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

Who’s the Illegal Alien Pilgrim? (1978), asks us directly to interrogate the question posed on the print. Davalos breaks down the image by sharing that the man portrayed is wearing a “headdress that suggests Aztec or Mayan civilization to indicate that he is indigenous to the land” (53). The print was created during a time of intense anti-immigrant sentiments where president Carter was suggesting building a fence on the southern border, which mirrors the political climate “immigrants” are currently facing. By suggesting that the real “illegal aliens” are the white settlers as opposed to Brown Indigenous peoples who have been here for centuries. This piece truly critiques the white settler logics while reminding Brown people that they are Indigenous to these lands, which Chicanx people tend to forget due to forced assimilation and displacement. 

Davalos shares early testimonies of Yolanda's education where she states, "she was taught that Mayflower pilgrims were her forefathers" and she did not learn about her real roots until she got to college (1). I resonated with this statement from Yolanda's childhood and find that the nation-state intentionally attempts to erase Chicanx history so that we may continue to believe we are nothing but stereotypes or so that we succumb to whiteness. Political Education is needed for youth of color, thus this image becomes what Davalos refers to as a "source of knowledge" for brown youth, to learn about their roots and to find empowerment in them (56).