Yolanda M. Lopez: Free Los Siete

In the foreword section of the book, the artwork titled Free Los Siete (1969) by Yolanda Lopez is depicted and this image being the first one introduced in the book really caught my attention and had me interpreting the image on my own before even reading the actual meaning behind it. In the image you see a Hispanic looking male behind bars that are the stripes of the American flag and a lock on the lower right corner. To me, this image was representing all of the immigrants in the United States of America feeling like they are locked up here because they are unable to return to their home country without the fear of not being able to return into the United States of America. There are lots of people who haven’t seen their families in years because they came to the United States of America for a better life. After reading the actual meaning behind the image I was impressed that this image was depicting the seven Central American youths who were accused of killing an officer. Lopez’s use of the writing of the pledge of allegiance around the border of the image is basically showing the fear that los siete will not be promised the rights that the pledge of allegiance states, “with liberty and justice for all”. After finding out the actual message behind the image I was able to see it in a different perspective and allow myself to understand the real message the artwork was conveying.