Artists Shine Light Graffiti Against Trump’s New Border Wall
November 27, 2017 | Revolution Newspaper | revcom.us
For half an hour on the evening of Saturday, November 18, a group of artists creatively opposed and exposed one of the major crimes that the Trump/Pence regime is carrying out on the Mexico-U.S. border—the wall. The regime is displaying what they say are prototypes of the border wall they intend to build. Artists from both the U.S. and Mexico climbed atop their trucks and ladders, which were on the Mexico side, to shine theater lamps onto the 30-feet-high concrete and steel border wall prototypes built by the U.S. near San Diego. These artists were from the Overpass Light Brigade, People Over Profits San Diego, along with a group of UC San Diego graduate students.
The artists projected light graffiti images of a tall ladder, a “lucha libre” mask, and a Statue of Liberty silhouette next to the words “refugees are welcome here.” One projection was of a stick figure above the word “¡llégale!” which looks like the word “illegal” in English but is actually the Spanish word for “come in.”
These menacing giant tombstone-like slabs were erected in October and tower over the current, shorter wall just outside of Tijuana, Mexico. The threatening structures sit at the Otay Mesa port of entry in San Diego. This new border wall is a major part of the fascist regime’s plans, already underway, to greatly intensify the arrests, deportations, and overall repression of immigrants. They have so far requested $1.6 billion from Congress for 74 miles of the new wall, most of which will be in South Texas.
The graffiti projection was an inspiring act by these artists that put a literal light on this unfolding, ugly monstrosity. And it needs to spark more bold and creative protest against the wall, the war on immigrants, and the whole fascist regime.
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