Philadelphia, the City of Brotherly Love, is known for it’s great cheesesteaks but we are also known for the beautiful murals that grace the buildings of the city. These murals can take a neighborhood that is beaten down aesthetically, a community whose morale is affected by crime, and poverty and transform that community into a source of hope.
The Obama campaign serving the Latino community asked Michelle Angela Ortiz to create a mural of Obama on 2728 HOPE STREET in Philadelphia.
This mural entitled “Vota mi Gente, Latinos para Obama” (Vote my people, Latinos for Obama) was created in four days and finished on Nov. 1st. She designed and directed the mural and completed it with the help of Dolio Durant, Julia Lopez, Ivan Henderson, Raphael Zapata, John and Andreina, John and Chelsea and all the people in Hope street.
What’s so important to me about this mural is what it represents to minority communities specifically Latino communities. Latino communities are the victims of dis-enfranchisement across the nation, however despite the poor schools that are found in some of these neighborhoods, the crime and drugs that flood these communities, hope lives on. A mural like this breathes hope to the little boy who lives on Hope street, that he too can achieve.
Barack Obama is the product of a broken marriage, mixed heritage, deafening stereotyes, but look what he has done. He achieved; with or without the Presidency this is a man who attended Columbia University, Harvard University and through it all he has given back to those same communities with people who are black and brown and continues to help the people in these neighborhoods.
I thank Michelle Ortiz for her brilliant art, her symbolic message, and her ability to change lives through her work. Please support her work by visiting her website at www.michelleangela.com
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