Week 3: Yolanda Lopez

I talked about this piece in my paper, but because of the page limit, I was not able to talk about it more depth. In May of 1969, seven Central American adolescents were accused of killing a white police officer, Joseph Brodnick in San Francisco. In response, Los Siete de la Raza had come together to speak up against the injustice happening within their community. A founder of this group, Yolanda Lopez created Free Los Siete (1969), a visual representation of the police brutality, racial profiling, and the criminalization of Latino youths in their community during this period. This piece is one of her first pieces were she sets a clear political stance and the beginning of her artistic style which will follow her throughout her pieces. The faces of the young men emit so much emotion; anger, fear, concern, disappointment, as well as frustration. They are not only representing the feelings of their own faith but they demonstrate the feeling of several Chican@s within the community. Her use of bold letters, as well as her careful selection of wording, as she used the first and last line of the pledge allegiance, but then changes the last line to "God with free". For one she is questioning American nationalism. What is the American dream? It seems to read Freedom is cut off. This image reminds me of thTigres de Norte song, La Jaula de Oro where they sing of the American dream being a beautiful place where their dreams can be fostered but it is a cage that limits there freedom to travel and restricts them from being with their families.