#UnDíaSinNosotras
Race and Sound
“Señor, señora, no sea indiferente, se mata a las mujeres en la cara de la gente.”
My posts tend to come as a closing to my week, however, this past week was building to a specific day: #El9NingunaSeMueve. As much as possible, I became invisible too. I embodied those that passed through making visible the emotional upheaval of femicide in Mexico. As others did before, I embodied others. We all are one (“todas somos una”). My participation in the visual act of solidarity outside the Consulate General of Mexico in Los Angeles on March 9th was a cathartic and therapeutic moment after the protests that took place around the World on International Women’s Day. However, the most overtaking sonic-scapes I experienced were through online spaces.
I felt like the week was in itself a build-up towards Sunday, not only in the three-day movement prepared in Mexico but in all the planning and conversations that were happening around the protests. From a Saturday dialogue to a Sunday protest, followed by a Monday strike, the feminist movement in Mexico crawled into my skin which continued to echo until Monday evening.
Friends of mine, and women I’ve never met, embodied others –myself included. “Todas somos una,” (we are all one) representing those that could not join the march, alive or passed. From afar –air photographic shots included — the gathering resembled jacarandas, physically and metaphorically blooming in the Spring. Each one, person and flower, represents tears in their flowing, which can almost be heard. Just like the Santa Ana winds can be heard in Los Angeles, jacarandas sing in the Spring, while they're whooshing –and flying — across the sky.
(Digital strike limits my Instagram search, so I’m heavily relying on memory — visual and sonic — to revive the chants that brought Mexico alive – particularly Mexico City – this past Sunday.)
“¡Ni una más, ni una más, ni una asesinada más!”
“¡Por qué no! ¡Por qué no! ¡Te dije que no! ¡Pendejo no! Mi cuerpo es mío, yo decido, tengo autonomía, yo soy mía”.
“¡Mujeres contra el capital, mujeres contra el machismo y el terrorismo neoliberal!”.
https://drive.google.com/a/usc.edu/file/d/1d0B6lxBMd-g2tc_KlBInEYXegDIQK2Uv/view?usp=drivesdk
I found silences to be some of the most compelling moments, which would only be mirrored during the strike that took place on Monday.
https://drive.google.com/a/usc.edu/file/d/10MSQ_GcHUgA_excKdX8M0olDetf-AQ4M/view?usp=drivesdk
Personally, I’m still processing feelings, sounds, images, experiences. More updates to come.
