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Molina Josselyn

Professor Batty

English 101

28 May 2017

The Mural of Hope

The mural I choose is called 'Bienvenidos a la Ciudad de Nuestra Senora la Reina de Los

Angeles de porciencula.' This mural was created by Jose Luis Gonzales during the 1984

Olympics. This mural was a way to welcome everyone around the world for this amazing

experience. The Olympics was a big event back then and even now is still is. This mural can also

have a different meaning based on our current events.For example, this can be interpreted as

coming together as one and fighting against those who are trying to divide us. This mural can

accurately speak to Latino culture because as Latinos we tend to separate each other we have

never been able to come together as one culture. In this mural, we can see that the main Angel is

Latina which represents a lot for a Latin person to be in the middle because it's the most

important place in the painting. We may think that just because we are in the 21st century, there

isn't any more racism. Even though there's still racism, we have proven that when we most need

it, we can come together as one. We also don't come here to take people's jobs.

This mural has many meanings to it not just by what is drawn but by the way the painter

decided to paint it and the colors he decided to use. This painting has many different colors, but

the main color is blue which can mean happiness and comfort. In this painting, there are three

angels the main angel has her arms wide open welcoming everyone.Also, one thing we can
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notice by looking at the painting is that the middle angel looks Hispanic, I think the painter

decided to use a Hispanic person in the center because as Latinos we tend to welcome everyone

in our homes. The other two angels seem to be from different ethnicities the angel on the

left-hand side seems to be white, and the one on the right-hand side seems to be African.The rest

of the persons in the picture seem to be bowing down the angel in the middle. The angel's that

are on the side are playing an instrument which can mean the happiness of the event. On the

center of the painting, there's the stadium. Outside of the painting, there are circles which I think

they are other planets. The painting, in general, shows the unity of the people.This mural shows

"the queen of angels" as a representation of Los Angeles. The Olympics were a huge event back

then, and they still are. This year has been a hard one for the Latino culture we have gotten so

many racist comments from people all over the country, but we are not going to give up on each

other.

The meaning of the painting is to welcome everyone in the world. The meaning I took

from this painting especially because of the political situation we are living in right now is to

show the unity of the people in bad moments and good. Right now us immigrants are facing a

hard time with our new president. "A large percentage of historic L.A. murals have been

destroyed, whitewashed and neglected into decay."( n.d Fuentes). Many Latino painters are not

recognized for their artwork, and many of those paintings are now being Americanized.

Immigrants have shown their unity in every aspect we have stood together in the past, we have

seen that when we stand together, we get our solutions. Latinos are having to face the fact of

maybe having to live their families behind with no one to watch over them especially those who
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have kids and babies. We have to do something to stop this and prevent families from being

separated. Coming to this country is not easy, and I can speak from experience because I came to

this country illegally. I did not come to here to take anyone's job I came here to make

opportunities for my own. This country is great because of the diversity of people we have that

makes more interesting for tourist because everywhere they go they see something different, it's

not one single culture.

We may think that just because we are in the 21st century, there's no racism left in this

world. But since the beginning of the 2016 election, we have seen how President-elect Donald

Trump has shown and said racial slurs about everyone, mainly Mexicans, and Muslims. For

some unknown reason, he has something against those ethnicities based on his actions towards

Latinos and Muslims. We as the ethnicity group that's being attacked we are standing together to

fight against anything that's trying to divide us and trying to turn us against each other. It's

amazing to see how not only us as Latinos are supporting each other, but every ethnicity is also

with us as we are with them too. It is frustrating to think that we had lived all the racist problems

behind and that a new beginning was to come for us but we seem to be going backward instead

of forward. We are going to keep fighting for our right, which are our own human rights.

In conclusion, this mural has a big significant in today's society because we are living in a

moment where Hispanics are being attacked from every single side. We have seen the good of

this situation. We are trying to just get over this sour moment with pride and honor because we

are being treated unfairly because many think that we come here to take jobs from others when
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we just try to make our own opportunities. My meaning to this mural was to show the unity of

the world through the struggles that we are facing today in the world today. This painting has

many vibrant colors to it which make the painting more powerful. The blue throughout the

painting makes it comforting. Having different ethnicities for the angels is shown as a sign of

love for everyone around the world.

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Works Cited

"L.A. Chicano Mural History Documented Via San Bernardino." KCET. N.p., 01 Jan. 2017.

Web. 20 Feb. 2017.