Mural depicting Latina civil rights leaders unveiled at Woodland High School

Gerardo Zavala

February 8

Dozens of attendees filled the Woodland High School Library for a community gathering Tuesday evening to see a new mural exhibit inspired by the civil rights work of Latina activists from the Sacramento Valley.

Woodland High School art teachers Isabel Martinez and Ruby Chacon created the mural – which depicts nine multi-generational Latina women doing work to improve their community through the arts, education, farmworker advocacy and more – over the last two years as part of a women-led mural project called Sacramento Poderosas.

The women depicted on the mural include Angelbertha L. Cobb, Yvette G. Flores, Juanita Polendo Ontiveros, Rachel Ríos, Rhonda Ríos Kravitz, Margarita Berta-Ávila, J. Andrea (yAyA) Amezcua Porras, Marisela Hernández and Alma Elizabeth López Flores.

The word "poderosas" translates to powerful women. The project's goal is to use murals to give voice and awareness to historically marginalized Chicana and Latina women using their art as activism to build a more knowledgeable and equitable society.

The mural can, as Poderosas Executive Board Member Dr. Rhonda Ríos Kravitz said before the event, be described as a "powerful visual expression of Chicana/o cultural values and ethnic pride."

During a presentation, Chacon explained that she was born in Salt Lake City, Utah where she felt out of place because most people there were conservative and Mormon.

"When I was growing up during the 70s and 80s, I had zero teachers of color, nobody that reflected my experience," Chacon recounted. "I had a counselor who pushed out a lot of students of color and would tell pretty much all of us that we would never graduate so we should just give up."

Fortunately, she said her family helped her get through high school. However, Chacon said she eventually found out about her father's experience in segregated schools where kids were punished for speaking Spanish.

"All of these experiences really is what pushed me forward to tell my story, but the only way I could do it was through the only tool that I knew, which is to paint," she emphasized.

When a Poderosas committee member asked her if she would take on the project, Chacon said she'd only do it if she could include Martinez, her friend and co-worker.

Martinez explained that this was the first mural she'd ever worked on and was grateful for the opportunity.

"It was through my experience working with the Poderosas committee that I felt really inspired to create and share my work with others," she highlighted.

Her work focuses on exploring the identity and sense of belonging, which is similar to the work that she said she does with her students.

"I hope that they create work that reflects who they are, that they feel proud of who they are and where they've come from," she stressed. "I became a teacher because of my own public school experiences, many that were not very great experiences, but I also think about the people that were supportive and I want to be that person for students. That level of support that they need in the classroom."

Furthermore, the two artists welcomed their former Sacramento State Professor Margarita Berta-Ávila, who they included in the mural and said she was honored to be represented noting that the work that she and others like her do cannot be done by themselves.

"There are so many individuals here… that fostered a space in an environment that really pushed us to reclaim our voice and to make a commitment to our communities for the liberation of our communities, for the righteousness of our communities to move forward and ahead," Berta-Ávila emphasized. "I am lifted up by so many others and the work that I try to do is to be able to think about the seven generations to come and what we can lay down as a foundation so that they can continue the work that we have to do for our families and for our communities."

In a press release before the event, Elodia Ortega-Lampkin, superintendent for the Woodland Joint Unified School District, said she is proud of how multi-talented the district's teachers, staff and students are.

"We're proud of the outstanding work they do each day and we thank them for sharing their amazing talents with our community," Ortega-Lampkin remarked.

Douglass Middle School student Jimena Izquierdo sings during the Tuesday community gathering at Woodland High School. The mariachi bands from both Douglass Middle School and Woodland High School performed after several speakers delivered presentations. (Gerardo Zavala/Daily Democrat)

To end the night, the mariachi bands from Woodland High School and Douglass Middle School joined to perform several songs as attendees enjoyed snacks and refreshments.

To learn more about the organization and the women depicted on the mural, visit sacpoderosas.org.