"Wherever she went, she drew what she saw and donated her art to the cause."

Rini Templeton was a prolific graphic artist and huge inspiration to artist like me who strive to serve their communities in their struggles for liberation and a better life. She traveled all over documenting direct actions and demonstrations by drawing beautiful, simple, bold black and white illustrations that she referred to as "Xerox" art because of how easy they could be reproduced. I've heard many stories about Rini attending a protest, capturing a moment from that protest and then handing the illustration over to the organizer's for use on flyers, signs, banners, t-shirts...really anyway they needed. 

Rini travelled  quite a bit and was involved in several struggles. She the Cuban Revolution as an active member of Amigos de Cuba. While involved in this work she also founded the Taller de Grabado de la Catedral de la Habana (Havana Cathedral Printmaking Workshop-she was also a sculptor.

She lived in New Mexico for a while and was the staff artist for El Grito del Norte, a paper co-founded by Betita Martinez.

In the last part of the two decades of her art practice  Rini was as a part of the Taller de Gráfica Popular  in Mexico. 

Many of Rini's graphics are still widely used by social justice organizations for the same purposes she intended and for others she probably never imagined (Facebook events, websites etc). 

Inspired by Rini's life and her heart I have decided to add to the commons by creating new graphics in the same bold style. The decision to do so was pretty organic. I was at a meeting organization's from all over the region listening to people talk about their organization strategies when I became fixated on a woman who brought her baby to the meeting. I did a quick sketch of her with a ballpoint pen on the back of my notes.

When I got home I was looking over my notes and I started to feel alot of excitement about my drawing. I couldn't wait to share it with Jesus and to share my idea of creating this series. I quickly reworked the sketch into much cleaners pencil lines  on a fresh piece of paper. After the drawing was complete I scanned that and printed a version of the scan. I did this to avoid smudging the graphite from the pencil when I inked it. For most of my drawings I use Rotring Rapidograph pens to ink the black lines. The ink is really opaque and flows nicely when I am creating lines. 

This is just a start. As I write this and see my drawing next to Rini's I realize that I need to work on the width and boldness of my lines. I also need balance the amount of meetings I attend and the amount of actions/community based events I am at. I want to draw whatever I  see and give my heart and my work to my people, to my community and the movement.

I have a small print layed out that we will eventually produce as a screen print.  

This week was super busy, I printed three editions and still had time to run around getting supplies and table at an event to sell some prints.

The week started with printing Melanie's Iran solidarity poster, this is one of two pieces in which we both used the same source photo in creating our image. I really like Melanie's poster, it is a very well designed two color print, it has the text in Spanish, English and Farsi using the trilingual approach made popular by OSPAAAL (Organization of Solidarity of the People of Asia, Africa & Latin America).

Next was the Haiti solidarity poster which is a collaboration with EastSide Arts Alliance who designed the poster. This was printed to be used as a fundraiser with all the money raised going to the Haiti Emergency Relief Fund. So far this has been selling pretty quickly, you can get yours here. Also thanks to Inkworks who I  can always count on when i need to get some paper cut.

In the middle of the week I had some time to clean the studio and get things organized, it had been a while since I swept and put things away but now I am ready to print some more.

Thursday I made a trip over to the Firehouse in west Oakland to cut some more paper, one of the guys was there printing a poster for AFI show later that night. Poster by Frank Zio.

I also exposed some screens for the next day of printing.

Later that night Melanie called me down to the Pearl in San Francisco where they were having a 75% off everything sale. We stocked up on plenty of paper all sizes and colors. This was great since we are working on so many prints I'm sure this paper will go fast.

Last thing for the week was my version of the Iran solidarity image. I printed a large format three color print of the same image Melanie used on her poster. I had a lot of fun printing this piece, using the one arm press made this a snap to print. I really like this print, using the grey paper and the nice earth tones, this has to be one of my favorite pieces I have created.

With the week over we are planning some new pieces coming up and some more collaborations.

We are very happy to announce the release of the first print Dignidad Rebelde publishes, "Haiti Will Rise Again" designed by EastSide Arts Alliance. This image was created by ESAA to share with the community and featured on their website for people to download and print to show their solidarity with the people of Haiti. We loved the image so much we decided to contact ESAA and see if they were interested in having the design transformed into a screen print and used to raise funds for Haiti, all money raised will go to Haiti Emergency Relief Fund. They were very happy about the idea and we got to work. Now that the print is complete we are putting it up for sale, you can buy the print form us here on our website or by contacting ESAA.

This is the statement written by EastSide:

"EastSide has produced an image to counter the perception that Haiti is a victimized, poor country by their own bad luck and ineptitude. This racist narrative only serves to erase the strength and revolutionary spirit that defines this Black nation, the first liberated Black Republic."

Click here to buy the print.

This week has been great, I was able to spend most of the week in the studio working on a couple prints, one of Melanie's designs and one of my prints. It is a lot of fun having all this time to make art, it makes me feel very fulfilled as an artist and increasingly I will be spending more time in the studio. The decision was made because Melanie and I have been designing so many prints and posters but we have not had enough time to print them all. On top of this we have projects coming up and need time to be able to focus on those. In the coming months I will be posting more about the prints we are working on, documenting all the art we are making and sharing it with our community.

This week I was printing Melanie's Lila Downs piece which i have been working on for the past month and it is almost finished, pictures of that print to come.

I started working on a print of a Iranian protester, I had come across the a photo when the protests in Iran first started. The look in the woman's eyes were super intense and the rocks in her hands make her look fierce. This is a 22"x30" print and to produced it, I use a one arm press which allows me to print larger areas by using an attachment to run the squeegee across the screen. Using the one arm makes it easier to print large areas with out breaking my back.

I'm going to keep posting more pictures every week of stuff we're printing, there should be some cool art coming!

The Akonadi Foundation’s mission is to support the development of powerful social change movements to eliminate structural racism and create a racially just society. Akonadi believes that racial justice movement building means communities of color lead efforts to build power, shape policy, and strengthen culture.

The Racial Justice Poster Contest is a new effort by the Akonadi Foundation to honor racial justice movement building in Oakland and inspire racial justice movement building in communities around the world. The Racial Justice Poster Contest builds on the legacy that the creation of political posters has sparked and nurtured as a part of virtually ever social movement in recent history.

In 2008, the Akonadi Foundation distributed our first Racial Justice poster on March 21, the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination which commemorates the Sharpeville tragedy. On March 21, 1960, the movement against apartheid was spreading as blacks across South Africa began demonstrating against “pass laws” requiring them to carry identity cards. In the township of Sharpeville, a huge crowd of black Africans gathered peacefully outside a police station, singing and offering themselves up for not carrying cards. The police opened fire, killing sixty-nine people, including ten children.

Akonadi’s first racial justice poster honors the people and organizations who continue to defy such egregiously racist structures and who are committed to building a vibrant racial justice movement.

This first poster sparked the idea of the Akonadi Foundation sponsoring an annual contest that would encourage a creative outpouring of posters that reflect the people in communities of color, their movements and their vision for a world without racism. This year’s poster, “Time for Change”, was selected for its creativity and originality, artistic and design quality, and potential to inspire and inform racial justice movement building.

The artist selected will receive a $1,500 prize that includes $1000 for the artist and $500 as a donation to the Oakland community organization designated by the artist. All entries are due February 12th by 5pm. For more information on the Foundation’s 2010 Racial Justice Poster Contest visit www.akonadi.org.

Mark your calendars and come support La RED Xicana Indigena's organizing!

Saturday, January 30, 2010 -8 pm  (doors open at 7:30pm)

LA RED XICANA INDÍGENA presents  A NIGHT OF QUEER WOMEN OF COLOR PERFORMANCE  

Poesía • Teatro • Comedy • Music • Artesanía De Oaxaca • Comida • Books • Posters For Sale!

Also music by:
LAS BOMBERAS DE LA BAHIA | SoliRose

ADELINA ANTHONY, performing “Zen Ranchera” and excerpts from “La Chismosa” (directed by D'Lo)

CHERRÍE MORAGA, reading from new works, including an excerpt from her play,“Who Killed Yolanda Salívar,” with Anthony performing with Moraga

Multicultural Community Center,  Martin Luther King Student Union, UC-Berkeley (corner of Bancroft & Telegraph) Suggested donation:  $10 - $25 or more.

For more information, contact Elisa Huerta at UC Berkeley Multicultural Center 510-642-6528 or elisahuerta@berkeley.edu

Tax Deductible Donations can be made to:
CNQI (Cetliliztli Nauhcampa Quetxalcoatl in Ixachitlan), earmarked "La Red."

La RED Xicana Indígena, which originated in 1997, is a network of Xicanas Indígenas who are actively involved in political, educational and cultural work that serves to raise indigenous consciousness among our communities and supports the social justice struggles of people of indigenous  origins of this continent  North and South, especially the human and civil rights campaign of undocumented migrant peoples and their children in the U.S.

It's been years since I found a band that I had to listen to over and over...it's the radest feeling to listen to them for the first time and think..."damn that's cool!" Girl in a Coma is one of those bands. I love them, they rock...and it was cool to see that Shizu Saldamando made the cover art of their latest cd. Well their music inspired me to work on some poster designs for their shows...I have a few in progress already and few more to come.

by Jesus Barraza & Melanie Cervantes

Published on Oakland Local

A year ago, early New Year's Day in the Fruitvale District of Oakland, BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) police murdered unarmed, 22-year old, Oscar Grant III by pushing him face down to the ground and shooting him in the back. After he was shot he was handcuffed. The shooting was fatal.

A year later there is no justice for Oscar Grant and his family. There is no justice for the people of Oakland who have lost their sons and daughters to State violence.

The trial of BART police officer Johannes Mehserlese has been moved to another city where the community might be tolerant of white men killing black people. The community here in Oakland awaits a verdict that will most likely end with the officer getting off.

As Barak Obama is about to complete a year in office we witnessed escalation of war in the Middle East and the administration's lack of significant action to address climate change and the global ecological disaster that the Global South, people who live in poverty and most living species with little power will have to bear the burden of. Instead we find this government looking out for the interest of multi-national corporations who are making a killing. 

As we look at this world we see the new face of racism is same as the old face, Oscar Grant's death and the outcome of the Mehserle's trial will help us better understand how much things have changed since the Rodney King trial. If the officer gets off will we see the same anger in the streets that we saw in 1992 and we worry is Oakland going to burn? 

We see Oscar Grant as one of many been killed at the hand of police violence. After we created the Grant image, others asked us to make images of their family members who had been killed by State violence. This was just one of many incidents across the country targeting men of color in particular. In fact, we couldn't respond to all the requests to create memorial posters for those killed, they have been very difficult to make. We spend hours and hours with the faces of the sons and daughters taken from this world too soon. 

The trial has been moved to Los Angeles. We hope that a capable jury will see how Mehserle's actions were completely uncalled for. But we also understand that this Mehserle is not just a bad apple but is part of a whole rotten orchard of apple trees. Police practices and these trainings have violence and racism structured into the police forces themselves.

This is why our hope lies in people who will organize themselves to call out BART and the judicial system to say enough is enough. Our communities need justice and that justice isn't just the prosecution of one police officer, but a complete assessment of the entire prison industrial complex ("justice system") to see  what we really need to keep our communities safe.

by Jesus Barraza & Melanie Cervantes

A year ago, early New Year's Day in the Fruitvale District of Oakland, BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) police murdered unarmed, 22-year old, Oscar Grant III by pushing him face down to the ground and shooting him in the back. After he was shot he was handcuffed.  The shooting was fatal.

A year later there is no justice for Oscar Grant and his family. There is no justice for the people of Oakland who have lost their sons and daughters to State violence.

The trial of BART police officer Johannes Mehserlese has been moved to another city where the community might be tolerant of white men killing black people. The community here in Oakland awaits a verdict that will most likely end with the officer getting off.

As Barak Obama is about to complete a year in office we witnessed escalation of war in the Middle East and the administration's lack of significant action to address climate change and the global ecological disaster that the Global South, people who live in poverty and most living species with little power will have to bear the burden of. Instead we find this government looking out for the interest of multi-national corporations who are making a killing. 

As we look at this world we see the new face of racism is same as the old face, Oscar Grant's death and the outcome of the Mehserle's trial will help us better understand how much things have changed since the Rodney King trial. If the officer gets off will we see the same anger in the streets that we saw in 1992 and we worry is Oakland going to burn? 

We see Oscar Grant as one of many been killed at the hand of police violence. After we created the Grant image, others asked us to make images of their family members who had been killed by State violence. This was just one of many incidents across the country targeting men of color in particular. In fact, we couldn't respond to all the requests to create memorial posters for those killed, they have been very difficult to make. We spend hours and hours with the faces of the sons and daughters taken from this world too soon. 

The trial has been moved to Los Angeles. We hope that a capable jury will see how Mehserle's actions were completely uncalled for. But we also understand that this Mehserle is not just a bad apple but is part of a whole rotten orchard of apple trees. Police practices and these trainings have violence and racism structured into the police forces themselves.

This is why our hope lies in people who will organize themselves to call out BART and the judicial system to say enough is enough. Our communities need justice and that justice isn't just the prosecution of one police officer, but a complete assessment of the entire prison industrial complex ("justice system") to see  what we really need to keep our communities safe.

2009 has been an incredible year of growth for me. My growth would not be possible without the communities that I am a part of helping to nuture me. Recently I was asked to have my workin included in POOR magazine's newest book Los Viajes. 

The book is filled with stories of our peoples journeys and struggles as well as stories of our resilience and beauty. I was really excited to send a copy of this book to my parents. I knew they would read the stories and relate our famil stories to the ones captured in this book.  Tales of journeys through desserts and working in hotels, of deportation and revolution, of crossing borders and falling in love. These are our stories.

Please support POOR magazine and order your copy today.

For a year and a half POOR Magazine conducted free bi-lingual, multi-generational, art and writing workshops in shelters, schools and community centers with migrant poverty scholars from across the globe to be included in the audio and print anthology called Los Viajes..Los Viajes introduces a new lens on migration of peoples across Pacha Mama informed by the UN Declaration on Indigenous Peoples

Por un ano y medio Prensa POBRE ha conducido talleres de arte y escritura, bilingues y multi-generacional gratis en refugios, escuelas, y centros comunitarios con sabios de la pobreza y emigracion de todo el mundo, para ser incluidos en esta antologia imprimada y grabada, llamada Los Viajes. Los Viajes introduce un lente nuevo sobre la emigracion y la inmigracion de la gente a traves la Pacha Mama informado por la Declaracion de las Naciones Unidas sobre la Gente Indigena.

You can order one here.