DAILY LOBO new mexico
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thursday September 20, 2012
The Independent Student Voice of UNM since 1895
Fliers at pro-life rally spark controversy by Ardee Napolitano news@dailylobo.com
UNM students gathered in front of Zimmerman Library on Wednesday morning to protest what they called racist antiabortion posters that were posted on campus and are now circulating on Facebook. The posters, which were posted initially as part of a campaign of the pro-life organization 40 Days for Life, depicted a fetus in the third trimester wearing a feather on its head. The picture included a Native American medicine wheel in the background, and the phrase “Today and Indian boy was killed in the Indian way hey ya hey” was written beneath the picture of the fetus. “We’re not here to target the debate of pro-choice and pro-life,” said Kiva Club President Lane Bird Bear. “We’re here to address the negative campaigns that targeted Native Americans.” The Kiva Club is a Native American student organization at UNM. Bird Bear said the posters caught the club’s attention Tuesday night, when they received emails from people who were offended by the image. He said that shortly after the club learned about the posters, its members organized the protest and publicized the event on Facebook. “We thought that to get all the
Juan Labreche / Daily Lobo Catholic Apologetics Fellowship and Evangelism (CAFE) director Samantha Serrano (far right) apologized to Kiva Club president Lane Bird Bear (left) on Wednesday for the pro-life poster displayed at an anti-abortion protest on campus Tuesday. The poster depicted a Native American baby in a headdress with a caption the club called offensive. Kiva Club members gathered in Smith Plaza Wednesday to protest the poster, which CAFE said was set up by a third party. proper reactions, we needed to do that about 11 percent of the UNM were inappropriate. this immediately,” he said. student population and about 11 “One of the main things that was Bird Bear said the club expected percent of the New Mexico popula- so offensive is the terminology,” he about 60 people to attend the pro- tion are Native American and that said. “Even the symbolism is betest throughout the day. He said the images displayed in the poster ing mocked, as an aborted fetus in
the third trimester is adorned with feathers and a medicine wheel. It’s basically mocking our traditions and cultures.” But Samantha Serrano, director of Catholic Apologetics Fellowship and Evangelism, an on-campus group working with 40 Days for Life, said the posters were put up by a man who was not affiliated with their organization. Serrano said that as soon as another man told the group that the posters were offensive, members immediately took them down. She said the organization asked the man who made the posters not to return. “We had a gentleman who was not associated with our group who wanted to come along, and he had some signs that he had made,” she said. “We didn’t look at them initially, but when we did look at them, we took down all of the signs and we told him that he was not allowed to keep the signs up. We asked him not to come back.” Serrano said that the group apologizes to anyone who was offended by the signs, and that they do not represent the views of the organizations. “We are in no way racist,” she said. “We are in no way trying to call out any ethnic group whatsoever. We’re here just to try to maintain the dignity of life.”
see Abortion PAGE 5
Digital mural celebrates unique flavor of ABQ by Nicole Storey
news@dailylobo.com When Michael Lopez was a child, he made a sculpture of Elvis for the annual Día de los Muertos parade. The sculpture was a project for Working Classroom, an art theater program Lopez joined when he was 10. The program is designed to expose high-risk youth to art and theater. Lopez later returned to the program and is now an educator and lead artist for the digital mural, “(Hear) by the River.” Lopez worked with artists Mark Anderson and Eric García and five student apprentices to create the publicly funded art project that depicts various characteristics of Albuquerque. The project was funded by a $28,000 grant from the city of Albuquerque Public Arts Program and $30,000 from the Art Institute of Chicago. Lopez said the mural provides its audience with an in-depth look at a broad spectrum of Albuquerque’s residents. He said the program reached out to community members to participate in the design of the mural. “It was just kind of like inviting as many people as possible to participate,” Lopez said. “We have people from Kirtland Air Force Base, like a colonel from Kirtland Air Force Base and then we have protesters, just trying to get the broad spectrum of people and not trying to be too specific, but people always get left out, too.” Lopez said the mural depicts real
Inside the
Daily Lobo volume 117
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reactions to the Albuquerque community and that the amount of involvement artists and interviewees had with one another is obvious. “It’s like running into a stranger and having a conversation that sticks with you even after you’ve walked away. The people in the interviews, you can’t ignore them,” he said. “I think it’s kind of an intimate experience. I felt like the students really had intimate experiences with the people they were interviewing.” Lopez said students involved in the program dedicated a lot of time and effort to the project and that their investment in the mural proved their dedication. “It’s a lot of work, it’s very, very, very, very time consuming, but it’s important work and I think the students really understood that and I think that they really dedicated a lot of their time to it,” he said. “They were in the studio until 4 in the morning some nights editing, editing, editing because they were so invested in the stories they were telling.” UNM student and apprentice Alejandra Carmona said her dedication to the mural was matched by the dedication of artists and interviewees. She said the mural should make community members proud. “Working with them was really one of my favorite things about the project. They’re all very motivated people and they know what they want, and they know how they want things to look,” she said. “I think people should go and check it out because not only did we work really hard on this
Adria Malcolm / Daily Lobo The “(Hear) by the River” project is displayed in the Albuquerque Convention Center. The project is a digital media mural that aims to represent the characteristics of Albuquerque. project, but it just gives you a sense of pride to live here.” Working Classroom Visual Art Program Director Gabrielle Uballez said the mural could benefit students involved in the project because it introduces student artists to local artists such as Tony Mares, who have been influential in the local art world. She said that students also had the opportunity to meet local activists and poets and that the experience provides students with a stronger sense of belonging to their community. “I think it gave them a wider range and view of what Albuquerque is,” she said. “It exposed them to a bigger picture of Albuquerque.”
Rage against the...
If you want to sing out, sing out
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“Hear by the River” Mural dedication Friday, 5 p.m.
Albuquerque Convention Center 401 Second St. N.W.
Second floor near the entrance to the Kiva Auditorium
TODAY
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