The Mission

Shanti Moreano Freire

The Mission has been a cultural hub for Central and South American immigrants as they have formed a community embracing their culture. With the rise in gentrification and Silicon Valley moving into San Francisco, the Mission neighborhood is rapidly changing, and some of these changes involve displacing the people who helped build it and who keep it alive. The beautiful browns, pinks, and oranges are being overtaken by white spaces. For this project, I would like to bring the colorful of Latinx culture back into the neighborhood through music.

Music and dance are part of Latinx and Hispanic culture and can be used as a creative medium to speak out for their rights and tell their stories. Calle 13, a Puerto Rican band, has a song called Latinoamerica, that personifies the continent, embracing the culture while simultaneously describing the hardships of Latinx struggles. For the project, I want to create three panels that have figures drawn on them that express the lyrics of Latinoamerica.

My goal for the panels drawn images is to provide the Mission community with a visual sense of support. When walking through the Mission, murals are abundant and give a clear narrative of the things happening. However, often times, a sense of accomplishment and pride can be difficult to acknowledge because of the constant, day to day, fighting of immigrants becoming normalized. Much like a mural, I want these visual panels to be for the Latinx/Chincax community as a reminder of their strength and hardwork.