A System Cannot Fail Those It Was Never Built To Protect.

Indigenous Zapatista woman & a sign declaring the area to be a Rebel Autonomous Zapatista Municipality.

So much love and respect for the Dream Team from Sunset Park High School. So fierce and wise. #sphsdreamteam #youthpower #Repost @sphsdreamteam ・・・ Join Dream Team! Wednesday at room 302! #youthpower #undocumentedunafraid #dreamteam

“Because to suffer for love is good. The pain all sweet somehow. In the end.”

-Sandra Cisneros [[Woman Hollering Creek]]

Ay, Violeta cólmanos con tu voz celestial y líbranos de lo maldito terrenal. 

Su nombre es Violeta.

“My parents brought me from Guatemala when I was fourteen. Immigration wasn’t as big of a deal back in the 70’s. When I got to New York, I joined a soccer team with players from ten different countries. And you could just go to work and nobody asked any questions. My mother worked as a housekeeper at the Hilton for forty years. I was lucky. I didn’t have too hard of a time. I got to come over on a plane. But today it’s different. Right now, as we speak, people are hiding in bushes by the border. They’re running through deserts and swimming across rivers just to feed their families. I feel very bad for them. Things are very tough for the Latino immigrant. But it’s our turn. The last one to arrive has to pay for the broken dishes. You’ve got to blame somebody for the problems. It’s been like that since the first Thanksgiving. First it was the Irish, then the Polish, then the Italians. When the war came it was the Japanese. It’s just our turn. I’ve considered myself an American since I was born. I was born in Central America so that makes me an American—you guys even try to claim the name! I love the Yankees, the Giants, and the Mets. But it’s not too important what you call me. I’m just Louis, from Guatemala, living in New York. And I’m the luckiest guy alive.”

The Women’s Building - San Francisco, California

by Juana Alicia, Meera Desai, Miranda Bergman, Irene Perez, Susan Kelk Cervantes, Littleton Yvonne and Edythe Boone

(photos: Anthony Byrd)