Rise up and SOAR...
My intern Sara Briseño is pretty amazing. She is a revolutionary. She has taken into her hands the heavy issue of immmigration reform. This past week, she organized and planned an event at Rock Valley College called "Immigration though Art". What an amazing concept. After all, art can articulate what words cannot say. And for many undocumented people it is there only way to express their feelings. I wanted to contribute something. I painted this for Sara. I have watched this beautiful young lady unfold into a small-but mighty powerhouse and change lives..and quite frankly change the world! She has done this right before my very eyes. The painting is of Frida Kahlo...as I believe Sara and Frida share the same spirit. Here is what Sara wrote in response to "Immigration through Art"...
"I am at a loss of words. Even just thinking about what happened today makes me so emotional and the tears just flow.Today... My friends, current members of RDA, publicly came out as undocumented for the first time in their lives. We cried throughout the speeches and cried as we listened to each story.Over 100 people came out to our event and that alone is incredible.The amount of support we got before and after this event was also incredible. Thank you so much to all the artists who contributed to this show, as well. Whether it was through visual arts or poetry, this show would not have been as successful without any of you. Thank you Rodrigo for working so hard on the art portion of this event. Thank you Justin for sharing your poetry even when you could not be present (thank you Amelia for wanting to be part of this event in the first place and we are sad that you couldn't be there tonight, yall lets all send her & her family good vibes). Thank you to Rock Valley College's PAIC committee for making this event a reality. Your financial and emotional support was very much appreciated. A very special thank you to Professor Dinwiddie for going beyond with her assistance (if you go to RVC please go thank her and tell her how wonderful she is)!!! I am so honored to work together with such amazing individuals. And of course Karla, Pedro, and Silvia are not forgotten... RDA may have started out as a small group but we are doing great things. Thank you to Cassie for sharing her story of being an ally, as well as Efrain. Tonight we impacted over 100 individuals. Tonight we made a difference. Tonight we changed viewpoints. Tonight we started a much needed conversation." 
