Week Ten Discussion Post: Reflection

    Straightforwardly, amid all concepts and creators presented to students across the continuation of the course in the quarter, no one presumingly stood out more to me than Yolanda López. According to personal accounts and opinions, López exemplified the sincere essence of what an artivist is and what bubbling artivists should strive to be like. As expressed by Freebase, "Artivist is a portmanteau word combining "art" and "activist." Artivism developed in recent years while the antiwar and anti-globalization protests emerged and proliferated." Subsequently, López managed to become a lauded and commended artivist on account of several artistic pieces that tapped into a profound political consciousness. Amazingly, she was among one of the first Chicana artists to have obtained such a laurel. Free Los Siete (1969), an offset lithograph on paper, stands as one of these such artworks that tremendously transformed the artistic and political life of Yolanda López and made monumental waves across all of San Fransisco and soon, the United States. The work was created as a responding piece to the arrest and incarceration of seven young Latinos from the Mission District who were accused of shooting and murdering an officer from the San Francisco Police Department. A movement ensued, demanding the liberation and acquitting of all seven men. This became a contentious concern across the peak years of the Chicane Movement and as such, López's artwork was used as a form to raise awareness about what was occurring and speak to the injustices that had long been in existence throughout the Chicane and Latine communities in San Fransisco, all of California, and all of the United States. 
    Amongst everything, Yolanda López and all of the facilitated lectures and discussions of this course, taught me that art has a significant and consequential place within activism. Before all this, I had not considered how interconnected art was with activism and the important role that artivists play, especially within marginalized communities. At the moment, I hold a special appreciation for all prints, all murals, all posters, all individuals who dare speak to politics and injustices in their artworks. I believe my consciousness understanding of art has been transformed forever.