Transformation Inspired by Yuri Kochiyama

          I am in the last week of "The Heart of it" class, which is taught by Maya Christina Gonzalez.  One of the assignments was to choose three quotes and then go through the process of building thumbnails, drawing illustrations and developing a final spread as if it would be printed and published in a book.

          I chose the following quotes:

"Power concedes nothing, without demand."
-Frederick Douglas

"The opposite of war is not peace; it is creation."
-Jonathan Larson, from the music and lyrics of Rent

"So, transform yourself first…. Because you are young and have dreams and want to do something meaningful, that in itself, makes you our future and our hope.  Keep expanding your horizon, decolonize your mind, and cross borders."
-Yuri Kochiyama, from her memoir Pass It On     

          The quote by Yuri Kochiyama resonated with me the most.  However, I think the seeds of the other two quotes are embedded in my work as well.  

Here is a draft of the illustration I am developing for the assignment.   

Ink and Graphite, 2 sheets of Copy Paper, 11x17 Inches 

          

     Clockwise, starting from the top left corner of my illustration, I evoke histories of oppression: Japanese Internment, Slavery, the Native American Trail of Tears and the transition from Palestinian to Israeli land in 1946, 1948, 1968 and 2000. At time same time, I reflect symbols of peace, remembrance and liberation: the origami crane from the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, African American Quilting and the North Star, Native American Eagle Feathers, and the Palestinian Keffiyeh.

     To me, all these things are connected. I look up to Yuri Kochiyama because she is a visible Asian American Woman, who has walked the path of Freedom before me.