Jul 29, 2015
Daisy Rosario x Story of her dad
There are so many stories to tell! Beautiful beautiful job by Daisy Rosario!
Jul 28, 2015
CultureStrike-"Visions from the inside" Illustration
LINK to more artwork: /bit.ly/csvisions
So, a couple weeks back I was presented with the opportunity to collaborate again with the amazing folks over at CultureStrike. They have been keepers of the flame for effectively connecting art with movements, and trailblazers at the same time.
With this particular project all of the artists were given letters from children who are locked up inside the many detention centers across the US. Now, if you are new to this, these centers are private owned jails/prisons where countless families are detained and kept. Sometimes they are able to advocate or have someone assisting them to get out. Other times they are left in limbo.
Please check out my artwork there and please share the work of other artists widely. Each artist has a different style, and each artist was given a different perspective of life in the detention centers.
Some process shots from this piece
I still have so much to lean about this, but the short end of it is this: The US private companies and the government who allows it to continue are abusing these folks. Not only that, but the abuse is racially motivated because the majority of folks are brown folks from Mexico and Central America. Another thing the media will not divulge when they report on the story of latinos immigrating to the US legally or illegally is the extreme level of violence, government corruption, instability, and poverty folks are leaving-a HUGE root of these problems historically? US intervention in the respective countries.
It is important for people like me who are just learning about this, or folks who know nothing at all to be informed visually about what is happening. Some folks dont read, so share the artwork that CultureStrike is creating because there is a movement of folks trying to get folks free from the detention centers and to help reconnect families who've been torn apart.
Do not believe the hype about latino immigrants and stealing American jobs. American corporations specifically and explicitly started to take away jobs here because they found out they could pay people in other parts of the world a fraction, therefore making more billions for their CEOs.
Jul 21, 2015
Jul 20, 2015
Jul 15, 2015
Photos from "Of Love & Riots"
photo by Kiwi
photos by Miguel Bounce Perez
Hey here are some photos of some of my pieces from the show. If you'd like to see more please go to our Facebook page for Trust Your Struggle Collective or our Instagram
Also, heres a piece I did from another show we did up there at 1810 Gallery in Sacramento
Jul 14, 2015
Inspiration board 22
Jul 13, 2015
Stuff I've been listening to: 7 (Podcasts)
These are some of the best podcasts I've been listening to while working. Please listen too and share with your folks. You can listen while you drive, at your desk, or while you travel.
Publishing and people of color experiences both good and bad.
Radio Ambulante showcases stories from all over Latin America.It is primarily in spanish, but i'm posting an english one for you bilinguals out there.
Gina BytheWood Prince directed "Love & Basketball" , "Disappearing Acts", and most recently "Beyond the Lights" and on this podcast Ava DuVernay interviews many different black film makers
Fanbros is an awesome podcast that blends comics, politics, film, hip hop, culture, and blerds and its awesome
This one is from my brother from another mother, writer/professor Simon Abromowitsch
There are others like This American Life and PRI too that i love, but go searching to see what you can find!
woops, forgot about SIDEBAR also a Blerd space w/ interviews with various illustrators from many different genres.
woops, forgot about SIDEBAR also a Blerd space w/ interviews with various illustrators from many different genres.
Jul 6, 2015
Of Love & Riots 2(TYS) -Sol Collective
Its on this weekend, come through! This is the video from the first show
In a time of a riot, artist collective, Trust Your Struggle, installs reflections of love at the city capital of California.
Of Love & Riots
July 11- September 8, 2015
Opening
Saturday, July 11, 2015
6-10pm
Gallery Hours: Tu, Weds, Th 2-5pm and by appointment only.
Location:
SolCollective Gallery2574 21st Street, Sacramento, CA 95818
Special Events (free and open to the public)
Throughout history and around the world, young people have often been the ones to stand on the front lines of movements for social justice. They are quick to be judged for their unapologetic rage and impatience in the face of injustice and slow to be recognized for their courageous disruptions of the status quo and direct challenges to power. When they make their voices heard, it is often their truth that most sharply exposes the true nature of the system. Poor and working class Black and Brown communities are daily experts of the system's brutality and are the first hit hardest by state and economic violence. They, along with their family and community members are being locked up, brutalized, deported and exploited. From immigrant youth coming out as undocumented and unafraid to demand a path to citizenship to Black youth taking to the streets under the banner of Black Lives Matter to demand police accountability, it is undeniable that young people of color are shifting the terrain of struggle with their urgency and leadership.
In 2007,Trust Your Struggle (TYS) Collective created an exhibition titled Of Love & Riots at the 58 Gallery in Jersey City, NJ. The exhibition focused on an international perspective of repressed young people who face countless obstacles and trauma but who survive, react, organize and most importantly- love.
Father, artist and TYS member, Robert Trujillo states, "We're doing this work around the term Of Love and Riots to illustrate what the hell is going on in a way that the mainstream media do not do. The police state don't give a damn about none of us or our families. We create art to speak out. To fight back. To teach our kids to look around and think for themselves. We create this work to let them know there is more to life than the shiny trinkets that the rich dangle on front of their eyes. I want kids to know that police murdering Black and Brown people didn't just happen yesterday, but that there is a history of genocide behind these boys in blue. And I want them to know that our communities have always fought back, if we didn't, we would not exist today."
The manifestation of love and riots in the current time has gathered enough momentum to once again make TYS collective speak out and create another exhibition on the same theme 8 years later. 8 years later TYS are sadden to see our Black and Brown youth being murdered by law enforcement with impunity. 8 years later TYS are angered to see young people of color denied basic human rights, separated from their families and detained because of their immigration status. 8 years later TYS are revived and inspired by movements such as Black Lives Matter and The Dreamers that have youth at the vanguard. 8 years later several members of the collective are now parents themselves and cannot deny our deeper connection and empathy with youth that are in distress and murdered. Of Love & Riots is not simply a visual reaction to injustice but a visual interpretation and discussion based on healing and dignity. Collectively the exhibition will question and examine the contrasting notions of the riot and of the emotion love all within the context of youth activism and survival.
Benjamin "Mincho Vega" Rojas, another TYS member adds, "Of Love & Riots speaks to me in so many levels, especially as a parent because this exhibit has a strong focus on youth and children who are angry, hurt and are reacting to a larger force. I can only imagine this children as my own who are fighting for their lives and their communities."
"Trust Your Struggle exemplifies the power of art to reflect, motivate and spark action to empower our communities in a time when it's urgently needed," says Estella Sanchez, Founder and Director of Sol Collective Gallery.
Of Love & Riots in 2015 will re-envision the original exhibit in 2007 birthing new creations fueled by modern inspirations. Our collective’s vision will be revealed in the Sol Collective gallery through several mediums such as large scale paintings and installations, illustrations, sculptures, and prints.
EXHIBITION DETAILS:
Of Love & Riots: The Struggle Continues...
July 11- September 8, 2015
Location:
SolCollective Gallery
2574 21st Street, Sacramento, CA 95818
Special Events (free and open to the public)
Opening
Saturday, July 11, 2015
6-10pm
Gallery Hours: Tu, Weds, Th 2-5pm and by appointment only.
In a time of a riot, artist collective, Trust Your Struggle, installs reflections of love at the city capital of California.
Of Love & Riots
July 11- September 8, 2015
Opening
Saturday, July 11, 2015
6-10pm
Gallery Hours: Tu, Weds, Th 2-5pm and by appointment only.
Location:
SolCollective Gallery2574 21st Street, Sacramento, CA 95818
Special Events (free and open to the public)
Throughout history and around the world, young people have often been the ones to stand on the front lines of movements for social justice. They are quick to be judged for their unapologetic rage and impatience in the face of injustice and slow to be recognized for their courageous disruptions of the status quo and direct challenges to power. When they make their voices heard, it is often their truth that most sharply exposes the true nature of the system. Poor and working class Black and Brown communities are daily experts of the system's brutality and are the first hit hardest by state and economic violence. They, along with their family and community members are being locked up, brutalized, deported and exploited. From immigrant youth coming out as undocumented and unafraid to demand a path to citizenship to Black youth taking to the streets under the banner of Black Lives Matter to demand police accountability, it is undeniable that young people of color are shifting the terrain of struggle with their urgency and leadership.
In 2007,Trust Your Struggle (TYS) Collective created an exhibition titled Of Love & Riots at the 58 Gallery in Jersey City, NJ. The exhibition focused on an international perspective of repressed young people who face countless obstacles and trauma but who survive, react, organize and most importantly- love.
Father, artist and TYS member, Robert Trujillo states, "We're doing this work around the term Of Love and Riots to illustrate what the hell is going on in a way that the mainstream media do not do. The police state don't give a damn about none of us or our families. We create art to speak out. To fight back. To teach our kids to look around and think for themselves. We create this work to let them know there is more to life than the shiny trinkets that the rich dangle on front of their eyes. I want kids to know that police murdering Black and Brown people didn't just happen yesterday, but that there is a history of genocide behind these boys in blue. And I want them to know that our communities have always fought back, if we didn't, we would not exist today."
The manifestation of love and riots in the current time has gathered enough momentum to once again make TYS collective speak out and create another exhibition on the same theme 8 years later. 8 years later TYS are sadden to see our Black and Brown youth being murdered by law enforcement with impunity. 8 years later TYS are angered to see young people of color denied basic human rights, separated from their families and detained because of their immigration status. 8 years later TYS are revived and inspired by movements such as Black Lives Matter and The Dreamers that have youth at the vanguard. 8 years later several members of the collective are now parents themselves and cannot deny our deeper connection and empathy with youth that are in distress and murdered. Of Love & Riots is not simply a visual reaction to injustice but a visual interpretation and discussion based on healing and dignity. Collectively the exhibition will question and examine the contrasting notions of the riot and of the emotion love all within the context of youth activism and survival.
Benjamin "Mincho Vega" Rojas, another TYS member adds, "Of Love & Riots speaks to me in so many levels, especially as a parent because this exhibit has a strong focus on youth and children who are angry, hurt and are reacting to a larger force. I can only imagine this children as my own who are fighting for their lives and their communities."
"Trust Your Struggle exemplifies the power of art to reflect, motivate and spark action to empower our communities in a time when it's urgently needed," says Estella Sanchez, Founder and Director of Sol Collective Gallery.
Of Love & Riots in 2015 will re-envision the original exhibit in 2007 birthing new creations fueled by modern inspirations. Our collective’s vision will be revealed in the Sol Collective gallery through several mediums such as large scale paintings and installations, illustrations, sculptures, and prints.
EXHIBITION DETAILS:
Of Love & Riots: The Struggle Continues...
July 11- September 8, 2015
Location:
SolCollective Gallery
2574 21st Street, Sacramento, CA 95818
Special Events (free and open to the public)
Opening
Saturday, July 11, 2015
6-10pm
Gallery Hours: Tu, Weds, Th 2-5pm and by appointment only.
Furqan's First Flattop UPDATE 3
Hey folks, for those who gave and supported the Furqan's First Flat Top book project, theres is a new update up on the Kickstarter site and should have been sent out to all you backers. Thank you for your continued patience and support. The paintings are done and you'll see three of them there. Peep a snippet from spread 3 here.. The artwork has been passed on to Swash Design studio for layout, stay tuned...
Jul 2, 2015
4Fathers
Yo!! The third issue of this amazing journal/magazine is out! If you don't know, this is a place for fathers to write down their thoughts. Not only does the journal boast a wide array of people, it serves as a mirror for people to see themselves and a window for folks to see others. I got a chance to contribute to this magazine so please check it out! Hey, if you're looking for a documentation of parenthood , look no further.
SUPPORT HERE w/ a digital or physical copy.
Jul 1, 2015
Whaleheart-Reflection Press Anthology
Yo , anyone who is checking for childrens books with an eye for diveristy, inclusive, or pro lgbtq stories needs to check this Anthology out. Its a book of short stories featuring work by new writers and illustrators from diverse backgrounds. These are folks you’ll want to keep your eye on.
LINK