New 'Un Pueblo Vive, La Lucha Sigue Mural' Highlights Members of Eastside LEADS Fighting for Tenant Protections

By: Sophia Garcia

After months in the making, the Boyle Heights tenants mural finally debuts on Anderson Street! Some of you may have noticed Un Pueblo Vive, La Lucha Sigue now up or caught our updates on the @shg1970 @shgyouth Instagram over the past few months. This mural was the culminating project for Self Help Graphics and Eastside LEADS' first cohort of Youth Artivist Interns, Sophia García, Priscilla Hernandez, and Vanya Navarrete, in collaboration with 2021's Artist-in-Residence, Pavel Acevedo, and local tenant organizers.

Throughout the internship, artivists attended monthly Eastside LEADS membership meetings, giving them the opportunity to build beautiful relationships with Boyle Heights organizers advocating for stronger tenant protections in a neighborhood fighting against violent gentrification. Many of these organizers are immigrant women of color who brought incredible experiences from their homelands and were very generous in sharing their knowledge and stories with the cohort.

Over the year, the artivists captured pieces of the narratives, conducting video interviews collecting tenants' accounts of organizing with Eastside LEADS and the fight for affordable housing in Los Angeles County. Artivists also created visual resources in response to tenants' needs; like a bilingual Tenant Rights Zine which includes protections throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, and a mental health zine with crisis hotlines geared toward communities of color.

The final and largest project was this wheat paste mural honoring Boyle Heights tenants, passed and living; including organizers Edith Aguilar, Eva García, Alicia Godinez, Juana Mena, and Quetzal Flores. Together with artist Pavel Acevedo, the cohort created a visual analogy for "home" represented by the nopal, a plant deeply tied to Mexican identity, cuisine, and a longtime symbol of resilience. In the flowers of the nopal's prickly pears, they carved the faces of these community leaders, highlighting them and their contributions to the cause.

After carving the linoleum plate, Pavel and Sophia printed and cut out nearly every image on the mural in Self Help's studio, which you can find process videos on our socials! For Pavel, a meaningful part of the project was the personal connection we as artists had to the "housing crisis in LA and California”.

This collaboration was especially significant for all the artivists, as it was their first mural. Part of the experience Priscilla enjoyed was "working alongside each other and seeing everyone's process" as artists.

"This mural holds a very special meaning [for me] as an undocumented artist in Boyle Heights," said Vanya. “Everyone here is struggling with constant changes daily from evictions, high rent, and fear." Referencing her carving for the mural, Vanya continues, "these are our streets, and we are the butterflies."

The Un Pueblo Vive, La Lucha Sigue mural is located near the corner of 1st St. and Anderson, adjacent to the Self Help Graphics & Art building in Boyle Heights. Use the QR code located on the mural wall to learn more.