DSTL Arts
Menu

DSTL Arts – E-Zine

La Plaza

6/9/2020

0 Comments

 
By Jeremy Arias
Picture
Cheers echoed for blocks around Mariachi Plaza the last time I was there. There were more smiles, songs, dances, burning sage, and beats of the danza drum. Several weeks of solitude and quarantine have been broken here. We finally broke through the seals of our quarantine after several weeks, not because we wanted to, but because we had to. 
    I was wondering what the first major gathering I would attend following the COVID-19 Pandemic. I thought I’d go to a concert, getting my skull busted in a mosh pit, or maybe classroom. I didn’t think I would be slapping on a face mask and marching to Mariachi Plaza to mourn the death of George Floyd, an innocent soul lost to the hands of police brutality.
    At the protest, members of the community told the stories of their loved ones lost to the brutality of the Los Angeles Police Department and Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. Boyle Heights is a community of many colors, we relate to the struggle in our own ways. People from every corner of the community gathered at Mariachi Plaza not to listen to music and celebrate, but to listen to each other and unite over our unfortunate similarities.
The space that previously brought us together for laughs and cheers now hosted our grief and tears. Together we marched to the streets of Downtown Los Angeles under the stare of riot shields and combat boots. We know. We know they know. Black Lives Matter.
    Our current system is biased against us and it is important that we aren’t biased against each other. Yes, all lives do matter, and the protests aren’t limited to black people’s rights. There is a presence of tyranny in our country and we have to look after each other, otherwise we will be divided when the hammer of oppression is dropped in our direction. It might not have been you today, but if we watch each other fall there will be no one left standing to help us back up.

​
0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    DSTL Arts

    The content displayed here is submitted by various local authors, artists, and more, and is curated by the DSTL Arts Art Block Zine–Editorial Board. Works published here are done so with the permission of all artists involved. Artists hold all rights to their work, and none of it may be reproduced without their permission.

    Archives

    September 2020
    August 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    June 2017
    May 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017

    Categories

    All
    Art Block Zine
    Point Of You

    RSS Feed

DSTL Arts – a nonprofit arts mentorship organization that inspires, teaches, and hires emerging artists from underserved communities.
  • Home
  • Programs
    • Arts Mentorship Program
    • Poet/Artist-in-Residence Program
    • Artist Residency Workshops
    • Conchas y Café Zine
    • Art Block Zine
    • Aurtistic Zine
  • E-Zine
  • Shop
    • Adobe Creative Cloud Deals >
      • Adobe Creative Cloud
      • Adobe Spark
      • Adobe Premiere Rush
  • Donate
    • Lowride 4 Lit
  • About
  • Connect
  • Upcoming Workshops and Events
  • Home
  • Programs
    • Arts Mentorship Program
    • Poet/Artist-in-Residence Program
    • Artist Residency Workshops
    • Conchas y Café Zine
    • Art Block Zine
    • Aurtistic Zine
  • E-Zine
  • Shop
    • Adobe Creative Cloud Deals >
      • Adobe Creative Cloud
      • Adobe Spark
      • Adobe Premiere Rush
  • Donate
    • Lowride 4 Lit
  • About
  • Connect
  • Upcoming Workshops and Events