CÉSAR CHÁVEZ AND AMÉRICA TROPICAL!

Hola! Big doings this week. President Obama is dedicating the César E. Chávez National Monument on Monday, October 8th. The site is in Keene, California, at La Paz, where the original farm workers union organized and where César Chávez is buried. This is the first site to be declared a National Monument honoring a contemporary Mexican American. We repot César Chávez In His Own Words to remind us all of Cesar’s memorable wisdom.

Also this week, we continue with the celebration of the 80th anniversary of the original unveiling of the mural “America Tropical,” painted by Mexican master David Alfaro Siqueiros in 1932. You’ll recall that the mural was whitewashed because of its content. Since 1988, the Getty Conservation Institute working with the City of Los Angeles has been busy cleaning and preserving the mural, and constructing a viewing platform and interpretative center in Olvera Street. October 9th marks 80 years to the day and the City of Los Angeles will once again be make the mural viewable to the public. For those of you living in Southern California the mural will be open to the public Tuesday at noon in Olvera Street–enter through the Sepulveda House.

On Latinopia we have two videos this week that celebrate the mural. One explains the restoration process with interviews with mural restorers and the other is a reading of “Letters to Siqueiros” by three Chicano muralists whose work has been influenced by the legacy of David Alfaro Siquieros. Check them out!

For the next several weeks Sara Inés Calderón will be tied up on a project and so we’ll be rerunning some of her excellent blogs from earlier in the year.

OOXX

Tia Tenopia