It came as a surprise to me that UCLA's campus community at once saw such unrest following Nixon's proposed draft for the invasion of Cambodia. I was not aware of that history until I visited the mural. My example of learning about Black community history via this mural, demonstrates the power of muralism as an artistic expression when utilized to alleviate the suppression of the history of people of color.
My subjective interpretation of this mural's artistic expression is based off the relationship between the community's history and the individual. The mural depicts the stencils of several Black people, presumably activists. The darker areas which formulate the image of the stencil shows a collage of people organizing, shouting, giving speeches, behind bars, images of the Klu Klux Klan, ect. The message I interpreted from this mural lies in the fact that the collage of the various people throughout the history of Africans in America outlines and forms the image of the several activists. This suggests that we are outlined by our peoples histories, we are made of them and they make us. This profound message about our relationship to our communities history aligns with what I continuously here about our ancestors in Chicanx Latinx communities and cliques on campus. I do not understand yet the importance of our ancestors but just as the mural suggests that we are formed by our community history so am I formed by my ancestral history.
I had no clue this was here until I started reading different blog posts about it. I'm really curious to know why UCLA chose to cover it up. I also rarely ever go into this area but now I'm going to make sure to stop by and see it.
ReplyDeleteI like how you mentioned how you don't understand the importance of ancestors yet, but you also expressed an understanding of our present lives as living through the remnants and legacies of the past. Also I've noticed that when people use the words ancestors there's something spiritual about the connotation. Those people are so distant from the present that they become shrouded in a mythical past tense.