After reading the book Yolanda M. Lopez that was written by Karen Mary Davalos, I was presented with various pieces of artwork that were created by the artists. While reading about each piece of Lopez's artwork that was within the book, I came to realize that every piece of art that Yolanda created had a very powerful message behind it. Some pieces of her art were created to expose racism, sexism, the patriarchal hierarchy and the normalization of stereotypical notions bestowed upon Chicano/Chicanas and Chicano culture in American society.
However, out of all these pieces, my favorite art piece within this book that Yolanda M. Lopez created was the Free Los Siete that was produced in 1969. This art piece is essentially a black and white poster that was created in the defense of 7 Latino youths accused of killing a police officer. However, what stood out to me in this piece of art was how Lopez used the stripes on the American flag to represent prison bars as we see the 7 Latino youth faces behind these stripes/prison bars.
I found Yolanda's use of using the stripes on the American flag so impactful and powerful because it sheds light on the fact that minorities within this country, more particularly brown and black minorities will never have access to freedom and equality in the United States of America. The US is built off institutions that perpetuate the oppression of brown and black people such as the prison industrial complex, mass incarceration, the military-industrial complex, and the legal court systems. And I feel as if Free Los Siete exposes these systems that oppress colored minorities and speaks to the fact that as long as you are brown or black within the US you will never be truly free.
No comments:
Post a Comment