December 29, 2017
“KNOWLEDGE BREAKS DOWN BARRIERS CREATED BY IGNORANCE”
By Raul Gonzalez
An injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. —Martin Luther King, Jr.
Born and raised in a Boyle Heights housing project Raul Gonzalez combined his formal art training with the gang and graffiti cultures of 1980s Los Angeles to co-found Mictlan Murals—introducing inner-city youth to mural painting and combating violence. Gonzalez told BrownPride.com he believes “by producing images that reflects a community’s cultural uniqueness, history, and positive representation of youth, families, and community members” they will not only have a greater chance to educate, but communities will also take ownership and protect the work. Painted in 2010 near Roosevelt and 11th St. in Phoenix, Arizona, Gonzalez worked with local chapters of Youth In Action and Chicanos Por La Causa to design, sketch, and paint this work, using this MLK quote to launch a project that 7 years later is still clearly a point of pride in the neighborhood. @mictlanmurals @brownpridedotcom @chicanosporlacausa