Yolanda M. López: Who's the Illegal Alien Pilgrim? (1978)

Karen Mary Davalos’ Yolanda M. López is a book that recounts the trajectory of Chicana feminist and creative Yolanda M. López. Davalos not only dissects López’s humble beginnings and her various contributions to the Chicana artistic community, but she also contextualizes, historicizes, and politicizes the artist’s dignified images and installations―works that pay homage to the Chicana struggle within both a patriarchal society and artistic community. The visual artist’s work serves as a podium that underscores who the Chicana is not, and ultimately one that reimagines preconceived notions of Chicana and working-class women along the way.

One of Yolanda M. López’s works that completely captivated my attention is her offset lithograph titled Who’s the Illegal Alien Pilgrim? (1978). This particular image, also one of López’s most successful expressions as a political artist, is one that encourages the political autonomy of the audience by openly proposing a new model of perceiving immigration of Anglo-Americans during the time of the pilgrimage. As stated by author Davalos, “López makes a joke out of the icons of the dominant culture and uses laughter and ridicule to uncrown power and build insurgent consciousness” (53). The image serves as a testament to the fight against the xenophobia and the sentiment that permeates immigrants within the United States to this day―sentiment that stems from American historical amnesia. Despite the fact that the Committee on Chicano Rights was reluctant about López’s approach on the matter of immigration and xenophobia, the work has proved to be monumental because of its relevance to the United States’ contemporary political climate.