Corazon de Mi Madre

I am a mother, artist, vocalist, Amerindian activist, and registered counselor. As a counselor, my area of emphasis is indigenous postcolonial psychology/mental health, and diverse gender populations. I am a visible womyn of color. In my life-long resistance to Americanization I struggle to decolonize minds, hearts, and bodies through the power of image and sound. I have the vision to use my art and music to bring awareness and inspire healing within humanity. I do my best to serve creation, and more importantly future generations. My personal art form, my life's work, is to give voice to my experience as a global citizen. My art expresses the terror of oppression, marginalization, and the brutality of colonization/displacement. I seek human rights and healing for those of us who experience or face displacement, relocation and isolation, and poverty in our ancestral homelands. I am ardent in the defense and sanctity of Indigenous sacred land sites, the irrevocable release of political prisoners like Leonard Peltier and Mumia Abu Jamal, and the eradication of the prison-industrial complex. I am dedicated to dismantling societal racism, militarism, police brutality, youth criminalization, marginalization, sexism, homophobia, and poverty on a global scale.

I emphasize and celebrate cultural resistance and affirmation through my work in the healing arts. With love and passion, I create to radiantly illuminate the courage and beauty of the strong spirits and hearts that strive for self-
determination, the right as a Raza to thrive in peace and beauty, to care for self and family, to recreate and reclaim self-sustainable health and education programs, and to implement natural alternatives for our communities that are holistically relevant to indigenous cultural contexts, and finally, to honor ancestors and all relations by living the way Grandmother Earth and Creator intended.

 

Corazon de Mi Madre, 1998/99, mixed media, 14" x 9" diameter.