((PKG)) MURAL ARTIST
((TRT: 14:57))
((Topic Banner: The Muralist))
((Reporter/Camera/ Editor: Gabrielle Weiss))
((Map: Atlanta, Georgia))
((Main character: 1 female))
((Sub characters: 1 female; 5 male))
((NATS))
((Estela
Mother))
Yes, these are serranos. These are jalapeños and the serrano peppers. These are the serranos that are in Mexico. We have a piece of Mexico here.
((Yehimi Cambrón
Artist, Activist, Storyteller))
You're supposed to be a pet chicken. You don't let me pet you, we're going to cook you and then you'll be quesadillas. I think I'm more scared of the chicken than the chicken is of me.
((NATS/MUSIC))
((Yehimi Cambrón
Artist, Activist, Storyteller))
My name is Yehimi Cambrón and I am an artist, an activist and a public speaker in Atlanta, Georgia.
My work focuses on celebrating the resilience, the dignity and the contributions of immigrants.
((Courtesy: Beam Imagination))
And I have painted close to a dozen murals
((Courtesy: Mick Hawkins))
((Courtesy: Yehimi Cambron))
within the city of Atlanta that celebrate these stories.
((NATS/MUSIC))
((Yehimi Cambrón
Artist, Activist, Storyteller))
So, this is, I would say, my first major large-scale mural and I painted it to celebrate Atlanta’s legacy of civil rights and social justice.
((NATS: Yehimi Cambrón and Man on the street))
((Man on the street))
It's pretty. It is so nice.
((Yehimi Cambrón
Artist, Activist, Storyteller))
Thank you.
((Man on the street))
This is crazy.
((Yehimi Cambrón
Artist, Activist, Storyteller))
Thank you.
((Man on the street))
Did they pay you anything to do it?
((Yehimi Cambrón
Artist, Activist, Storyteller))
Yes.
((Man on the street))
They should.
((Yehimi Cambrón
Artist, Activist, Storyteller))
This mural is actually a part of a bigger project called, Off the Wall: Atlanta’s Civil Rights and Social Justice Journey. But all the people in this mural are undocumented people that live here in Atlanta.
((Man on the street))
Okay. Beautiful.
((Yehimi Cambrón
Artist, Activist, Storyteller))
And these are their words surrounding them.
((NATS))
((Yehimi Cambrón
Artist, Activist, Storyteller))
So, I am a DACA recipient. I've been a DACA recipient since 2013. DACA stands for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals and this is a program that was announced by Obama's administration in 2012. So, if you came to the United States before the age of 16 and you meet all these requirements: you have been here for five consecutive years, you have a clean record, then you could apply to be a DACA recipient. If you qualify and you get DACA for two years, you get a work permit. And for those two years, you are also protected from deportation. My first moment where I had this realization was when I won third place for an art contest that was hosted by the Georgia Commission on the Holocaust.
((Courtesy: Tracy Vax))
((Yehimi Cambrón
Artist, Activist, Storyteller))
I got third place. I was supposed to get a $50 prize, which, at the time, to me it was a lot of money. There was a ceremony at the Capitol and I was there with my literature teacher who had encouraged me to be a part of this contest and with my mom and my little sister. And I was recognized in front of everyone. I was given a certificate just like everyone. There was an exhibition at the end. We all enjoyed it. And then at the very end, before we went home and my teacher went to claim my prize, she came back to me and my mom and told us that they couldn't award me the prize because I didn't have a Social Security number.
((Yehimi Cambrón
Artist, Activist, Storyteller))
I knew I was undocumented. That wasn't something that was a secret to me growing up. But I didn't really understand what it meant until that moment where I realized that there were things I wouldn't be able to do. And even as a young artist or someone that just loved art as a teenager, having this experience where the message to me was, “You don't deserve to be compensated for your work, even though you have the skills, the third-place worthy skills.”
((NATS: Protestors))
((NATS: Protestor))
With DACA, I was finally somewhat normal and accepted. We are not a political pawn that politicians can exploit during elections and forget about for the rest of their terms.
((NATS: Protestors))
((Text-on-Screen:
The future of DACA, and its possible expansion, is uncertain, as the program has met with many legal challenges.))
((NATS: Protestors))
Stand up! Fight back!
((NATS: Protestor))
We stand on the shoulders of giants. It is about fighting for those that didn’t qualify for DACA. And it is about fighting for the 11 million people in our community that are undocumented and still waiting.
((NATS: Protestors))
((Yehimi Cambrón
Artist, Activist, Storyteller))
After that moment, I was fired up and I was angry and I was determined to figure out how to change things.
((NATS: Protestors))
Fighting for justice….and our liberation.
((Yehimi Cambrón
Artist, Activist, Storyteller))
Oh, Checo. Look how cute he was.
I was born in San Antonio, Villalongin in the mountainous region of Michoacán which is central Mexico. And my dad was often here in the US working, preparing food in the kitchens of Chinese restaurants. And so, we experienced a lot of family separation in that time. A lot of my memories of my childhood in Mexico are of my dad leaving or not being there because he was here working. And so, when I was almost eight years old, my mom gave my father an ultimatum and said either we stay here and we starve together or we risk crossing the border, come to the US. But whatever it is we decide to do, we need to be together as a family.
((Candido
Father))
Estela said that she didn’t want to be alone anymore. And I also didn’t want to come [to the US] and leave all of you alone there. That’s why we decided to come here. We discussed it and we came.
((Estela
Mother))
Because he would stay here for a year and would stay a few months there [in Mexico]. Then our money would run out and there was no work. So, I didn’t want to be left alone again. Because I was always alone with you guys. So that’s why....
((Yehimi Cambrón
Artist, Activist, Storyteller))
Yes, we have to be together.
((Estela
Mother))
So, I told him if he came here, then we’d all go together. Or then he shouldn’t come. That’s why we came.
((Yehimi Cambrón
Artist, Activist, Storyteller))
You have to have a lot of courage to leave everything behind.
((Candido
Father))
It is hard but it is harder to be separated than... Don’t think that I used to come here without a care. No. I’d sometimes get sick from heartache, I think. I’d get fevers from all the worrying. It was hard.
((Yehimi Cambrón
Artist, Activist, Storyteller))
You told me once that when you were getting ready to leave and I didn’t want to go to bed.
((Candido
Father))
Oh yes, when… It was difficult for both of us. When I was here or when I was there, you were holding onto my pant leg. I think she felt in her heart that something was going to happen to me, that I wouldn’t come back. And she wouldn’t let go of me. And I said, “Let go of me. What will you do when I’m not here tomorrow? Who will you hold onto?”
((Yehimi Cambrón
Artist, Activist, Storyteller))
That’s awful, so cruel.
((Candido
Father))
It was very hard. But it was also very hard being without work there and not having any money and nothing to eat. That’s why you risk everything.
((Yehimi Cambrón
Artist, Activist, Storyteller))
I don't think it's an easy decision
((Courtesy: Mick Hawkins))
to uproot your entire lives and everything that you know, to come to a new country. That takes courage. That takes a lot of courage.
((Yehimi Cambrón
Artist, Activist, Storyteller))
And so that's why when people call me a ‘Dreamer’ [child without documentation] or refer to me as a ‘Dreamer’, I think about my parents
((Courtesy: Yehimi Cambron))
and how it's thanks to their courage
((Courtesy: Agnes Scott College))
that I am here doing the work that I'm doing, right?
((Courtesy: Beam Imagination))
That it's thanks to them that I was able to become who I am today.
((Yehimi Cambrón
Artist, Activist, Storyteller))
We know the fear is there. We know there's a possibility of deportation. But I've learned to be brave even when I'm scared because I still feel that fear and it’s just kind of a part of my life. But if I allow this fear to paralyze me, then I can't be an artist and I can't be an activist because we have to keep moving and we have to keep fighting.
((NATS))
((Gabe Hartwig
President, Atlanta Young Republicans))
It seems like this artist is trying to portray these immigrants as heroes, as icons. I don't know that moving for economic benefit, as a lot of these have done, I don't think that that's necessarily heroic or, you know. Typically, we would paint murals of icons. We've been fighting a battle here in the US over the last several years over Civil War monuments and things like that. And here we are, putting up another monument to controversial people in America.
((Gabe Hartwig
President, Atlanta Young Republicans))
America is a nation of immigrants. You know, but typically that's been done slowly and it's been done the right way through the legal immigration process. When it comes to the ‘Dreamers’, you know, I can see a pathway to legalization for them but I wouldn't go so far as to give them citizenship. I think that that's probably a step too far. Making the ‘Dreamers’ legal without border security could create an incentive whereby people from other countries see that and then want to bring their children here illegally as well.
((NATS))
((Shawn Vinson
Gallery Director))
I think this beautifies and of course that's just my opinion. Some people, this might not be to their taste. But I happen to be a fan and I'm a rabble-rouser too. So, if the people, you know, if it gets their nose up, I think all the better. That's power of the art. Whether it makes you happy or makes you pissed off, that shows that it's a powerful piece of art. I think that's good. It's starting a conversation.
((Shawn Vinson
Gallery Director))
You know, I've been hearing a lot about the DACA. It's been a big story here in Atlanta. And my feelings are that if they want to stay here, if they've made a life here, this is the only home they know. Then it's inhumane to want to kick them out. It's cruel. This country started, was started by immigrants. Everybody knows that. I mean, they make this a much more interesting place to live, in my opinion. That's been my experience at least.
((MUSIC/NATS))
((Yehimi Cambrón
Artist, Activist, Storyteller))
Especially here in Georgia and the South, you can feel the legacy of slavery and of racism and of the Confederacy. And so, I think my job is to create art where people, who are undocumented, are affirming their presence and affirming their humanity. And I think that portraits are the way to do that.
((NATS: Estela and Yehimi Cambrón))
((Estela
Mother))
That’s fine. Okay, thank you. Two quesadillas and an order of flautas.
((Yehimi Cambrón
Artist, Activist, Storyteller))
I’ll finish this, then help you flip them. When is it for?
((Estela
Mother))
Fifteen minutes.
((Yehimi Cambrón
Artist, Activist, Storyteller))
Wow, okay. We’ll make another one. It's kind of messy. She makes them so beautiful.
((Estela
Mother))
You paint better than you cook.
((Yehimi Cambrón
Artist, Activist, Storyteller))
We are very lucky that our family has never been separated here in the US. In Mexico, we were.
((Estela
Mother))
And we’ve always had jobs and we’ve worked hard. Since I arrived, I’ve been cleaning houses. Since work has dried up during the pandemic, after two months I started cooking. She is always talking about everything. She’s always speaking out and it is risky for her.
((Yehimi Cambrón
Artist, Activist, Storyteller))
I can’t allow the stories that make us out to be criminals win.
((Estela
Mother))
It’s worrisome for me that she is so exposed to the public, more than anything, because of the topics she talks about. And I think being undocumented. Yes, I worry a lot.
((MUSIC/NATS))
((Yehimi Cambrón
Artist, Activist, Storyteller))
I have access to these key locations and I want to use the space that I have available to create monumental portraits of immigrants.
So today, we finally are starting on the second phase of the mural. We just finished the first one yesterday. I dragged my little sister along to help me paint. So, this is Melissa. She came to help me yesterday and she killed it. She did such a good job. So, I’m going to have to pay her.
((MUSIC/NATS))
((Yehimi Cambrón
Artist, Activist, Storyteller))
I'm an artist because I don't really know how else to exist. I think being an artist is what I'm meant to be doing. I think it's the skill that I have to offer to the world.
((NATS: Yehimi Cambrón and Man on the street))
((Man on the street))
It’s looking great. It’s beautiful. It isn’t easy to paint something that large.
((Yehimi Cambrón
Artist, Activist, Storyteller))
No.
((Man on the street))
You know, it takes a lot of concentration.
((Yehimi Cambrón
Artist, Activist, Storyteller))
Within the portrait, there are some construction workers. I also added an ice cream man because I want people to see that everyone, all of us, are important. And everyone contributes in their own way, right?
((Man on the street))
That’s great. It’s really coming along nicely.
((Yehimi Cambrón
Artist, Activist, Storyteller))
Thank you.
((MUSIC/NATS))
((Courtesy: Mick Hawkins))
((Yehimi Cambrón
Artist, Activist, Storyteller))
I think it's going to take generations to see the change that we're fighting for today.
((Courtesy: Mick Hawkins))
Honestly, sometimes I feel like I'm fighting for my very survival and my ability to stay and continue being a part of my community.
((Courtesy: Beam Imagination))
Just because I'm a DACA recipient doesn't mean that I stop fighting for people who didn't get to apply for DACA but qualifiy.
((Yehimi Cambrón
Artist, Activist, Storyteller))
I think I have my work cut out for me and I don't see myself ((Courtesy: HJ Parsons))
not creating work like this. As long as there are inequities and injustice,
((Yehimi Cambrón
Artist, Activist, Storyteller))
I will have a role to play
((Courtesy: Mick Hawkins))
with my artwork or that my artwork will have a role to play.
((MUSIC/NATS))