In my mural, “800,000”, I reference the rescinding of DACA and the refusal from DACA
recipients to let it frighten them back into hiding. The composition should be viewed from bottom to top. At the bottom, there are three young adult women who are ethnically ambiguous because DACA recipients are diverse and come from different backgrounds. The figures on the far left and right look straight at you while the figure in the middle looks up at an angle, signifying the dreams of her future. There are roots moving up through the figures into flowers that bloom in Oaxaca, Mexico the city where I was born. The women are dreamers and they signify the seeds in the quote I have included. They will grow and flourish like the flowers because they will not let the rescinding of DACA deter them from their dreams. This theme is also apparent by the hashtag, #DefendDACA, that I included on the bottom-center of the mural.
I was inspired to create this mural because this issue is very important and personal to me. As a DACA Recipient, I felt as if a rug had been pulled underneath me when Jeff Sessions rescinded DACA. Dreamers all across the nation were terrified and unsure of what the future would hold and many felt their lives put on hold. That inspired me to create a mural where I could empower DACA recipients into being fearless and resilient in this time of insecurity. Artists like Yehimi Cambron inspired me to make this mural about DACA and the undocumented community because her works usually deal with this topic and she often adds a political message, which I implemented by adding the hashtag “#DefendDACA.” Another Artist who Inspired me stylistically was Diana Settles. Her contribution to living walls was a beautiful mural that included flowers and plants. This reminded me of the quote (“They tried to bury us, they didn’t know we were seeds”) and eventually led me to include the Mexican flowers that I have in my mural.
My mural’s location is in a Hispanic plaza called, “Las Americas” that is in my hometown of Norcross, Georgia. I initially considered my old high school to be the location for it because I knew there were many undocumented students that went there. However, I remembered I had a tough time addressing my undocumented status in high school because it reminded me of how impossible higher education would be. I thought of this plaza because many of my friends have undocumented parents that have little stores inside this market. These shops are representations of the dreams that parents like mine have when they bring their children like me and my brother to this country. They dream of coming to the US and having good jobs or businesses that will allow them to provide for their families and allow their children to grow up in a country where education is accessible to everyone. I decided that it would be meaningful to include my mural in this location because although people like me are called “dreamers” our parents are the ones that came here first with a dream.