Forward Together recently invited me and over half a dozen other artist to create e-cards for Mama's Day. The goal was to create cards that addressed that gap that the greeting-card-industrial-complex left many of the people who have mothered us in. The project allowed me to reach deep into my heart and create pieces that honor the love and caregiving that don't feel appropriately addresssed through frilly laced declarations that are doused with flowers and cheesy stock sentiments.

The Strong Families Initiative is celebrating "Mama's Day" with a custom e-card tool that gives all mothers and families a chance to be visible. The site provides eighteen templates by artists likeKirby Platero, Nikki McClure, Micah Bizant, Veronica Bayetti Flores  and myself that feature motherhood in all its diversity, with space for you to write a personalized message and email it to the mother of your choice. 

Culture Strike, the Center for New Community and Yerba Buena Center for the Arts Present:

An evening of Visual Art, Posters, Prints and Pro-Migrant Graphics, Comedy, Music, Literary Readings and Short Films to Fight Anti-Immigrant Hate.

Read more about the event by clicking here: UNDOCUNATION

Jesus and I will be doing live screen printing with special images created just for this event. We will be giving away the prints once all the prints are dry and we will be signing  these limited edition, hand made prints for the folks who get one.  ONE per person. There will be a very limited number , about 75 of each, and we will be giving them out on a first come, first serve basis. 

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I will be in New York for the closing reception if this exhibit which will take place on May 6th.

I don't often have the opportunity to travel to New York City so I hope my East Coast friends can make it to this event!

***The pieces on exhibit will be on sale!***

Part of the proceeds will go to enable AF3IRM NY to conduct its Purple Rose campaign against the outsourcing of entire departments in corporate operations – a tactic that depresses wages and de-unionizes the workplace and encourages trafficking. As the major share of the proceeds will go to the artists themselves, the exhibit is also a means of supporting transnational women artists in their creation of a culture representative of their life experiences.

These English and Spanish posters are two of four poster designs we will be giving away on May Day in Oakland and San Francisco. I want to thank all the people who donated and made this project possible, through this generous community support we are printing 1000+ full color posters and 500+ screen prints. It feels good when community comes together, pitches in, letting you know they have your back and appreciates the work you do! Thank You Everyone!!!

We have 11x17 Downloads of the Spanish and English Poster

To Download the poster in English Click Here

To Download the poster in Spanish Click Here 

Join us for The People's Street Festival

Celebrating International Workers' Day and the 99%

12 Noon, Gathering at Montgomery & Market, San Francisco Financial District

A day of Protest, Performance, Art & Culture

On International Workers Day, join the Oakland Sin Fronteras' contingent in the

March for Immigrant Rights! :: Tuesday, May 1, 2012  ::

3:00pm:  GATHER AT FRUITVALE BART PLAZA
3:30pm:  ASSEMBLE ON INTERNATIONAL for opening rally & program
4:00pm:  MARCH DOWN INTERNATIONAL BOULEVARD
5:30pm:  ARRIVE 14TH & BROADWAY for a community rally with speakers and performers!

ENDORSING ORGANIZATIONS:
Mujeres Unidas y Activas,  Xican@ Moratorium Coalition, Anakbayan East Bay, Dignidad Rebelde
Eastside Cultural Center, Filipino Advocates for Justice, Alameda Labor AFL-CIO Council, Black Alliance for Just Immigration, Hand in Hand National Domestic Employers Association, National Domestic Workers Alliance, Causa Justa;Just Cause, 67 Sueños, Young Workers United AYPAL, Youth Together, ACUDIR, La Raza Centro Legal/Day Laborers, Filipino Community Center, and more....

Why are we marching?
Oakland Sin Fronteras 2012 DEMANDS:

LEGALIZATION FOR ALL UNDOCUMENTED IMMIGRANTS
SUPPORT WORKERS RIGHTS
Support immigrant workers’ campaigns to defend their rights.  End workplace enforcement programs like raids and I-9 Audits (that has resulted in the firings of thousands of immigrant workers, at Pacific Steel, American Apparel, Chipotle,to name a few).  Pass AB 889 the Domestic Worker Bill of Rights.
 
STOP THE DEPORTATION OF ALL IMMIGRANTS
End the continuing harassment, racial profiling, detention and deportation of immigrants. Nearly 400,000 immigrants have been deported from the U.S. in just the past year, which is about 45 people deported every hour.
 

STOP THE CRIMINALIZATION OF IMMIGRANTS
BY FEDERAL AND LOCAL POLICE
Stop government surveillance of immigrant communities by the Dept. of Homeland Security through enforcement programs like “Secure Communities”. Stop the local “gang injunctions” and 100 block initiatives that criminalize Black and Brown youth.  Redirect resources toward the prevention of root causes of crime in our neighborhoods, such as chronic poverty and systemic racism.

 
END U.S. MILITARY AGGRESSION & OTHER POLICIES
THAT DISPLACE COMMUNITIES GLOBALLY
More than 200 million people have been forced to leave their country of origin because of war, environmental degradation and unequal trade policies.  Stop U.S. military aggression and intervention in the Middle East, Asia-Pacific, Africa and throughout the world.  Stop policies like NAFTA, CAFTA and AFTA that force farmers off their land in Mexico and Central America, increases poverty and forces migration from underdeveloped countries globally.  We want a stop to the use of U.S. taxpayer money to bail-out wall street and sustain policies of globalization which are responsible for pushing millions of U.S. families out of their homes and uprooting millions more globally.

DEFEND AND EXPAND ETHNIC STUDIES
Protect Ethnic Studies programs from attack in Arizona and throughout the country.  We demand a stop to the book banning which is a violation of First Amendment rights.  Ethnic Studies programs should be expanded to make educational curricula accurate and inclusive of all U.S. residents, and because it is a critical tool for ending institutionalized racism.