Though many of the "show me your papers" bills, emulating Arizona's SB 1070,  that have popped up in states all over the country  are being killed before they make it to law there are still several states that could pass laws before the legislative sessions are over.  

Despite the fact that some states have defeated these proposals there are still states facing climates of hate and racism. This design is one I created with the input of leaders from a grassroots organization that works in Tucson, Arizona where their members are taking a stand and rejecting racist, unjust policies like SB1070 as well as HB2281 which bans ethnic studies being taught in public schools. 

There was such a positive response to this graphic that I decided to create a digital print of it and make the art available to more people. My hope is that it reflects a position that rejects all forms of racism and affirms the people who are racially profiled and who are the targets of these policies that are intent on dehumanizing us.

11" x 17" 
1-Color, Digital Print ,  Matte Cover Paper, Printed by Inkworks Press in Berkeley, CA  2011 

April 9th and 10th we will be tabeling, selling artwork, at the annual Anarchist book fair in San Francisco.  The book fair is officially open from 10am-5pm on both days.  We will be there with Justseeds, the artist co-op we are worker-owners of (there are a total of 25 of us). We encourage folks to come by and check out the artwork. 

Where:

SF County Fair Building
Ninth Avenue and Lincoln Way
Golden Gate Park

Getting There & Getting Around:

Walking: You can reach the fair on foot in 10 – 30 minutes from many locations in the Upper Haight, Cole Valley, Richmond or Inner Sunset districts.

Bicycle: Valet bike parking will be provided (more info later)

Bus/Metro: The N-Judah metro line stops at Irving Street and 9th Avenue, a little over 1 block from the County Fair Building (from the N stop, walk north on 9th Avenue 1 block and into the park). Muni offers convenient connections to the park from transit stops throughout the city.  See also the Muni system map

Parking: Music Concourse Garage:  Access to the north entrance of the Music Concourse Parking is from Fulton St @ 10th Avenue.  Assess to the south entrance is at Concourse Dr. & Martin Luther King Dr, inside the park.  (Garage is not 24 hours–check times.)   There’s also quite a bit of time-limited parking along MLK Jr. Drive and side streets within the park.

More info: During some weekend daytime hours, JFK Drive is closed to cars from Stanyan to Park Presidio. The main entrance to the Strybing Botanical Gardens & Arboretum is on South Dr. right next door to the County Fair Building. Their webpage provides some detailed driving directions and parking options.

More about Justseeds: 

Justseeds Artists’ Cooperative is a decentralized network of 26 artists committed to making print and design work that reflects a radical social, environmental, and political stance. With members working from the U.S., Canada, and Mexico, Justseeds operates both as a unified collaboration of similarly minded printmakers and as a loose collection of creative individuals with unique viewpoints and working methods. We believe in the transformative power of personal expression in concert with collective action. To this end, we produce collective portfolios, contribute graphics to grassroots struggles for justice, work collaboratively both in- and outside the co-op, build large sculptural installations in galleries, and wheatpaste on the streets – all while offering each other daily support as allies and friends.

 SUNDAY, MARCH 27th, 12:30-2:30PM

*Space is limited to 25 participants. Please RSVP by signing up on this Google form:
https://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?formkey=dGFtWnNxUlNfdDBDZmVmV2NBTHFwdFE6MQ

The Latin@ Printmakers Exhibition: Grabados de Paz y Guerra, features the work of respected Latina/o printmakers on the topic of war and peace, and is scheduled to take place this spring at Berkeley City College’s Jerry Adams Gallery. Curated by artist and BCC visual arts instructor Juana Alicia Araiza, the show comments on war, violence, immigration, international movements of resistance and peace.

The Jerry Adams Gallery is located on the first floor of the college, and the artwork is visible through plate glass windows that face onto Center Street, in downtown Berkeley. The six-week exhibit will be part of an eighteen-month long project at Berkeley City College, entitled Sorrows of War: Struggles for Peace, which will include a lecture series, exhibits, curricular offerings and other important activities and events.
 
The exhibit will take place March 14th through April 30th, with an opening reception on March 18th, from 6:30-8:30 p.m. Berkeley City College is located at 2050 Center Street, between Shattuck and Milvia Streets, one half block from the downtown Berkeley BART Station. We are honored to announce that renowned Berkeley Poet Rafael Jesus González will be reading his poetry for the reception.

Featured Artists:
Ester Hernández    Juan Fuentes    Tirso Araiza     Artemio Rodriguez    Jesus Barraza    Melanie Cervantes    Emmanuel C. Montoya   Gabriel Martinez
 
March 14th through April 30th
 
 
Opening Reception: March 18th, from 6:30-8:30 p.m.

Renowned Berkeley Poet Rafael Jesus González will be reading his poetry
 
The Jerry Adams Gallery
Berkeley City College | 2050 Center Street, Berkeley, CA 94704 |
(510) 981-2800 | www.bccartscouncil.com

A common question that I am asked is: “What inspires you as an artist?”

While I have several sources of inspiration one of the most significant and driving forces for my work are the organized communities and organizations who are deeply committed to social justice in the short and long term. One of the organization’s here in the Bay Area whose actions consistently fuel my work is POWER. Jesus and I are supporters of their work and fans of the community leaders whose development the organization supports.

POWER is an organization that unites working class families, youth and tenants to achieve economic, racial and gender justice through organization and empowerment. POWER's mission is to eliminate poverty and oppression by developing the capacity of working class communities of color to play a powerful role in the political processes that impact our lives and the well being of communities.

POWER builds strategic alliances, wages effective community action campaigns with low-wage immigrant Latina women workers and low-income African American families and youth, and develops the leadership skills of their members. POWER’s work changes the conditions and policies that exploit and displace families and communities, by influencing policy to win migrant justice and responsible development that secures living wage employment, job security, affordable housing, and community services

This year POWER’s Women Workers Project has gotten off to a running start – they helped to win a free monthly Fast Passes for 12,000 youth in San Francisco!

Thanks to POWER, Chinese Progressive Association, the MORE Public Transit Coalition, Jamestown Community Center, the SRO Collaborative, Urban Habitat, the San Francisco Youth Commission, the MTA, Supervisor David Campos and more, low-income SFUSD students will ride MUNI free for the remainder of the school year!
POWER’s leaders have fought steadily since June 2010 for free bus passes for youth riders, who depend on the bus system to get to school and after school programs. While the Municipal Transportation Agency (MTA) claimed that they couldn’t possibly scrape together the funds for such a program, San Francisco cut the number of yellow school buses in half, making even more young students dependent on the bus system. At the same time, the MTA couldn’t seem to get around to implementing the Lifeline program, which promised to reduce the cost of monthly transit passes for low-income youth from $20 to $10.

As $1.4 million dollars allocated for the Lifeline program sat untouched, many parents found themselves in the same difficult position as POWER leader Tere Molina:

“Sometimes I have to choose to either buy food or buy Fast Passes for my children so they can get to school.”

POWER leaders used community actions, negotiations with the MTA and meetings with allies on the SF Board of Supervisors such as David Campos to get the Lifeline program into the hands of low-income young people before June 2011, when the funds would be lost as the new fiscal year begins. Last week, the Board of Supervisors passed a resolution supporting demands for 12,000 Fast Passes for youth from April–June 2011! The Supervisors also made a commitment to work with DCYF (Department of Children, Youth, and Families) to provide the reduced-cost bus passes throughout the 2011–2012 school year.

IF YOU QUALIFY DON’T MISS OUT!