An exhibit that explores the artists and images of labor in California.

THE PICO HOUSE GALLERY
424 North Main Street. LA, California, 90012.At Olvera Street’s, El Pueblo Historical Monument.

The At Work exhibition features many of California’s most noted artists. It is a combination of original artwork from contemporary artists, such as Yolanda Lopez, Malaquias Montoya, Ester Hernandez, Don Normark, Mark Vallen, Jos Sances and Slobodon Dimitrov, and also includes high quality reproductions of historical works by noted artists Diego Rivera, Dorothea Lange, Tina Modotti and many others. This broad range of art and artists provides a dialog between political motives and aesthetic aspirations that occurred throughout the 20th century and continue today.

OPENING RECEPTION
Saturday June 17th, 2006. 7-10 pm

ARTWORKS BY: Armando Arorizo, David Avalos, Marion Barkus, Javier Bautista, Richard Bermack, Judy Branfman, Armando Cabrera, Barbara Carrasco, Claude Clark, Robbie Conal, Michael Connor, Jose Cortez, Richard Duffy, Ernesto de la Loza, Sergio de la Torre, Pele de Lappe, Slobodon Dimitrov, Francisco Dominguez, El Taller Gráfico, Christina Fernandez, Emilio Flores, Jamey Garza, Louise Gilbert, Daniel Gonzalez, Michael Gurka, Harman Press, Ester Hernandez, Louise Hock, Consuela Kanaga, Dorothea Lange, Andrea Long, Yolanda Lopez, Fletcher Martin, Nicole Miller, Doug Minkler, Tina Modotti, Malaquias Montoya, Julio Morales, Cathy Murphy, Leonard Nadel, Don Normark, Gil Ortiz, Emmy Lou Packard, Giacomo Patri, Peace Press, Sheila Pinkel, Red Pepper Posters, Diego Rivera, Jos Sances, Allan Sekula, Henrietta Shore, Herbert Sigüenza, Elizabeth Sisco, Zolita Sverdove, Sylvaín, Mark Vallen, Steve Wong, Andrew Zermeño.

At Work: The Art of California Labor, is the first exhibition to explore this important topic through the eyes of artists who witnessed or were inspired by some of the most significant trends and events in the history of the 20th Century. The exhibit delivers a powerful examination of California’s rich and tumultuous labor history since the turn of the 20th century. From the conditions that led to the rise of organized labor, to the farm workers movement and contemporary issues facing workers, including globalization, the exhibit explores the people, events and movements that have defined and continue to shape the state. This compilation of images offers surprising insights into one of the most fundamental components of our daily lives - work - and shows how our collective identity has evolved over time.

Related Free Public Programs:

OPENING RECEPTION: Pico House Gallery, June 17, 2006 7-10 PM with live music by Son Real.

ARTIST’S PANEL DISCUSSION: Pico House Gallery, Get The Picture?! Art & Social Change. A panel discussion and slide show featuring artist Mark Vallen and photographers Sheila Pinkel and Slobodan Dimitrov. Saturday, July 15, 6-9 PM.

FILM SCREENING: 125 Paseo de la Plaza (plaza area), Salt of the Earth, Friday, July 28, 7:45 PM.

For more info on the exhibit, including previews of art, event schedules, and maps to the gallery: www.art-for-a-change.com/exhibits/atwork.htm

Pico House Gallery, 424 North Main Street, Los Angeles, 90012Phone: (213) 485-6855. Open daily 10 am - 3 pm.

The following photographs of the Minutemen demonstrating against “illegal immigrants” really need no further commentary.

COLUMN OF THE AMERICAS
BY ROBERTO RODRIGUEZ & PATRISIA GONZALES
JUNE 19, 2006

Along the U.S.-Mexico border, the body count continues to pile up daily. Meanwhile, the Minutemen patrol the U.S.-Mexico border and shameless politicians find it easy to denounce illegal immigration as the cause of all the nation’s problems – including linking it with “the war on terror.”

Amidst all the clatter, the only views not being heard are the ones that matter most. Thus here, we bring you a truly historic column, featuring the views of the nation’s only non-immigrants: American Indians:

“The immigration issues are many and are so very complex; however, we cannot have a productive dialogue about anything when we begin the conversation, thinking it is “us against them” or when the ‘truth’ is only half true or we only use rhetoric to back our claims. We can’t resolve any of these complex issues if we label our neighbor as an “immigrant” and not as a relative, friend or human”
–Nadine Tafoya, friend and colleague, Mescalero Apache, Salt River Pima, Maricopa

“I feel that as Native Peoples of the Americas, we have the right to be anywhere on this continent as we have for generations. To hear people telling my relatives that they are ‘illegal aliens’ and criminals and to get out of our own land is very disturbing!”
–Maria Yellow Horse Brave Heart, PhD, President/Director, The Takini Network

“Indigenous peoples haven’t known any borders. Colonial borders are new. It’s ironic that essentially white men of privilege who created the category of white - that it is they who determine who gets permitted into our lands.”
–Winona LaDuke, founding director, White Earth Land Recovery Project

“From the point of view of the laws of the indigenous nations of North America, the Europeans are the original illegal immigrants in the area of North America. The United States has for more than 200 years methodically and militarily violated indigenous law, and even solemn treaties, in order to take over and occupy the vast majority of the lands of Indigenous nations and peoples. It is hypocritical in the extreme for the people of the United States to now pretend that it is paragon of virtue, and a country that has always conducted itself on the basis of the rule of law.”
–Indian Law Scholar, Steven Newcomb

“The movement to try to force the Mexican people to learn the English language and the culture and traditions of America to stay in this country may not be totally successful. I can tell you from firsthand experience that when the federal government tried to strip me of my language and traditions, it did only a partial job, because of my resistance to being subdued. Today I am glad I have retained my culture, traditions and the Keres language, for that is where my heart and soul belong.”
–Katheirne Augustine, Laguna Pueblo, retired nurse, excerpts from Albq Tribune

“Too bad WE didn’t think of insisting that European arrivals speak OUR language. We’d all be speaking Ojibwemowin right now.”
–Patty Loew, Assoc. Prof., UW-Madison

“In an important and emphatic way, the indigenous peoples of the Americas are reclaiming their continent, whether with the ballot, by boat, by air, or on foot. Let us call it repatriation on the march.”
–Shirley Hill Witt, Coauthor, El Indio Jesus

“The white supremacists masquerading as patriots are building a fence at the southern border to keep out the brown people. Notice that they aren’t building a fence at the northern border. Recall too that the 9-11 terrorists were here legally, complete with freakin’ flyer numbers. I’m for all the Native people to have cross-border privileges up and down our hemisphere, and would close the borders against all the peoples from other places who look down on us.”
–Suzan Shown Harjo, Cheyenne & Hodulgee Muscogee, Dir., Morning Star Institute

“The argument used by the Minute Men, that their mission is to keep terrorists out of the U.S., cannot be ignored: With terrorist training camps recently found just north of the U.S.-Canadian border, their mission makes little sense and gives weight to my belief that the Minuteman movement is clearly racist. So is the new U.S. policy to keep our southern relatives out by militarizing the border to the south. Not that troops are wanted on the northern border either, but why send 6,000 troops to the southern border when no terrorists ever have been detained there?”
–JoKay Dowell, Quapaw-Peoria-Cherokee, OK, Eagle and Condor Indigenous Peoples’ Alliance

“Indigenous peoples are brothers and sisters, regardless of which side of the line drawn in the desert sand they are from. Our historic relations pre-date any European conquest. Our ‘free trade’ was much less conflictual, and was on more of an equal basis. Corporate ‘free trade’ is the driving force behind American politics and international actions…. It continues to be, contradictory to the interests of humanity.”
–woliwon chi miigwech, Karen S., Ypsilanti

“Are ‘immigrants’ the appropriate designation for the indigenous peoples of North America, for enslaved Africans and for the original European settlers? No. Are ‘immigrants’ the appropriate designation for Mexicans who migrate for work to the United States? No. They are migrant workers crossing a border created by US military force. Many crossing that border now are also from Central America, from the small countries that were ravaged by US military intervention in the 1980s
and who also have the right to make demands on the United States. So, let’s stop saying ‘this is a nation of immigrants.’”
–Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz, mixed-Cherokee activist, professor, writer

“False and violent borders have been imposed upon our many peoples and upon the landscape, dissecting our Mother Earth, our home continent, in two and attempting to sever our deep connection with the land, and with each other. We maintain our recognition and respect for all our Indigenous brothers and sisters of the Western Hemisphere, with whom we traded, learned from, loved and laughed with for a millennia. We are Indigenous, of this place on Mother Earth, called Turtle Island, the Middle Place, Abya Yala and the Fourth World. And we remain bonded together forever, knowing ourselves as the K’iche and Karuk, Saraguro and Cheyenne, the Cherokee, Xicano and Chumash, we are all relations.”
–Tia Peters, Zuni, Seventh Generation Fund

“If America is a shining beacon of hope for legal immigrants perhaps the laws should be adjusted to make it a reality for the illegal immigrants. They also see America as a place where dreams can be lived. Ironically, most of the illegal immigrants are Indians, or Indios as they are known in Mexico, and in Central and South America.
Most of their ancestors did not come over on the Mayflower or on the Spanish galleons. They were indigenous to the Western Hemisphere.”
–Tim Giago, president Native American Journalists Foundation

“Americans can say, surely not with pride, that our country knows from centuries of personal experience how unchecked immigration devastates life and why it’s an issue that deserves the best of our thinking and empathy. These are thoughts that cross some of our minds when we hear rhetoric about the so-called invasion of illegal immigrants (many of whom are — gasp — Indians) and calls to protect “our” land. If we smile in response, it’s not so much out of agreement. We see a payback
coming home to roost.”
–David House, mixed Cherokee/Scots-Irish, Fort Worth Star-Telegram

“It’s never been clear to me why animosity exists toward today’s immigrants, considering the founding fathers arrived as immigrants. Are today’s anti-immigration voices afraid of a new Manifest Destiny? Many Native prophecies foretell the demise of U.S. indigenous people from European invaders. But the stories also speak of a time when the land will be reclaimed by indigenous people.Perhaps the time has come.”
–Jodi Rave reports on Native issues for Lee Enterprises.

On Haudenosaunee citizenship & naturalization:

“Naturalization was not race-based as the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) granted citizenship to other ethnic groups. Once a person became a Haudenosaunee citizen they were expected to discard any previous connection to their birth nation. They had to speak an Iroquoian language, dress as Iroquois, contribute to the security of their host nation and provide for the well being of their new families and communities though a host of activities ranging from hunting, fishing, food preparation and home building. They took part in the elaborate ceremonies which defined Haudenosaunee spirituality and were given extensive instruction into the history, customs and beliefs of their new nation. In the end, the Haudenosaunee people expected the new citizen to undergo an almost complete transformation; physically, mentally and spiritually. This process worked extremely well… [it] secured our survival and provided for our prosperity….”
–Doug George-Kanentiio, Mohawk writer

The Popul Vuh– one of the most important books ever written on this continent offers us a valuable lesson and roadmap about migration disputes. The volatile conflicts among the Maya finally ended when those who were new to the land accepted those who were here before them as their guides. In this spirit, we do the same. So too should the general public, Congress and the president.

2006 (C) Column of the Americas

Feel free to contact us or send us your views at XColumn@gmail.com
or 608-238-3161. Our bilingual columns are posted at: http://hometown.aol.com/xcolumn/myhomepage/
Info regarding our Amoxtli San Ce Tojuan documentary and origins/migrations research can be found at: http://hometown.aol.com/aztlanahuac/myhomepage/index.html

Accident kills creator of plaza’s ‘Lagartos’

By Daniel Borunda / El Paso Times
El Paso Times

Luis Jimenez, the El Paso native whose fiberglass sculptures made him an internationally prominent artist, was killed Tuesday morning in a freak accident in his art studio in Hondo, N.M., authorities said. Jimenez, 65, was the most famous artist to come out of El Paso, with his work recognized from barrios to President Bush’s ranch home near Crawford, Texas.

Around 11:50 a.m. Tuesday, Jimenez and two of his employees were moving a large statue piece with a hoist when the piece got loose, struck Jimenez and pinned him to a steel beam at Jimenez Studios, Lincoln County Sheriff R.E. “Rick” Virden said in a news release. Jimenez received a severe leg injury and died at Lincoln County Medical Center in nearby Ruidoso. The death of Jimenez created a shock as it spread by word of mouth through the arts community in El Paso, where Jimenez’s “Vaquero” and “Plaza de Los Lagartos” sculptures have become civic landmarks.

Jimenez was a major figure in Chicano art and a pioneer in public art. His vibrant fiberglass sculptures are found in parks from Albuquerque to Fargo, N.D., home of “The Sodbuster” statue. Last week, the Cleveland Plain Dealer newspaper reported he was working on a Cleveland Firefighters Memorial that was to be ready by the fall. The statue was supposed to be finished by the end of 2004, but the date was pushed back in part because Jimenez had suffered two heart attacks.

“He was one of the most original artists on the planet,” said Becky Duvall Reese, the former director of the El Paso Museum of Art. Jimenez’s “Vaquero” — a 20-foot-tall statue of a Mexican cowboy on a bucking horse — stands in front of the museum. Jimenez’s work often reflected his border and Southwestern roots. He often said he was inspired by his sign-maker father, a Mexican immigrant.

“I have a way of looking at the world that is somewhat unique, that is not maybe totally mainstream,” Jimenez said in a 1995 interview with the El Paso Times. “I would hope that I’ve helped people have insights into the world we are living in.” Art gallery owner Adair Margo said Jimenez will live on in his work, including the “Texas Waltz” lithograph purchased by first lady Laura Bush that is now at the Bush ranch home.

“I think Luis shared this border region with the world. Those images will continue to live on,” Margo said. “You look at the images he left us, you realize he was a voice that mattered, that gave form to this region and communicated it with people. He was a man of just incredible talent, but he also had great generosity of spirit.”

Daniel Borunda may be reached at dborunda@elpasotimes.com; 546-6102.
El Paso Times reporter Adriana M. Chávez contributed to this report.

The following is from the South Central Farmers on June 13, 2006 with an update on today’s police action against the farm

Greetings!

For the highest readability, start your letter with a short sentence.The Farm is being Bulldozed! Let’s not mourn but continue to fight for its life and the livelihood of the South Central Farmers! Over 50 arrests have been made, a few demonstrators have suffered blows from batons and the bulldozers were sent in to demolish the blooming crops, indigenous plants and 14 years of love that have been put into the farm. We are continuing to stand strong with tears in our eyes. It is not over yet! The community cannot be defeated. Join us to peacefully protest the police attack on our community. A candlelight vigil will be held tonight at 7:00pm as we have for 21 nights at the Farm. There is police perimeter set up so be respectful of that barrier for your safety and the safety of the rest of the community. We want safety for our families and the land to be returned to the community. We are gathered at the corner of 41st St & Long Beach Ave. Los Angeles, CA. -please bring candles and supplies such as water or food to share as we have been dispossessed. A demonstration at the mayor’s house is also being organized simultaneously with the vigil at the Farm. Here’s the info: At 7pm tonight we will be gathering at Villaraigosa’s house in protest of the actions taken by the state against the community today. Bring banners, instruments, chants and signs. What: PROTEST/VIGIL AT ANTONIO VILLARAIGOSA’S HOUSE When: 7pm today, Tuesday Where: the “mayor’s mansion” 605 S. Irving St., LA (In Hancock Park near Wilton and Wilshire) JOIN US IN EXUBERANT SHOW OF PEOPLE’S POWER AND OUTRAGE AGAINST THOSE BEHIND THE DESTRUCTION OF THE FARM! Thank you for all your support and dedication to the struggle of the South Central Farmers. -South Central Farmers Support Coalition

www.southcentralfarmers.com
Mr. Tezozomoc
South Central Farmers

Early this morning, at 5 PM, a squadron of helicopters, squad cars, and bulldozers came to remove the 350 families from Mexico and Central America who have made 14 acres in an urban blighted area into a garden oasis in South Central LA (41st and Alameda streets). The South Central Farm is the largest urban farm in the United States. Last reports were that bulldozers were tearing down the fences and tearing into the carefully plotted trees and plants.

This battle to save the amazing gardens and farm has been waged for weeks when a wealthy developer demanded to get the land back from the city so he can build warehouses and industrial sites (in an area chock full of warehouses and industrial sites). The farmers, however, have been on this land for 14 years. Celebrities such as Darryl Hannah, John Quigley, and Danny Glover have recently taken part in supporting the farmers. All the protests in support of the farmers have been peaceful. The attack this morning shows that LA City, like most cities in this country, cater to the rich and powerful.

Academia Semillas del Pueblo is an LAUSD (Los Angeles Unified School District) sanctioned charter school in the Eastside community of El Sereno with students from kindergarten through the eighth grade.

“[Academia Semillas del Pueblo is] dedicated to providing urban children of immigrant native families an excellent education founded upon their own language, cultural values, and global realities,” their official website says (www.dignidad.org).

Besides meeting all requirements for students in LAUSD schools, ASDP provides an ancestral Mexican (indigenous) school environment, based on the Mexika/Aztec concept of kalpulli, which caters to the mostly Mexican/Central American community in El Sereno. Besides English, they also have language classes in Nahuatl (native Mexican), Spanish, and Mandarin. While the majority of the students are Mexican/Central American, the Academia is open to all children of any race, culture, or creed.

Recently, KABC-AM 790 talk radio, which the right-wing has used for years to spout their ugly divisive politics, has targeted ASDP for closure because “they do not instill ‘American’ values.” In particular, Doug McIntyre, a morning talk show host, claims the school is part of the “multiculturalism” push in this country, which has become a particular focus of attack by some US conservative fringe organizations.

Last week, their rabid attacks against ASDP led to death threats against the school and its children (even forcing students to go home).

KABC-AM, which is apparently owned by Disney, is a disgrace to academic freedom and the celebration of a rich, cultural reality in Los Angeles and throughout the country. They argue for the homogenization of everyone in this country into what they deem is “white” American society. In essence, they are saying everyone should believe like them, act like them, talk like them.

This is fascism, pure and simple — people walking in goose steps (literarily or figuratively, it’s the same concept). It’s also racist (in fact, McIntyre once stated on his radio show that it was good that Whites attacked and killed Native peoples for their land).

What makes this society truly valuable is the diversity of cultures, religions, tongues, and peoples who have come here (some out of necessity). This country was not just built by Europeans. Mexicans, in particular, have been working and fighting for this country for more than 150 years. They’ve helped build the railroads, pick our fruits & vegetables, and labor at all levels of industry. They’ve fought in all major wars in the 20th century, garnering more medals of honor than any other ethnic group during World War II. Although Latinos (including Mexicans) are said to be 10 percent of the US armed forces, they reportedly make up upwards of 30 percent of soldiers, marines, and National Guard units in Afghanistan and Iraq (including many undocumented people).

KABC is trying to close Academia del Pueblo not on any legal basis or for incompetence or any issues of malfeasance. The sole focus of their hatred is that the school is run by Xicanos, for Xicanos, and dedicated to Xicano/Mexicano culture and traditions.

What McIntyre and some of the other KABC anchors fail to realize is that Xicanos, Mexicanos, and Central Americans, particularly the indigenous Aztec/Mayan and other tribal roots that these people come from, are part of “America.” They are as native as any Native American in this country. They were here for tens of thousands of years before any Europeans arrived. American English itself has many Nahuatl (Aztec) words, including avocado, jaguar, chocolate, maize, tomato, and more. While we at Xispas are not against European culture or people in this country, we are against any imposition of European (Anglo or otherwise) culture to people who are not European (that’s colonialization).

While we agree this country should have a unifying language such as English, we also should be fluent in Spanish and/or tribal tongues (or any other of the more than 350 languages spoken in the United States) if that’s our desire.

In the United States, we can agree on uniting around essential aspects for all people regardless of their origins or traditions, including following the law (when they are just and based on our healthy development, not control), support for the well-being of all children, English as a common tongue, and the freedoms all of us (not just Europeans) have fought for. We should not demand we become homogenized into one mono-culture (in the US there’s no such thing anyway).

American culture has the sighs of Jewish mothers, the scraping brooms of Italian street cleaners, the sweat of Algonquin construction workers, the callused hands of Mexican farmworkers, and the immense fortitude of African Americans through slavery and beyond. The Irish, the German, the French, the Japanese, the Filipino, and the British all belong here. So do the Lakota, the Navajo, the Pueblo, the Cheyenne, the Tohono O’oldham — and now the millions of Zapotecas, Mixtecos, Mayans, Yaquis, Tarahumaras, Huicholes, Purepechas, Pipiles, and other indigenous groups from Mexico and Central America.

We need to stop KABC-AM’s racist campaign to remove the variety of human lives and expression in this country. We ask all activists, leaders, speakers, teachers, youth, and elders to contact the radio station and demand they cease any more attacks against Academia Semillas del Pueblo and other non-European community-based institutions.