition of Latino organizations from across the country that is led by online advocacy group Presente.org.

“Our message to CNN is clear: You cannot have it both ways. It’s either promotion of hatred by Lou Dobbs or real news regarding the Latino community,” said Isabel Garcia, a prominent civil and human rights attorney in Arizona who is highlighted in the “Latino in America” series and who is also participating in the BastaDobbs.com effort.

“Lou Dobbs abuses the CNN platform to dehumanize and spread fear about Latinos and immigrants. It is no surprise that hard-working Latinos in this country are increasingly victims of hate-motivated violence,” added Angelica Salas, executive director of the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles (CHIRLA). “CNN must be accountable to one of the largest minority groups in the United States if it seeks to gain their following and respect”.

On Wednesday, press conferences and public actions threat of Lou Dobbs on CNN are planned these locations!

ALBUQUERQUE, NM
12 PM NOON @ National Hispanic Cultural Center
1701 4th St SW, Albuquerque, NM 87102

ATLANTA, GA
10 AM @ CNN Building Downtown
190 Marietta St. Atlanta, GA 30303

BOSTON, MA
11 AM @ Massachusetts State House
24 Beacon St. Boston, MA 02133

CHICAGO, IL
12 PM NOON @ Casa Michoacan
1638 S. Blue Island Ave. Chicago, IL 60608

DENVER, CO
12 PM NOON @ Colorado State Capital
200 E Colfax Ave. Denver, CO 80203

GREENVILLE, NC
12 PM NOON @NCCE Lenoir County Center
1791 Hwy 11/55, Kinston, NC 28504

HOUSTON, TX
11:30 AM @Houston City Council
900 Bagby St. Houston, TX 77002

LAS VEGAS, NV
5 PM @ Hermandad Mexicana Transnacional
740 N. Eastern Ave.- Suite 110, Las Vegas, NV 89101

LOS ANGELES, CA
10 AM @ Carecen
2845 West 7th St. Los Angeles, CA 90005

MIAMI, FL
12 PM NOON @ Center for Immigrant Orientation
2610 SW 8th St. Miami, FL 33135

NEW YORK, NY
4 PM @ CNN Building Downtown
10 Columbus Cir. New York, NY 10023

PHOENIX, AZ
12 PM NOON @  802 N. 7th St. Phoenix, AZ 85004

SACRAMENTO, CA
12 PM NOON @ Cesar Chavez Plaza Park
J St & 10th St, Sacramento CA 95814

SAN ANTONIO, TX
12 PM NOON @  Esperanza Peace & Justice Center
922 San Pedro, San Antonio, TX 78212

SAN DIEGO, CA
12 PM NOON @ Offices of American Friends Service Committee
3275 Market St, San Diego, CA 92102

SAN FRANCISCO, CA
12 PM NOON @ Sun Rise Restaurant
3126 24th St. San Francisco, CA 94110

TUCSON, AZ
12 PM NOON @ El Tiradito in Old Barrio
on South Main St. between W. Cushing St. & W. Simpson St. Downtown Tucson, AZ 85701

 

Download Graphics here:

Sign 1 - CNN You Can't Have it Both Ways

Sign 2 - CNN Profits From Hate

Sign 3 - Hate Speech = Hate Crimes

Sign 4 - CNN is Clearly Not News

Sign 5 - CNN Profits From Hate Version 2

 

Want to stop CNN’s Lou Dobbs from spreading lies about immigrants?

This March, I cofounded an online advocacy organization centered around Latinos and our struggles - Presente.org. One of the most recent campaigns we launched has been around CNN's Lou Dobbs, the most dangerous man for Latinos in the United States.

WHY LOU DOBBS? We are targeting Lou Dobbs because more than ANY person in the media, he spreads misinformation and hateful messages about Latinos. Lou Dobbs talks about immigrants as invaders, as criminals, as people bringing disease into this country, and he backs it up with false statistics and incendiary language. Even worse, he uses his platform to give airtime to the most extremist, anti-immigrant voices, like the Minutemen, FAIR, and Sheriff Arpaio.  

• He claimed that immigrants are creating an epidemic of leprosy, using statistics from a radical right-wing author that were totally false and debunked by Center for Disease Control
• He claimed that undocumented immigrants make up 1/3 of our prisons and jails. Also totally false, and debunked by the US Department of Justice.
• He repeatedly reports on the supposed "Reconquista" movement, saying that Mexico wants to take over the southwest US.  This is literally a conspiracy theory, it's the equivalent of reporting on UFOs. He also stated, on his radio, that "Mexico has become our enemy."

And he does all of this on CNN, which is supposed to be a legitimate news network, and which is actively courting Latino viewers. 

So you too can say BASTA DOBBS!

We have heard enough of these anti-Latino and anti-immigrant messages from Lou Dobbs.  Which is why our organization, Presente.org, is joining with partner groups in the 25 largest Latino markets to tell CNN that it's time for Lou Dobbs to go.

You can sign up by clicking here

Maiz Exhibit in Vancouver, Canada @ Sustanance Food Festival

El Maiz Es Nuestro (pictured below), one of my recent pieces about genetically modified corn, has traveled to Vancouver, Canada as part of a traveling exhibit which made its way to the Sustenance Festival. The show was reviewed in City Food Magazine. Read it here

The Sustenance, Feasting on Arts and Culture Festival kicked off in Vancouver on October 6, 2009. Artists, poets, musicians, and activists all gathered in the Roundhouse Community Center for an entertaining and informative evening of food security related activities. The Bishop winery catered the event with tray after tray of fabulous local concoctions, environmental organizations explained their achievements and future goals through various audio-visual displays, and artists spread out their wares for all to peruse and admire. The Maiz es Nuestra Vida Exhibit created by the MAMAZ collective played a major role on the festival. Artists Marietta Bernstorff, Laura Alvarez, Noel Chilton, Favianna Rodriquez, Adriana Calatayud, Cristina Luna, Mariana Gullco, and Emilia Sandoval expressed their concern about Mexico’s corn situation through collage, photography, painting, and sculpture. Read more on the MAMAZ Blog.

Pressed Into Service: American Labor Graphics

Check out this great interview of Lincoln Cushing, author of American Labor Graphics. I have a piece in this book, Green Is Not White.

Surprisingly, a survey of this visual landscape has never before been published. Agitate! Educate! Organize!: American Labor Posters (Cornell University Press) is the first of its kind. Compiled and edited by Lincoln Cushing and Timothy W. Drescher, the book spans the history of the labor movement in the U.S. Its 216 pages are packed with 268 color reproductions, many of them full-page. The accompanying text provides interpretation and context. (The book is union printed, of course.)

Read more

Arte Libertino - Cool Article about my work in Spanish

Check out this article written by Maria Camila Borras, the same woman who hooked me up with an interview in Telemundo. Click to read

Down with Glenn Beck, shadow puppets, making art in L.A., and being optimistic

I know its been a while since I blogged, but my life moves as ultra fast speeds and the weeks go by like days. I'm back from Los Angeles, where I spent the weekend doing some live painting with Unification Theory. Painting/drawing with the folks from Unification Theory means developing some collaborative pieces, adjusting each other's shapes, completing each other's lines, vibing off each other's color palettes. I am always amazed at the stuff we come up with and as an artist, collaborative work provides me with time to be experimental, to challenge myself with new settings, to learn how to adjust to moods and textures established by another artist. The collaboration usually happens in some kind of public setting, with DJ's or live music, so that the interaction not only occurs between the artists, but also the public and the musicians.

The two pics above are of live art collabos between Gustavo Alberto Garcia Vaca, Fumiko Amano, and myself.

Saturday night was a challenging day, because it was then that I received the news that Van Jones, Green Jobs Czar to Obama, had resigned after a hateful smear campaign run by Fox News' Glenn Beck.
Van Jones, the activist, the author, the institution builder, the innovator - is someone I have had the pleasure to know for 10 years. An attack on Van is an attack on all of us. "After being incarcerated for protesting police brutality in Los Angeles, Jones fought and denounced the abuses of the U.S. criminal justice system by creating and running the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights in Oakland, California which became a symbol of resistance against police brutality," writes Carlos A Quiroz in his blog (click here to read).

We must stand up to Glenn Beck! The way to do it by hitting his revenue. You can join over 150,000 people who have called on corporate advertisers to pull their ads from his show. Visit: Colorofchange.org/beck/

In other news, I am cutting like mad, cutting shapes and more shapes and masks for the upcoming world premiere of the play I am art directing, Ghosts of the River. You can read all about the play here. The play premieres on October 1st and will mark the first time I have taken my graphics from paper to the stage. Here are some shots from Week Four of intense rehearsals.

Hugo and I looking at our masks in the screen.

Rehearsing with our fake guns!

An artist talk with the playwright, Octavio Solis, myself, and Larry Reed, Director.

The Candy Store scene. Like my candies?

You can see more flicks here.

On Sunday evening, I ran into a dear, old friend who I had not seen in 5 years. We talked about our lives, what had changed, and talked about a loved friend we had in common, who had died in a car accident in 2006, 3 days before New Year's Day. Sean O'Shea. That was one day before my cousin, Aldo Bazalar, had passed in another accident. It was one of the hardest periods in my life. One thing I always remembered about Sean, was that he would carry a piece of paper with him where ever he went. It was the Optimists' Creed. I thought it was super geeky of him to do this, that each time I would see him he would show it to me, or he would remind me of a line from the verse. He referred to it so often, that it is an association I will forever have etched in my mind. When I think of Sean, I think of these words. Sean was also a committed yogi, he is pictured here. This weekend, I was feeling a bit down, a bit overwhelmed not only by work, but by personal obstacles as well, and so remembering someone who had passed, and remembering his lessons, made me appreciate my life, and made me remember why I also call myself an optimist.

The Optimist Creed

Promise Yourself
To be so strong that nothing can disturb your peace of mind.
To talk health, happiness, and prosperity to every person you meet.
To make all your friends feel that there is something worthwhile in them.
To look at the sunny side of everything and make your optimism come true.
To think only of the best, to work only for the best and to expect only the best.
To be just as enthusiastic about the success of others as you are about your own.
To forget the mistakes of the past and press on to the greater achievements of the future.
To wear a cheerful expression at all times and give a smile to every living creature you meet.
To give so much time to improving yourself that you have no time to criticize others.
To be too large for worry, too noble for anger, too strong for fear, and too happy to permit the presence of trouble.

Visual Resistance in Feminist Health Movements, Chicago

I have a few of my pieces in a new exhibit in Chicago at I-Space, a gallery of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

"EveryBody!  Visual Resistance in Feminist Health Movements, 1969-2009" draws from women's health activists' attitude of helping others to help themselves by presenting compelling art works as well as continuing to inform the public on women's health issues.  While a show of this nature takes the risk of merely reflecting on the vibrant activism of the 1970s, "EveryBody!" manages to pay homage to the past while showcasing the work of contemporary feminist artists.

— Excerpt from Art Talk Chicago (read full article here)

(Image on Right:Selections from the Docs Populi Poster Archive, multiple dates)

"Historical materials featured in the exhibition have been loaned by individuals, groups and institutions, including the Chicago Women’s Graphics Collective (CWGC) and Federation of Feminist Health Centers. Among the exhibition’s artists and other contributors are Heather Ault, CureThis! Christa Donner, Suzann Gage, Terri Kapsalis, Suzanne Lacy, Madsen Minax, the Pink Bloque, Favianna Rodriguez, Dewayne Sleightweight, subRosa, Laura Szumowski, VideoFreex, Sara Welch, Women on Waves and Faith Wilding."

— Excerpt from News Bureau Illinois (read full article here)

Image Above:"Inheritance" by Christa Donner 2009

Today I will be Live Painting at the Angel City Jazz Festival in LA

Gonna do some living paiting with my artist familia today. Come through!

Rocco Somazzi and Cryptogramophone Records present:
The 2nd Angel City Jazz Festival
Featuring Plays Monk, The Satoko Fujii Quartet, The Billy Childs Jazz-Chamber Ensemble, The Nels Cline Singers with Jeff Parker, Motoko Honda & Oguri and more.

and Live Painting Session
by Fumiko Amano, Favianna Rodriguez, and Gustavo Alberto Garcia Vaca
with DJ mix by Dubs One, Efechto, J Mar, Orion One; Chikaramanga,
Kiwamu Omae, and YOTAH of Shibuya Club DJs

September 6 & 7, 2009
4pm-11pm
@ the John Anson Ford Amphitheatre
2580 Cahuenga Blvd., East, Hollywood, CA 90068
Tickets: adults $35 ($30 before Aug 31) children under 18 & students with ID $12
www.fordtheatres.org or call the Ford Box Office at 323-461-3673. 

About Artists:
Fumiko Amano was born and raised in Tokyo, Japan.  Her atmospheric paintings, created as visualizations of sound/dream/organic forms, have been exhibited at the Santa Monica Museum of Art, Lawrence Asher Gallery, LACMA Rental and Sales Gallery, MOCA, Claremont Museum of Art, Murnau Art Gallery in Seville, Spain.  She is one of the 2010 C.O.L.A. Fellowship recipients.
Fumiko's website is: http://www.fumikoamano.com/

Favianna Rodriguez is an artist-entrepreneur who has helped foster resurgence in political arts both locally and internationally. Rodriguez is renowned for her vibrant posters dealing with social issues such as war, immigration, globalization, and social movements, as well as for her leadership in establishing innovative institutions that promote education and engage new audiences in the arts.   She is co-founder of the EastSide Arts Alliance (ESAA), Visual Element, the Taller Tupac Amaru, and Tumis Inc.  Favianna's website is: http://www.favianna.com/

Gustavo Alberto Garcia Vaca is a visual artist and writer.   His artwork is exhibited in art galleries and museums around the world, including Crewest Gallery in Los Angeles; and Parco Museum and the Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation in Japan.  Gustavo creates artwork for record covers and for live concert projections for Detroit Techno record labels Los Hermanos and Jeff Mills’ Axis Records; Francois K’s Deep Space dub record label; and others. 
Gustavo's website is: http://www.chamanvision.com

Livin' in the Shadows

For over one year, I have been collaborating as an Art Director with prolific Chicano playwright, Octavio Solis, and ShadowLight Productions, founded in 1972 by shadow master Larry Reed  to nurture indigenous shadow theater traditions and to explore the possibilities of the shadow theatre medium via innovative interdisciplinary, multicultural work. 

This photo to the right is of me wearing one of the masks of a female character. What you see in the screen is what the audience sees. Actors are behind the screen

This has marked the first time I have ever taken my work to the stage. Octavio Solis approached me because he thought my style was an ideal fit for his piece, Ghosts of the River, a new multidisciplinary theatre work that tackles the highly charged and complex subject of the US/Mexico border.

At first, it was a tremendous challenge for me to understand the medium. I would design what I thought to be "final" masks for the actors to wear, only to see them quickly adjusted, cut, remodeled as the shadow demanded. I would be obsessed with wanting my concepts to be final after spending hours on them, but in shadow puppetry, things are constantly evolving. You may cut a tree and place it on the left side of a set, only to move it a few minutes later, because and actor needs more room. The image on the right shows the puppets in action. The show is a combination of actors and puppets.

Ghosts of the River will feature ShadowLight’s hallmark shadow casting method, which combines the Balinese Traditional shadow theatre technique, the scale of film, and the immediacy of live performance.

The piece incorporates actors, shadow puppets and music along with Octavio's epic writing into a unique collection of vignettes of those who have encountered the Rio Grande throughout time:  Mexican Revolution refugees fleeing from violence; families abandoned by coyotes; narcotic rivalries that strew the river with the dead; and Border Patrol agents who toil against the tide of immigration and personal conscience.

Come check out World Premiere in San Jose or San Francisco!
Oct 1-11, 2009
Teatro Vision, San Jose, CA

Oct 28 - Nov 8, 2009
BRAVA Theater Center, San Francisco, CA

I also designed the poster for this show. Posters will be for sale at the premiere.



This is me wearing one of the masks


This is the group practicing how to hold the puppets. The man in the forefront is Octavio Solis.


This is one of the scenes in the vignette called EL OTRO EMILIO.

An article about my work in the NY Post!

Check it out!
http://blogs.nypost.com/tempo/

My OpEd in the Huffington Post

Here is my first Op Ed piece in the Huffington Post!!!! Who's The Real Racist?

Excerpt from the article:

It's not difficult to find problematic and racist clips from Rush Limbaugh and Bill O'Reilly, but it's worth noting a few of their lowest moments. Here's O'Reilly having a near coronary in his quest to demonize undocumented immigrants, who he refers to as "illegal aliens", not to mention his repeated use of the term "wetback." Limbaugh has called Mexicans "stupid and unqualified," and called L.A. Mayor Villaraigosa a "shoeshine boy."

There are real consequences when this country's most viewed conservative TV personalities spew out racist language like this. By dehumanizing Latinos, they create a climate that inevitably leads to racism and violence, particularly against immigrants. And the evidence bears this out. Members of the fast-growing Latino community are increasingly the targets of hate crimes, which have increased by 35% from 2003 to 2006.

Read full article by clicking here

How Prrrrrrrrrrresente made OReilly and Limbaugh Squirm!

This past week, the organization I helped found, Presente Action, a Latino advocacy group, called on Republican members of the Senate Judiciary Committee today to denounce Rush Limbaugh's newest inflammatory attacks on Judge Sonia Sotomayor. The ad below is what we ran on Spanish- language radio and TV spots demanding they denounce Limbaugh. Joe Garofoli, in his SF Chron Politics Blog, wrote:

"The two-month-old Berkeley liberal online hub called Presente -- which wants to be the Latino MoveOn -- has scored the progressive daily double: It has ticked off both Rush Limbaugh and Bill O'Reilly." Read full story by clicking here

Here is the OReilly video segment:

We also pushed Limbaugh's buttons. On his show Monday, responding to Presente Action's new Spanish radio ads about his previous attacks on Sotomayor, Limbaugh said, "Sotomayor's comments are much worse than Macaca" -- the infamous racist slur that led to the defeat of former Senator George Allen in 2006. Limbaugh also said, "She reflects the racial anger, attitude that Obama has."

Limbaugh has no shame -- launching more racist attacks on Judge Sotomayor during a historic week when her credentials are on full display. Our elected leaders cannot remain silent in the face of these inflammatory comments polluting the public discourse.

The radio ads Limbaugh was responding to launched Monday received great coverage! The story was covered by ABC, Yahoo News, Politico, CNN, Huffington Post, Orlando Sentinel, Crooks & Liars, St. Petersburg Times, Daily Kos, and others.

The radio ads aired in Florida congressional districts rich with Hispanic voting populations, and call on local congressoinal Republicans to denounce Limbaugh's previous remarks calling Sotomayor "a bigot and a racist."

Awesome Article about my work in the East Bay Express

Special thanks to Rachel Swan for a great piece on me in today's East Bay Express. I'm proud to be on the front cover as well! Check out the article by clicking here.

Frida Bandida is livin' Off the Wall

I've been on an experimental wave these past few months, trying to stay very loose with my lines and ideas. I'm churning out so many political pieces that I realize I need time to just do some loose, non-text, brain-dump style work. Here is my homage to Frida as well as some new etchings.

This last blue piece is dedicated to Michael Jackson and is titled "Let the Madness of the Music Get to You," a line from Off the Wall.

Everyone do the moonwalk and say "mamasay mamasa mamakusa!" Michael Jackson is dead and the entire world is collectively grieving.

Michael Jackson is dead at 50. My mom called me yesterday at 330pm to say, "Hijita did you hear? Michael murio!" The 31 year gap between us didn't matter at that moment, both of us were quiet on the phone, thinking of the many times we danced to the Thriller album when I was a girl.

At this moment I'm chilling in my home in East Oakland, still watching videos of Michael Jackson, listening to P.Y.T., Human Nature, reading the blogs, searching the internet to see what my fellow activists have to say about how MJ touched all of us. I'm 30 -  I grew up with Michael's music - I remember Thriller was one of the first album's my parents bought that was in English, prior to that, it was mostly salsa albums in our home. At that time my folks didn't speak English too well, but MJ's music crossed that boundary.

What most amazes me about these past few days, since hearing of Michael's death, is how the entire world has reacted. People stopped what they were doing, to grieve for an artist who touched them deeply, breaking out with their favorite MJ song or moment. I mean almost EVERYONE, from here to Hong Kong to Mexico City to London to Thailand - folks felt a moment of loss. Michael died and almost took the internet with him! (read more) The moment of his death even topped Obama's inauguration in terms of web traffic.

Since 330 pm yesterday, I felt like I was part of a huge collective grieving process, watching folks gather FlashMob-style in London singing Thriller, watching people sing Rock With You at the Apollo Theater  in unison, checking out folks post their favorite MJ songs and talk about their cheesy MJ childhood moments, even seeing folks in the markets breaking out with some 80s dance moves! My friend tweeted that she seen "woman in a wheelchair and a sports bra having her own private MJ church moment." It made me feel good to be alive, it made me stop and wish I could go dance Thriller in the streets, made me want to sing out with some MaMaSeMaMaSaMaMaCuSa! I have only felt once like this for a musician, and that was for the Chicana music pioneer, Selena!

Michael Jackson broke race barriers without a doubt. My good friend Adrienne Maria Brown, ED of Ruckus Society, writes in her blog:

He broke race barriers in the pop world which opened doors in the political world - he crossed over and back. He morphed. When the signs started to become clear, that the boy wasn’t right, that he was too isolated, underdeveloped, imperfect - we laughed, we stared, we assumed. He was our first boyfriend before he became our crazy cousin - always family.

Davey D, journalist and Hip Hop activist that runs one of the oldest and largest Hip Hop websites, wrote:

We keep forgetting the important role Jackson played in the We are the World Project in 1985...That was the jump off record for artists to come together and try and make big statements...I’ll never forget that Michael Jackson had the gumption to do his Remember the Time video set in Egypt and showed the ancient Egyptians as Black. That was big and the height of irony because so many of us always were annoyed that Egypt was always associated with Elizabeth Taylor who was one of Michael Jackson’s best friends. Instead of casting her in a return role of Cleopatra he put in Magic Johnson who played the Pharaoh. Sadly Jackson caught heat for it, but he never changed that video and many of us loved him for it...I recall Michael Jackson holding a press conference  and calling Sony record executive Tommy Mottola out who at the time was one of the most powerful label executives in the world. Jackson called him a racist and a devilish person who was ripping off Black artists...At the time it was a bold move by Jackson. Not a whole lot of artists were willing to stand up and be counted.

Tammy Johnson, of RaceWire/Colorlines, describes, in her video blog, "he made it ok for white girls to scream at a black man, he made it ok for white boys to do the moonwalk." But it was not ok for Michael Jackson to be his black self.

Michael's passing reminds me about the power of art and creativity - a tool that truly has no limits. I've been listening to his songs all day, and decided to make a list of the my favorite lines that in some way or other, inspired me to be the warrior I am today. Check it out.

"If you wanna make the world a better place, take a look at yourself, and then make a change"
- Man in the Mirror

"Just remember to always think twice"
- Billie Jean

"‘Cuz we’re all the same, yes the blood inside of me is inside of you "
- Can You Feel It?

"I Ain't Scared Of No Sheets"
- Black or White

"If they say why....tell em that is human nature"
- Human Nature

"A change will only come when we stand together as one"
- We are the World

 

Stand with Sotomayor!

Ever since Obama nominated Judge Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court, the right wing has attacked her with racist and sexist remarks, part of a coordinated strategy to tarnish her credibility. Sotomayor is a Puerto Riqueña from the Bronx, and if confirmed, would be the Court's first Latina justice, and its third female justice.

I created a poster to celebrate pride in this historic nomination in collaboration with Presente.org, a national online organizing effort that strengthens the political voice of Latino communities.

Click here to download poster

The attacks against Sotomayor from the conservatives have been vicious. On his show, Limbaugh said that nominating Sotomayor was like nominating David Duke, former Grand Wizard of the KKK. He also said, “Here you have a racist — you might want to soften that, and you might want to say a reverse racist." Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0509/22983.html#ixzz0JPzxpThl&C

Spread this poster far and wide, download it, and invite your friends and family to do the same. Hearings on Judge Sotomayor’s confirmation are scheduled for July 13. That means we only have a month to get this poster distributed and reproduced everywhere—on web sites, in street windows, and on office walls.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD

Two cool events for today and tomorrow (Wed & Thurs)! Come see my art!

Two great events for those of you in the Bay Area.

TODAY - WEDNESDAY!
Artist Talk
Wednesday, June 24, 6 pm
Kala Artists' Talks by Jordan Essoe, Nicole Maury & Favianna Rodriguez
at Kala San Pablo: 2990 San Pablo Avenue, Berkeley, CA 94702
*** I go on first so be there at 6 pm promptly
for more info click here

Art Reception for TALLER TUPAC AMARU
Reception & Print Sale: Thurs., June 25th, 6 pm
Refreshments & Music
Prints, Posters & TShirts for Sale!
Asian Resource Gallery
310 eighth st. / harrison
Oakland Chinatown

Artwork to Save the Amazon, Stand with the Peruvians, and Speak Out Against the Neoliberals & the devastation they bring to our planet!

Yesterday I wrote about the situation in Peru. Today I created posters for all of you to show your support! Thanks to Carlos for his help on the posters. Take these with you to the protests at the US Embassy, post them on your windows, and share far and wide! Contact me if you want larger files than what we have here - favianna [at] favianna.com

For information and up to date information, visit Peruanista.Blogspot.com who has been blogging since the very morning of the attacks on Friday, June 5. There you can find resources for people to contact in Peru and U.S. authorities, as well as the UN.

Poster available for download here on Favianna.com & Peruanista.com
Photo Credit: Independent Journalist of CATAPA courtesy of Amazon Watch
Special Thanks to Carlos A. Quiroz, Fidel Dolorier & Jaguar Rokoto

Download Tabloid JPEG of Poster 1
Download Tabloid PDF of Poster 1

Download Tabloid JPEG of Poster 2
Download Tabloid PDF of Poster 2

Download Tabloid JPEG of Poster 3
Download Tabloid PDF of Poster 3

Free Trade Exposes its Ugly, Brutal Face In Peru - "Stand Against the Savages!" they say

Yesterday my familia and friends in Peru emailed me about the massacres of indigenous protestors in the Amazonas who are defending their lands from big oil companies.

"Dozens of people are estimated to have been killed in clashes between police and indigenous activists protesting oil and mining projects in the northern Peruvian Amazonian province of Bagua...troops are patrolling towns in the Amazon jungle. Authorities say up to twenty-two policemen have been killed...The indigenous community says at least forty people, including three children, were killed by the police this weekend," explains Amy Goodman on a TV Report from Democracy Now (a must see).

I was told  that the indigenous people had "tortured, gutted, and violently killed the police men they had captured the day before, slicing their necks and in at least one case cutting their eyeballs out." You can also read about this in some of the Peruvian papers, such as El Comercio.

These accounts were not mentioned neither in the NY Times article, nor the BBC one, and so its validity is in question. (Of course the framing for both articles is centered on the police and not on the protestors themselves, also victims of violence) It seems that this piece of the story is either made up or being exagerrated to readers into a general sentiment heading in the direction of "Those Savages Must Be Stopped!" In other words, the "savagery" is described as being perpetrated by the indigenous people, when in actuality, it is the Peruvian military that is committing the "savagery,", with their guns, tear gas, and tanks; backed by big oil and logging companies, and by the "free-trade-loving" president Alan Garcia himself. Not to mention how "savagely" the Amazon land is being destroyed day by day by the oil profiteers, nor how these companies are destroying the bio diversity of one of the most important regions for planet earth.

This type of fear mongering is to be expected when you are the president of a country that just signed Free Trade Agreements with China and Canada. He even went as far to call the resisters "terrorits." Ben Powless, a Mohawk from Six Nations in Ontario and blogger with Rabble.ca, writes:

"Garcia declared the Indigenous elements to be standing in the way of progress, in the path of national development, wrenches in the gears of modernity, and part of an international conspiracy to keep Peru down. In a troubling statement on the resemblance of the Indigenous protestors to the infamous Sendero Luminoso (Shining Path) armed insurrection, Garcia seemed to imply the Natives were a band of terrorists as he stood in front of hundreds of military officers in a nationally televised speech. He continued to decry the Indian barbarity and savagery, and called for all police and military to stand against savagery.

We can expect Garcia to bring on the iron fist, to attempt to suppress and squash this uprising. One of the first rules in war is to dehumanize your enemy in order to facilitate their killing. Its more acceptable to murder a "savage" than it is to murder a person fighting to protect Mother Earth.

We, who are living in the United States, have a major role to play in what is happening to our people down South. Our society benefits immensely from "free trade", and lets not forget, it was Democratic President, Bill Clinton, that put NAFTA into effect back in 1993. We have to stand up to the profiteers, to the multi-national corporations, and demand, "No Globalization without Representation!" Bloguera, La Mancha, of Vivir Latino writes:

"Being in the U.S. affords me certain privileges, namely allowing me to be unaware of how laws of the U.S. affect citizens in other countries. I knew on some level what the fighting in Peru was about (corporate versus indigenous nations versus Peruvian government), but of course, the role of the U.S. is so hidden from people in the U.S., we don’t see it until we are told."....read more

I will be developing a solidarity poster to support the fight of the indigenouse people in Peru, the defenders of PachaMama. You can learn more about this issue by visiting Amazon Watch. Lets apply international pressure needed to stop the mining and killing of indigenous people. 

SIGN THE PETITION ON AVAAZ and Spread the Word! (click here)

Condemn the Attacks on Latinos and Sotomayor, Now!

Last week, during an interview about Judge Sotomayor, former Congressman and current anti-immigrant extremist Tom Tancredo, called NCLR 'a Latino KKK without the hoods and the nooses.' This language has been ongoing as part of a smear campaign against Sotomayor and the nation's largest Latino civil rights and advocacy organization.

Take action by clicking here!

Please join NCLR in asking Republican National Committee (RNC) Chairman Michael Steele, House Minority Leader John Boehner, and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell to denounce this smear campaign and keep the nomination process civil, respectful, and constructive.

This info was taken from the website of the National Council for La Raza.

I'm loving my Iphone more and more by the day!

Did you hear that the June cover for New Yorker was done on an IPhone? With a 4.99 Iphone application! This is truly the intersection of art, speed, technology and portability.

Pennsylvania Governor Urges Federal Charges in Luis Ramirez Case

To everyone who was outraged by the brutal killing of Luis Ramirez, I would like to share that the new organization of which I am a part of, Presente.org, just won a small but meaningful victory in the fight for justice for Luis Ramirez.  Gov. Ed Rendell’s letter to Attorney General Holder comes as Presente.org  members call on him to speak out on the beating death of the Latino immigrant and acquittal of his killers. I forwarded this petition to many of you, and so THANK YOU for standing up and making our voices heard!

Press Release reads:

Pennsylvania Governor Edward G. Rendell has urged U.S. Attorney Eric Holder to  pursue civil rights charges against two men involved in the July 2008 beating death of Mexican immigrant Luis Ramirez, making a strong appeal for justice in the violent and racially-charged case. Presente.org, a new online organizing group focused on Latino issues, praised Rendell’s leadership in lending his voice to the fight for justice that has been driven by the Latino community in Pennsylvania and nationally.

More than 23,000 Presente.org members across the country signed a petition urging Gov. Rendell to speak out against the brutal killing of Luis Ramirez and the subsequent acquittal of two of his attackers on all serious charges.  “Governor Rendell’s statement sends a strong message that the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania will not tolerate racially motivated crimes,” said Gabriel Rey-Goodlatte of California-based Presente.org. “Our members thank the Governor for hearing our collective plea, and urge Attorney General Holder to do the same.”

Luis Ramirez died in July 2008, after he was knocked unconscious and kicked in the head by a group of Shenandoah teenagers who yelled racial epithets before and during the attack. A Schuylkill County Court jury acquitted Brandon Piekarsky, 17, of third-degree murder and ethnic intimidation and Derrick Donchak, 19, of aggravated assault and ethnic intimidation. Both were convicted of simple assault and face at the most about 2 years in prison.

The Ramirez case has become a flashpoint for the Latino community, which has experienced a sharp increase in hate crimes in recent years. According to the FBI, hate crimes against Latinos increased 35% from 2003 to 2006.

Members of Presente.org, which aims to build political power online for the fast-growing Latino community, contacted Rendell’s office directly in conjunction with their May 12 petition and in partnership with the Pennsylvania-based Keystone Progress. In the letter to Holder, Rendell said that hate crimes hurt more than just the victims and their families: “The evidence suggests that Mr. Ramirez was targeted, beaten and killed because he was Mexican.  Such lawlessness and violence hurts not only the direct victim of the attack but also our towns and communities that are torn apart by such bigotry and intolerance.”

The full text of the Governor’s letter can be found here.

The original Presente.org petition is here.

Artist Talk and Reception @ La Pena on 5/31

La Peña's Political Art Series presents:

Political Art & Activism

Sunday May 31, 2009

FREE (Donations Accepted & Encouraged) - 3:30pm artist reception 4:30-6:30pm roundtable

Tonight La Peña will be featuring noted Bay Area graphic artists Lincoln Cushing, Favianna Rodriguez, & Susie Lundy. In this era of Obama "hope" and a crashing economy, what are some ways that visual artists can engage with community organizations to build a better world? Exhibition runs May 4-31.                  

Let's talk about sex! Latina girls still having more babies than any other teenage group

I'm about to talk about sex so if you are a member of my family or you just don't want to hear it from me, then stop reading right now.

This year I have been active about discussing alternative models of having relationships, considering that the dominant model we hear about relationships does not work for many of us. In fact, it does not work for about 50% of the population, if you take a look at how high divorce rates are. I have also been more active around learning more about my own sexuality, and challenging ourselves, as people of color, to reconsider sexuality as something that is constantly changing, adapting, being reinvented.

In our own communities (black and brown) I feel that we often regergitate  heterosexist, oppressive models around sex, for example, in many brown families young women are not talked to about sex unless the message is "Don't have any!". There tends to be an emphasis on "waiting for marriage" for young Latinas, I mean, I definitely got conditioned that way, not by my parents, but by all the culture around me. I was also not encouraged to learn about masturbation, about open relationships, about questioning whether I liked men or women - I was conditioned to believe that I would fall in love with one really awesome guy, have babies with him and be monogamous, and that that should be one of my main life purposes. That's not where I am today, and at age 30, all I hear at family parties is "Favi when you gonna have your own babies! Cuando te casas??

When it comes down to men of color, immigrant men, and Latino men in particular - I have often seen the model of keeping stuff on the "down low", that is, the fact that men sleep with other men but they dont' talk about it, they don't ackowledge it, it's kept on the "down-low." This sort of behavior actually encourages dishonesty and self censorship, and it reinforces the whack heterosexists models that exist in our communities.

I understand why sex is still something we dont' talk about openly in our communities. I believe it has something to do with our own internal oppression, that is, we are so disempowered in our daily lives through racism, that we have to exert power in our own relationships, and that power is usually is around controlling our lovers, or viewing them as property, or not being open to the fact that our lovers may in fact have very complex sexual desires that we need to nourish and support. I think that people's sexuality DOES change, with time, with new experiences, so why not embrace it - having a fulfilling sexual life is also about self liberation. Its about understanding your own boundaries and things that you like, enjoy, learning how to negotiate for the things you want and desire, having the courage to ask for those things.

Imagine for example, if I was in a domestic partnership for 10 years and after 10 years my male partner tells me he wants to sleep with other men. What would I do? Well, in my new sex-activist self, I would tell him he should experiment and I would ask that he be safe and honest with me, and that he should explore that side of his being. I don't think I would be able to tell him to repress that side of him, I mean, that would probably make him unhappy, and when you love someone, I think you should encourage them to be happy, fulfilled, and open to the wonderful experiences that life brings. Its hard, yes, of course, but ALL relationships are hard. I can already imagine how much negative crap I would get from my own family and friends, the other day I was telling my mother I was dating a bi guy and she was like, "Que cosa!? Dios Mio!" My brother is gay, so my mother actually is a very open woman, but for some reason she could not see how I could be in a relationship with a guy that liked other guys, and girls. What matters is that I am comfortable with where I am at the decisions I make, I believe that being sexually liberated is part of my own liberation as a woman of color. You have to liberate your chonies (underwear) before you liberate your people!

Well today, I ran into an article about the fact that young Latina girls are having WAY more babies than any other teenage group. Does that surprise anyone? Considering that our cultura can be so closed about these topics. What would happen if we taught our young mujeres how to negotiate safe sex, how to say yes or no depending on how they felt. When we impose an abstinenc-only model, a model that says that you are some kind of whore if you have premarital sex (watch some novelas and you will see what I'm talking about), then we are actually disempowering our young mujeres. We are not giving them tools for them to make good decisions. So what happens is they end up getting pregnant with one of the guys they are first sexually active with. I see this all the time. You know, how in our familias the girls can't go out unless they are chaperoned by the brother, by the younger sister - all of this policing does what? It tells young women that we dont' trust them, that we see them as pretty little flowers that will be devoured by their male counterparts. This is sexism at its best. The messages that young Latinas end up getting is that sex in an evil thing, that it should ONLY happen between two married people, that if they engage it in, they are breaking cultural traditions. What we should be doing instead is empowering them to learn how to love their bodies, to be able to negotiate for what they want, including safe sex. This will not only prevent pregancies, it will prevent sexual violence.

The article reads:

The survey also found that 84 percent of Latino teens and 91 percent of Latino parents believe that graduating from college or university or having a promising career is the most important goal for a teen's future.

So where is the disconnect coming from? The survey hints that it stems, in part, from conflicting messages about sex and contraception.

Although nearly half of the Latino teens surveyed said their parents influenced their decisions about sex, and three-quarters had gotten The Talk, only half of those that got the talk heard anything about contraception. The survey had two other interesting results.

The survey also found that:

• 74 percent of Latino teens believe that parents send one message about sex to their sons and a different message altogether to their daughters, possibly related to the Latino value of machismo.(Favi says: "Uhhhh yeah.....whack!")
• Latino teens believe that the most common reason teens do not use contraception is that they are afraid their parents might find out. (Favi says: Exactly! We need to stop being sex negative and instead be sex positive!)

You can read full article here.

The image above is one of my new etchings by the way....

3 New Pieces to Fight Big Agribusiness & GMO's

 

This year, much of my art work has tackled the topic of food because it is an issue that tremendously affects la Raza. Latinos compose a large majority of the workforce in the agricultural sector as well as the meat and poultry industries. The sheer numbers of Latino workers shows us that we essentially feed this country. Meanwhile, Latinos are getting bigger and unhealthier at alarming rates, facing a host of food related diseases, including malnutrition and obesity. On a global level, the WTO’s food policies are affecting farmers back in our homelands. The domination of genetically modified seeds, along with unfair trade agreements such as NAFTA, are destroying the way of life for farmers all over Latin America as well as strangling bio-diversity. The U.S. model of big agribusiness is hitting our people hard from many angles, from how we work to what we eat to how we grow it. Meanwhile, back home, Latino youth grow up in urban food deserts, where access to clean, healthy and whole food is rare. This unsustainable food situation is beyond craziness!. The dominant model of globalized, industrialized food is costly for the earth, for the farmers, and for ourselves.

Vandana Shiva writes that one of the most divisive issues around food is the myth of “cheap” food, the concept that industrialized food systems produce more food, and thus, should be favored over small, biodiverse farms. Latino worers are particularly affected in this area because industrialized food consistently translates into more accelerated modes of production, an increase in more stressful conditions for the workers, the use of pesticides and chemicals to accelerate the growth and size of the end product, and an emphasis on profits. It also can mean the use of GMO’s, which indeed use a lot more chemicals and also obligate farmers to buy the seeds from the corporations each year. In other words, “cheap” food is not cheap, not for the workers who participate in the production, not for the earth that absorbs the waste, and not for the health of the consumer.

A new paradigm for food that considers the Latino worker, grower, and consumer is what is needed. As Latinos, we must understand how much is at stake for us as a community when we are affected not only in the production of the food, but in the ripples that are felt throughout our native lands that can be linked directly to our consumption patterns. In other words, the Latino food consumer must be informed about the global implications of the U.S. current food policies and practice.  Food activist Vandana Shiva writes, “Eaters have a critical role in creating a sustainable, just, and healthy food system. By eating organic, we are saying no to toxins and supporting the organic farmer. By rejecting GMO’s, we are voting for people’s right to information and health. By eating local, we are taking power away from global agribusiness and strengthening our local food economy.”

Our gente needs to be educated about a more a sustainable and healthy diet. "Latinos and their children have been particularly affected by the growing prevalence of overweight and obesity. In 2005, at leastone in four Latino adults living in the U.S. was obese. More than one in six (16.8%) Hispanic high school students is overweight. Hispanics’ rates of being overweight are significantly higher than White high schoolers (11.8%) and about the same as Blacks (16.0%) of the same age. Even at the preschool level, Mexican-Americans are more likely to be overweight (11%) than their non-Hispanic Black (8%) and White (10%) counterparts. As the largest racial and ethnic minority population in the United States, Latinos are also the youngest; more than 34% of the U.S. Latino population in 2004 were under the age of 18." (From ObesityDiscussion.com)As Latino children are a major segment of the Latino population and make up a significant portion of obese or overweight children in the U.S., this problem needs to become a major focus for all of us organizers.

The poster I did about Maiz will be on exhibit in the group show, "El Maiz es Nuestra Vida" (the Maiz is Our Life). The planting of transgenic maize in Mexico is a historic crime against the peoples of maize, against biodiversity and food sovereignty, against ten thousand years of indigenous and peasant agriculture that bequeathed this seed for the well being f all the peoples of the world. Corn Farmers are the keepers of tradition. Corn Farmers are the protectors of biodiversity.  The fact that the Mexican government, along with the NAFTA administration, willfully designed an economic policy to drastically reduce the number of small farmers who are the keepers and original developers of such a valuable resource, is unconscionable.

The other two pieces I did deal with the fight against the privatization of water. This piece below was done for the 2009 Swarthmore College Intercultural Center Awards.

You can see photos from the process for the "Water is a Weapon" piece. Scroll to bottom.

Favianna's Water Print at New Mexico State University from Favianna Rodriguez on Vimeo.

10,000 dead since 2006.. the War on Drugs is not working...

This week I watched the new movie, Sin Nombre, directed by Cary Fukunaga (trailer above).  The film is about an Honduran teenager Sayra (Gaitan) who begins the journey of heading to El Norte, and her life intersects with a young man, Willy, who is trying to leave the life of being a gang member with the Mara's (Mara Salvatrucha). I really enjoyed the film because it showed the characters of two brown folks, a woman and a man, within the complexities of their political situations. You saw the intersection of gangs, drugs, violence, immigration, and an overall failed policy when it comes to dealing with people who travel north in search of work. So often I see movies about Raza and they are very predicatable, their characters too two-dimensional, and the plots so stereotypical. This was a refreshing change. Although the film was violent, I thought it was very accurate.

The fact that the U.S. has militarized the border has set an example for many other countries, Mexico included, and has made crossing an extremely risky act - this is laid out well in this film. I also like to see another type of crossing besides the one we are used to. Usually, we see the story of crossing from Mexico into the U.S., but this time you were able to see the journey starting from Central America, much of it based on train hopping. I had never heard of this type of crossing until I lived in Mexico City. My friends who were working for the PRD, the government that runs Mexico City, were doing groundbreaking work by establishing transitional homes (Casas Migrantes) for the immigrants who came from Central America. They said they were doing this because the Mexican government had a horrible track record when it came to the treatment of immigrants from south of the Mexican border. My friend Benjamin, would tell me how many people would become dismembered during crossing on trains, and how often families were separated, that little children could not keep up with the speed of the trains, and how many of them became orphaned from the process of crossing.

This movie showed this reality, and it intersected it with gangs. Its important to note how influential gangs are in Mexico, El Salvador, and other countries in Central America - places where gangs have HUGE influence and power, and so this movie did a great job of showing this. I liked that they showed just how large MS is. I have known this from stories from my artist friends in Central America, but I had never seen it documented in a feature film like this. The gang paradigm I'm used to seeing a lot of is Norte and Sur.

My friend Xico just told me about the documentary Sin Nombre was based on, a docu called "De Nadie." You can see the whole docu on YouTube. I saw it and it broke my heart. It made me sad to see the lengths that people go through to find work. You can see the full docu here.

The only other time I had seen the strength of the Mara's was through documentaries such as Fruits of War by Josiah Hooper, a docu that follows four reformed gang members who escaped to the United States as child refugees from El Salvador's bloody civil war.  They settled in the tough east side of Los Angeles, eventually becoming involved in street gangs. When they are deported back to El Salvador, they discover a country ravaged by war, and face a new wave of violence as the LA street gangs take root in their homeland.

Much of the capital that holds gangs together and gives them their purpose comes from the drug trade. I was surprised to see this article in which former Mexican president Vicente Fox, calls for the legalization of Marijuana. He says this because since 2006, the drug trade has caused 10,000 deaths in Mexico alone. He "joined three other ex-leaders of Latin American nations calling for the decriminalization of marijuana."

Read full article, "Former Mexican president calls for legalizing marijuana"

I met Sebastião Salgado today and I honor the people I love who support me in many ways... and the posters that crossed the border

On Tuesday, my parents called me at least 5 times during the day to scold me about the crazy things I do for art. I'm 30 years old - but I'm still my parent's daughter - as a brown woman you hear it from your folks a lot. Your mama is always your jefita (translated this means "boss"). My parents were on their way back from Tijuana, carrying 25 cardboard tubes of posters in their van - but not just any posters! These were posters about immigrant rights, deaths at the border, and queer migrant rights!

The story begins in May 2008. I was in Mexico City attending the TIGRA conference which brought together over 300 organizations from around the world who were fighting for immigrant rights. I had coordinated a project in which five artists, myself included, developed five poster designs that reframed the theme of immigration. Our posters attempted NOT to react to the rhetoric that frames immigrants as "illegals", but to instead introduce a reframing of how important immigrant workers are to the entire world. The intent of the project was to distribute a set of posters (20-30 posters) to each of the conference participants, so that they could help distribute these to their collaborators around the world. The project was a huge success, but at the end of the conference, I was left with a stack of posters that reached higher than my waist (from the floor that is). You can see all the posters by clicking here.

So I desperately searched for options to ship the posters back home, but customs is a pain and so sending the posters directly to the US would have cost over $1000. So instead, I sent them to Tijuana by bus, with the hopes that I would one day come rescue them on one of my many trips to San Diego. They sat that bus station for a couple of months, and finally my friend Esperanza rescued them - she kept 25 tubes of posters that each weighed about 20 pounds, she kept them for over 10 months.

I would repeatedly ask folks that I knew were going to TJ to pick them up for me, but folks would say, "no mames, a ese barrio yo no voy," (translated, "you crazy, I aint going to that hood."). I eventually figured out that Esperanza's hood was one of the more dangerous ones in Tijuana. My parents made a quick trip to Tijuana to relax, and luckily they rolled with a posse, so safety in numbers. They complained to me that they were in the hood of "El Pozolero" (The Stew Maker) who was arrested in January 2009. The Times online described him:  "He would dispose of the enemies of a notorious drug baron by dissolving them in tubs of acid. Over several years he claims to have “disappeared” 300 enemies of Teodoro García Semental, a former henchman for one of the largest cartels in Mexico and now in a bloody struggle for supremacy over the trade." I was in disbelief when I heard this, I was not only afraid for my parents, but also disheartened about the degree of violence that occurs along the border, usually because of drugs. Who buys the drugs that keep the violence rampant? U.S. Americans do.

(I have to take a deep breath before I keep writing and so should you)

My parents made it back safely, and my friend Esperanza, my former student in Mexico City where I met her, was delighted to meet them. I want to say that despite the violence that happens in Mexico, and actually all over the world, including my own neighborhood of East Oakland, people have the ability to be happy and to have hope for the future. I know that Esperanza is a great artist that finds the beauty in everything around her. These first three photos are hers and you can see more of her work by clicking here. I myself have been impacted by the violence of my own community, and perhaps one of the hardest moments for me was when my neighbor of 18 years of age was killed last year when he was walkign his dog. Marco Casillas rest in peace.

Despite the violence, I have never lost hope of how beautiful my community is, how rich it is from the many people who come here from places all over Latin America, the stories they share make me inspire me. I see little things here and there, like how much work people put into making their homes pretty - growing pretty flowers in their yards, making gardens - in a community that most of us don't walk outside past sundown. This is my life, the circumstances under which I was brought into this world, and so my responsiblity is to share those stories and I'm blessed with a gift to do so, which is my art. (photo to the right is of a street vendor in my neighborhood) These thoughts were echoed today by a man who I have respected for years, but only today was able to meet, and that is Sebastião Ribeiro Salgado. He talked about the dignity that people have even when they are the margins, even when they are in the worst of conditions, they have a human capacity for love and hope that transcends even the harshest of circumstances.

The conversation that Salgado had today was an intimate one at the Brower Center (where my office is moving to by the way), where his work is currently on exhibit. He and his wife/collaborator/art director, Lélia Deluiz Wanick, talked about the journey the two of them had together as two people in love, who could align their dreams and not only create beautiful art, but also a beautiful contribution to the planet that is Instituto Terra. Instituto Terra seeks to rebuild the forest ecosystem of the area through different forms of intervention and by restoring the ecological processes and contributing to the maintenance of the local biodiversity.

(photo to left by Salgado) What affected me most about Salgado's talk, was how, through his career as a photographer, he was able to see the world, visit various countries, connect with various people, and to arrive at the conclusion that the degradation of people was always linked to the degradation of earth. It was thanks to the support and partnership with his wife, that he was able to achive great success, and together they transformed that success into a project that was about rebuilding pachamama (mother earth). They were able to return water to a place that was dry - that's how amazing this project is. I hope to do the same in my life, to be an artist than can see the world and learn from it, so that I can help in the building of transformative projects, whether that be a cultural center or a school or an art institution, I want to build something that has a bigger impact on people's lives and on the earth. I am grateful that I have the supportive family that I do. And of course i hope to find a supportive partner. This is harder for me to imagine, but only because the usual model I see is that of the artist husband with a supportive wife. When I think of woman artists with a supportive male spouse, I only think of Frida and Diego....and as for Diego, well his support of her was not what I would ask for, I mean he repeatedly cheated on her. But he DID support her creativity.

Speaking of supportive people who you love and who love you, the pictures below are of my mother on May 1st 2009, the day of the Immigrant Rights marches. My mom ran home right before the marches were going to being, and pulled two of my large pieces off the wall, and proudly displayed then during the march. She even was interviewed! (she's the one in the red) I 'm honored to have a supportive family, I'm thankful that my mother and father taught me to be strong, to not be afraid, and to always look forward and fight for our people. Arribas las familias! Arriba las madres!

Who Will Stop AIPAC Before it is Too Late? (repost from Common Dreams)

A big shot out to CodePink for the action they did this week at the AIPAC gathering. Medea Benjamin, Desiree Fairooz, and other women from CodePink interrupted the meeting by unfurling banners and standing on top of tables. Today I read an article from Medea that made me very sad, but also inspired me to take action around pushing for this country to cease investing in the Israeli military machine that is committing genocide against the Palestinians. This article in Common Dreams is moving, please read it here.

WHO IS AIPAC: AIPAC is the most visible organ of the so-called 'Jewish lobby.' It is widely believed that the 'Jewish lobby' has a vast influence on US foreign policy, and that in consequence US foreign policy is pro-Israel to the point of absurdity.

Here is an excerpt:

"Shut the f--- up. Shut the f--- up." one staffer yelled, red-faced and sweating as he ran beside me. "This is not the place to be saying that shit. Get the f--- out of here."

What makes my heart ache is thinking about the traumatized children I met on my recent trip to Gaza, and how their suffering is denied by the 6,000 AIPAC conventioneers who are living in a bubble-a bubble where Israel is the victim and all critics are anti-Semitic, terrorist lovers or, as in my case, self-hating Jews.

I found it fascinating that AIPAC's executive director Howard Kohr opened the conference admitting that there was now a huge, international campaign against the policies of Israel. He painted a picture of 30,000 people marching in Spain, Italian trade unionists calling for a boycott of Israeli products, the UN Human Rights Council passing 26 resolutions condemning Israel, an Israeli Apartheid Week that is building a global boycott, divestment and sanctions campaign.

Read full article here. Photo from Getty Images

My artwork in NEW Labor Art Book!

My friends at Dignidad Rebelde just sent me news that Lincoln Cushing's new book is being released today! I have a piece in this book, Green Is Not White.

Agitate! Educate! Organize!
American Labor Posters
Lincoln Cushing and Timothy W. Drescher
$24.95, Cornell University Press, 2009

East Bay book release premiere
Thursday, May 7, 2009 6:30-9:00 PM
Alliance Graphics, 1101 8th St, Berkeley, CA (510) 845-8835
Hosted by Alliance Graphics / Middle East Children’s Alliance

San Francisco release premiere
Wednesday, May 27, 2009 7:00 PM
Modern Times Bookstore, 888 Valencia St.
This is a fundraiser for Modern Times -
all proceeds to support the store

From Lincoln's site...

"Despite the existence of labor images going back to some of the earliest examples of representational art, very little has been done in this country to acknowledge the contribution labor posters have made to our national culture.  Other countries, including Germany, England, and Australia, take this genre seriously, but ironically it has been up to foreign scholars to produce some of the best research and successful publications on our own culture. The few books that treat these posters are either broader art exhibit catalogs or illustrated sections of books on specific labor themes, such as the history of the Industrial Workers of the World. No single U.S.-published title exists which offers a broad survey of this specific art form. The graphics themselves have experienced the general fate of other “oppositional” cultural documents, where low social status has resulted in public neglect.

Agitate! Educate! Organize! - American Labor Posters, by Lincoln Cushing and Timothy W. Drescher, begins to fill this void. Educate! Agitate! Organize! includes over 200 full-color images (from a database of over 800 posters) and roughly 20,000 words, plus a bibliography and index. The book features many important labor archives and special collections such as those listed here. Images are clustered into annotated subject areas, such as “Dignity & Exploitation,” “Race & Civil Rights,” “Internationalism & Peace,” “Organizing & Solidarity,” “Strikes & Boycotts,” “Democracy, Voting & Patriotism,” and “Heroes, Martyrs & History.” For each image the historical background is supplemented with aesthetic analysis that helps readers understand the social forces represented in the graphics as well as the cultural origins and design strategies. Although a few of the posters are by well-known artists such as Ben Shahn or Rockwell Kent, most are by less-known professional artists and amateurs. The scope includes historical and contemporary examples.

And, unlike almost every other full color art book published these days, this book is printed at a North American union shop. (YEAH LINCOLN RULES!!!!!!!)

This project is endorsed by the California Labor Federation.

Thank you.

In solidarity,

Lincoln Cushing and Tim Drescher

Agitate! Educate! Organize!
www.docspopuli.org/ArtWorks.html
822 Santa Barbara Road, Berkeley, CA  94707
(510) 418-5193

Return to Docs Populi - Documents for the public

Taking the power back in Toronto, girl style!

I'm in Toronto, Canada doing art workshops, an exhibit, and some building with some outstanding artists and organizers as part of the Mayworks Festival. I've had an incredible time here, connecting with folks involved in everything from the labor movement, to the immigrant rights movement, to the Queer movement. Art is the unifying language of all of these groups, and it is through art that one can draw out the intersections, and bring all communities together.

My time in Toronto began with an artist talk for my solo exhibit, "Agitation & Transformation." For people living in the US, Mayworks is a unique phenomenom. Mayworks Festival of Working People and the Arts is a multi-disciplinary arts festival that celebrates working class culture. It was founded in 1986 and is Canada's largest and oldest labour arts festival. The Festival was built on the premise that workers and artists share a common struggle for decent wages, healthy working conditions and a living culture. The festival is supported by labor unions - amazingly! I have been invited to Canada twice now, both by labor activists who were working to bridge their unions with the arts community. While there are artists in the U.S. actively building ties with labor, the formal infrastructure of something like Mayworks does not exist here.

I checked out the Toronto Women's Bookstore (TWB), founded in 1973, and connected with multiple generations of women who have given life to this bookstores. TWB is dedicated to promoting anti-oppression politics and feminist politics. Their mandate is to be an information provider and community resource. I went a little crazy at the bookstore and bought up books left and right. Actually, a great set of reading materials about all the areas I'm exploring, from corporate globalization, to food justice, to steamy sex novels! What's most amazing about this bookstore, is that they have grown from a single shelf to what is now the largest, non-profit feminist and humanisitic bookstore in Canada!

The highlight of my trip was working with young women at Regent Park, a low income housing complex that is home to mostly immigrants to Canada. Over 50% of the population living in Regent Park are children 18 years and younger (compared to a Toronto-wide average of 30%), with about 68% of the population living below Canada's Low-Income Cut-Off Rate. I was hosted by Regent Park Focus and worked with about ten girls ages 10-13. I know that for most of these young women, I will be one of the few women of color artists they will interact with before adulthood. My own experiences are similar - I was mentored by two Chicana artists before I was 18 years old, and they inspired me to be the bold woman artist I am today. It's crucial for young women of color to see representations of themselves in the role models they interact with, this includes being exposed to artists, musicians, writers, and other creatives. But in places like Canada and the US, and even in Europe, this is a challenge and a direct effect of not just white privilege but also male privilege.

I felt honored to have the opportunity to be able to speak this group and I wanted to make sure to discuss concepts around self-esteem and empowerment. I shared my experiences of attending a mostly white middle school, about my black grandmother, about access to healthy food, and about the power of using art as a transformative tool for our communities. It was great to also be in a girls-only space because it in those spaces where we can actively talk about gender expectations, challenge them, and build sisterhood. I was in girls-only programs when I was a young teen, and that's where I would learn how to be assertive and independent. Other spaces oozed of maleness, even though they were mandated to be neutral, and operated to maintain the status quo. 

Like all mostly black and brown communities, Regent Park had recently suffered the death of a young man in the hands of police.  Alwy Al-Nadhir was only 18 and unarmed when he was murdered by the Toronto Police on October 31, 2007. He was his mother's only son. Shortly after his death, a justice committe was formed to speak out against police brutality. I was pleased to see that the youth magazine which is developed at Regent Park Focus, Catch Da Flava, contained various articles about police brutality, community empowerment, and even Gaza! From Greece, to Oakland, to Toronto, to Mexico City, let us all stand against police violence and terrorism.

One of the great team of artists I met were two founders of Mayworks, Carol Condé and Mark Beveridge. The two have collaborated with various trade unions and community organizations over the past 25 years. Karl helped found an Artist Union in Canada! WOW! Their artist statement reads, "Given the present social divisions of labour, our work attempts to bridge two audiences. Working people and those in the arts. We feel that it is not only important to articulate the concerns and experience of working and community life, but that it should also be able to stand up to the sophistication of corporate culture and take into account the complexities of cultural representation."

Despite the fact that I'm sleep deprived and tired from sitting on crappy plane seats, experiences like this really allow me appreciate the life I have. My art travels from Oakland, CA, to Mexico City, to Vancouver, to Toronto, to various states. Mexico, Canada and the US - the three countries that form part of NAFTA, the most notable of the "free trade" policies that have devastated all working people of the world. When I travel, I talk about the resposibilities of us as consumers - how we can crush the globalization machine and how we can, through art and media, present an alternative and expose the corruption behind these policies - policies that divide families, exploit workers, and violate mother earth. If corporations have no borders, than neither should we as workers of culture. I thank my abuela and my mother, both working women and victims themselves of unjust economic policies, for giving me the strength and self confidence to work towards justice and collaborate with others who do the same.

A big special THANK YOU to Florencia, Silvana, Esther, Kellie, and all the gang that hosted me while I was there. I'm honored to have met you all and hope to see you again soon!

The photos below and the one above are from the poster design workshop I did on the final evening I was in Toronto. All the images are from the new book by myself and Josh MacPhee, "Reproduce & Revolt." You can purchase the book by clicking here.

 

Article about me in Toronto's Eye Weekly!

I'm in Toronto @ the Mayworks Festival! A great article about my visit here is in the Eye Weekly. Check it out by clicking here! Here's an excerpt from the article:

"For the working poor, including those in the arts and culture sector, active, “in-solidarity” participation currently vacillates between the number of bodies at any given meeting, protest or workshop, and the eyeball traffic at an organization’s website. While nothing beats the surreptitious charge of seeing a weathered poster on a lamppost, we’re now connected enough digitally that the political graphic’s look-at-me appeal is far more resonant as a searchable, online artifact.

Oakland-based printmaker/digital-artist Favianna Rodriguez recognizes how this changes social movements and their visual campaigns. Her art, a retrospective of which runs at Toronto Free Gallery until June, is bold agitprop that stems from the saturated, high-contrast colours and sensational slogan punch of the Chicano art movement of the 1960s and ’70s. Recognized last year as an UTNE Reader visionary, Rodriguez is savvy not only at creating posters that tackle issues head-on, but at being an activist who holds regular lectures and workshops on the political graphic — such as April 27’s A Space event, presented as part of Mayworks — specifically on the commingling of art and technology as an educational tool."

Read more

The town with a quarter of Mexico's slayings in 1 year, and other thoughts of being an immigrant...

((Juarez by Night photo by Sharpshin))

Today I began my five-city tour which will run through May 9th. I will be visiting and presenting my art at Las Cruces (New Mex.), Alburquerque, Santa Fe, Toronto, New York and possibly Washington DC. The last city I had visited was Lansing, Michigan during the end of March, so I was thankful to have some time at home to organize my life. Being away from home means living out of my suitcase, getting limited (and uncomfortable) sleep, getting all achy from being on planes and carrying luggage, and missing my family and animals.

But now it begins again, and part of me is thankful for it. I had begun to forget what my purpose on this planet was.It's amazing how much being a cultural worker shapes my life, it consistently surprises me. This evening when I landed in El Paso, Texas - I went outside and I could see Juarez, Mexico only about 1 mile away. I knew it was Juarez even at night because of the sheer density of the lights, and because I could feel it in my gut.

I got very sad for a moment and sat in the car in disbelief. Juarez: the living, breating example of the worst effects of globalization. An example of how bad NAFTA has affected Mexico and the sheer cost of human lives in this city, just a few steps from the border of the most powerful country in the world. Juarez: a sprawling border city that has recorded more than 1,350 slayings in 2008, about a fourth of the country’s total. "Drug-related slayings take place in houses, restaurants and bars, at playgrounds and children’s parties, and in car-to-car ambushes." Juarez: the city that has yet to solve the wave of femicide that has swept this town since 1993, with the violent rape and murder of over 400 women.
Despite the violence, people come to Juarez to work. People leave their families all across Mexico & Central America, to come to where globalization brings the jobs.They come to labor in the city’s 284 maquiladoras (NAFTA), assembling electronics and lawn mowers for less than $5 a day. Many come with the hopes of crossing into the United States.

When hateful media personalities talk about migration, they really do not grasp the TRUE costs of what people will leave behind, what price they will pay to survive. People come to Juarez, where its not uncommon to find bodies hanging from bridges, because this is where American and Asian corporations have brought the jobs. Imagine, what desperate conditions must exist so that someone would come to Juarez for work?!

This evening, I got a call telling me that one of my family member wants to return to Peru. Life is to hard in the US he says..."I left it all to come here," and he is not making it. His daughter can't attend a school nor receive financial aid because she does not have papers. It's also nearly impossible for her to get a job. He drives his car day by day, fearing every policeman that drives by, because in California you can't drive without a license, and if you do, your car gets empounded. But you also cannot get a license if you don't have a social security number, and you cannot get a social security number when you don't have papers. That is why the fight for drivers licenses is such an important one. Do you know how many tasks a day require a car - from getting to work, to taking kids to school? You need a car, especially if you live in those remote areas where housing is cheap.

My family member cannot and should not return to Peru even if he wants to, because it would mean he perhaps would never enter the US again. And by now his children have assimilated to American culture, they have become adults here. The risk is too high, so the only choice, which is the choice facing the 12 billion undocumented of this country, is that you stay, and hope you don't get caught. My family member would sometimes tell me of how he would call his relatives in Lima, Peru every weekend. He would line up his Peruvian snacks next to his favorite arm chair, his Peruvian beers, and talk to all of his brothers one at at time, crying, wishing he could see them again, saying "Salud Hermanito!" on the phone. Drinking away the pain you get when you realize it may be 10-20 years before you see the people you love. It took 25 years for my own parents to return to Peru, and they did so only after they were US citizens.

Migrating into an unknown and hostile envinroment is one of the hardest things one does in their lifetime. It requires courage, determination, and strength to leave your family in search of a better life for yourself and for your children. The life you will get is one in which you work 14-16 hours a day, in a non-union job that will offer you little security. You will be the first to be laid off, and will spend many nights wondering how you will make ends meet.

When I was growing up, I saw multiple family members, aunts, uncles, cousins, migrate to California because Lima, Peru was a war zone. Our home was open to them, and so at one point, about 10 of us shared a 2 bedroom house. I remember my cousins and I would sleep lined up in the living room floor, while the adults slept in the bedrooms. This is the reality for soo many of our people. It amazes me to see what people will do when they are in search of a better future.

For these reasons and more, I will always be a voice for the billions of immigrants, the billions of workers who move from place to place everday to keep the machines of this world running. Immigrants are what make the entire world run. It is our sweat, our blood, our lives, our tears, our frustrations, our love for our family, that drives us to come to El Norte. I have the privilge of being an American citizen, and so I will never know what's it like to be deported, to be separated from my family. But that is precisely why I must fight even harder. Because I have to do what my family can't.

This May 1st, take the time to march for the migrants in your life, the people you love and work alongside with. Its time for us to fight the monster that globalization has become and to work towards a world that embraces our gente and treats them with dignity. Without immigration reform, there can be no democracy. And don't just take the time to march, let's make sure our voices get counted in a way that grows beyond May 1st. In the next few days, I will be part of team that will launch on online Latino organizing project, and I will ask that YOU join me in forming a national, collective power base  that can mobilize for the many days to come in this battle we are waging. La Raza Unida Jamas Sera Vencida!!

Last two photos, credit can be found at:
http://www.daylife.com/photo/00iJg5odul7Js
http://www.associatedcontent.com/image/85175/index.html?cat=37

Immigrants Don't Run the Country, But They Make This Country Run

Just read this story in the New York Times. "A.F.L.-C.I.O. officials said they agreed with Change to Win leaders that, with more than seven million unauthorized immigrants already working across the nation, legalizing their status would be the most effective way to protect labor standards for all workers," reads the article. It has always been clear to me that the struggle for worker rights in this country is really at it's core, a struggle for immigrant rights. For example, immigrnats, mostly from Latin American countries, have a significant presence in the food production and food service sector. Tyson Foods, the world’s largest processor and marketer of chicken and the largest beef exporter from the United States, has said openly that its factories could not operate were it not for their Latino workers. Add to that the majority representation we have in the agricultural sector, and you will know that Immigrants feed the nation. Despite this central role in U.S. economic life, immigrant workers are not accorded the rights, recognition and respect they deserve for their contributions. Instead of integration into the host society with full application of labor rights and labor standards, they are marginalized in a huge underclass laboring in substandard employment conditions. They are the most expendable workers of the country, and so violations to their rights gradually erodes the rights of all workers.

Immigrant workers are also in the most dangerous jobs. An Associated Press investigative report published in March 2004 revealed that Mexican workers in the United States are 80 percent more likely to die in the workplace than U.S.-born workers, and nearly twice as likely as the rest of the immigrant population to die at work.3  In addition, the rate of Mexican workers’ deaths at work is increasing dramatically. Just ten years ago, Mexican workers were 30 percent more likely to die on the job than U.S.-born workers, about the same as other immigrants. Since then, the rate of immigrant Mexican workers’ fatalities has more almost tripled.

The debate expands to more than safety issues of course, but these are two compelling arguments that can lead us to rebuke the claim that the economic debate must come before the immigration one. Immigration reform IS economic reform, because the immigration debate is essentially about the most vulnerable workers in the United States. Not to mention the fact that immigrant labor affects not only the economy in the United States, but the economy all over the world. Migrants sent $45.8 billion to Latin America in 2004, a 20 percent increase from the year before. That was the third year in a row remittances have exceeded foreign investment and development aid. While remmitances have dropped in 2009 as a result of the economic devastation, remittances continue to be the #1 or #2 import for countries such as Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and the Dominican Republic.

Our money is power...

A New Piece for Every Day for an Entire Year

The other day I received a postcard in the mail about a new show at Intersection for the Arts. The artist, Migdalia Valdes, ten years ago "pledged to create at least one photograph a day for the rest of her life. Her commitment allowed photography to become more than a fascination, but rather, a compulsion...."
I was intrigued by the commitment she made to herself and her craft. And I decided then to try out making a new piece every day for 1 year. I mean, 1 year is 365 pieces, that's a lot of work. I decided to make the pieces about all the stuff in my head that I think about throughout the day. I also thought to myself, would be fun to have some rules of engagement.

RULES FOR MYSELF FOR ONE PIECE A DAY

1. Make something EVERY SINGLE DAY that embodies my experiences for the day. Should measure 1000 x 1000 pixels (3.33 x 3.33 inches) I can use as many mediums as I want.
2. I must include the date somewhere on it written in only 6 digits
3. I must include a fragment of a song lyric (yeah yeah!!!)
4. I must include some photograph
5. The piece should always be some type of grid (I like structure and straight lines)
6. I can't spend longer than 20 minutes on each piece (otherwise I'll go get too serious about it)
7. I must not care what others will think about it (yeah that means lots of experimental and cheesy stuff that I like to hide from others, like my love for Journey and Def Leppard)
8. Keep it in a digital format only (I don't need to create more paper)

I started this on Friday, April 10th. Here are my four pieces for the weekend.


About "041009": Friday was a hard day for me, and I cried most of the night. Sometimes life is challenging, but I'm happy to have an outlet to showcase my intense moments of teardropping. I've never taken photos of myself crying, so this was a first. I worked on this piece at 12 midnight so I mislabeled it 041109. Well dammit it counts as my 041009 piece!
Song I used: "All In Love is Fair" by Stevie Wonder

About "041109": On Saturday night, I went to a Farewell party and I danced to some Rock en Español all night. I also took some pictures of some very sexy beautiful brown people, so that made me want to make a piece about losing control, well, about not needing to be controlled. The images are from a pop music video by the Mexican girl band, "Flans." Soooo 80's. Translated, this reads, "Don't control my sentiments, Don't control my dresses."
Song I used: "No Controles" by Flans

About "041209": I spent all of Sunday cleaning my house and moving stuff around, cleaning out old stuff, running into old memories. I found photos of my grandmother and of her mother, my bisabuela (my great grandmother). This is her, Nicolasa. She was a Black Peruvian woman, and that pin she wears is the same one my grandmother would wear. I am not an incredibly religious person, but I pray to my grandmother often, and to my female ancestors – pray that they make me strong enough to follow my dreams, to be a disciplined and obsessive artist. It's a difficult path, not an easy one, and I have paid a big price for doing what I love. My grandmother told me, before she died, to do what made me happy and to travel the world.
Song I used: "Four Women" by Nina Simone

About "041309": Dont' feel much like talking about this piece. I have wanted a white medicine cabinet for about 4 years now but I didn't want to spend the $300 bucks it cost. So I waited and now it's gone down in price, slightly. So I got it. I hate having all my toiletries all over my sink. I want to put them behind a closed door because that's just what makes me happy to wake up. So, yesterday when I cleaned my house I found a MODERN ROCK Cd and of course I put that shit on repeat today and played Lips Like Sugar about 10 times. That's my song yo!
Song I used: "Lips Like Sugar" by Echo and the Bunnymen

Beautiful Creative People That Make Me Blush

Just came home from a party in West Oakland, a party was to celebrate a sister who is leaving the US to return to Ecuador. I was invited by my friend, Norma Listman, a wonderful mujer and fellow Chilanga (from Mexico City), and one of the best cooks I know, and one of the most beautiful women I know. It was awesome to be around so many positive folks, most of them artists in one way or another (photographers, documentary filmmakers, cooks, dancers, DJs, painters, musicians). I hung out on the dance floor most of the night, grooving to some cumbias and some Rock en Español, and feeling happy that I got out of the house (it's been a looooong week). Before I left my studio, I stopped and took a look at my camera, and then decided to take it with me. I was happy I did. The party was full of beautiful creative people, and folks were feeling sensual, free and open-hearted, so I was there to capture it. Here are some of my favorites. I love to see my fellow artists look confident, bold and sexy.... 

 

 

 

Please check me out in Toronto from April 25-28th

My Canada peoples! I will be in Toronto to participate in Mayworks: A Festival for Working People and the Arts. Lots of exciting artists and events this year so be sure to check out the site! When you visit the site, I'm the first artist to come up. You can click on the image and get information about the events I'll be participating in. Please come check out my exhibit as well as my workshop. Please note that the workshop is by reservation, so follow the steps and put in your reservation now.

I'm delighted to be heading to Canada for this event. I was recently in Vancouver participating in the Sistahood Festival and collaborating with the activists there. I'll be returning there for 3 weeks in November. A fellow activist recently blogged about my visit, you can check out his story here.