Los Desaparecidos de Ayotzinapa | 2014
On September 26th of 2014, 43 students from the Raúl Isidro Burgo Rural Teachers' College of Ayotzinapa were disapeared in Iguala, Guerrero, Mexico. The students were protesting against discriminatory hiring and funding practices from the government at a conference that was being hosted by the mayor's wife. Eyewitnesses state that the Students were forced into vans by the police after a clash. Details remain unclear on what happened during and after the roadblock, but the government investigation concluded that 43 of the students were taken into custody and were handed over to the local Guerreros Unidos drug cartel and most likely murdered.
In solidarity with the disappeared students and their families, Valeria Olguin and I picked up carving tools and taught ourselves how to make linocut prints. We created individual portraits of the students as a way to increase visibility regarding their forced disappearance and as a means to fundraise for their families.
We facilitated two workshops using popular education and art to engage in dialogue with BIPOC middle and high school students regarding Todxs Somos Ayotzinapa, Narco-Governments, and migration. We were part of an organizing collective that hosted an event with the Caravana43 in Eugene, OR. After 6 months, our collective have sent over $1000 to the parents of the missing students.
This was the first time I engaged with blockprinting and was able to combine my passion for art, education, and international solidarity.