[Let Us Gather in a Flourishing Way]

from Half of the World in Light: New and Selected Poems, 2008

 

Juan Felipe Herrera, Mexican-American, born 1948

 

 

 

Detail of Building Connections: Walls of Identity, Walls of  Pride. As below.

 Mural Arts Program Philadelphia.* 

 

 

Let us gather in a flourishing way

with sunluz grains abriendo los cantos

 

 

 

Sanctuary City, Sanctuary Neighbourhood, paint, parachute cloth, acrylic paint, 2019, North Philadelphia** 

Painted by Ian Pierce (aka Artes Ezeko) and Betsy Z. Casanas with a number of collaborators.

Mural Arts Philadelphia from whose website this photo.

 

A depiction of a Puerta Rican woman of African descent (Afro-Boricua) .  She is leading a large group (400 small figures are depicted) on a migration from Central and South American. 

 

 

 

Building Connections: Walls of Identity, Walls of  Pride, mural, demolished in 2021 for new construction

Artist Ernel Martinez.  Mural Arts Philadelphia from whose website this photo.

 

 

que cargamos cada día   

en el young pasto nuestro cuerpo

 

 

para regalar y dar feliz perlas pearls

of corn flowing árboles de vida en las cuatro esquinas

 

 

detail of Walls of Identity (Fuerza means ‘strength’)

 

 

let us gather in a flourishing way

contentos llenos de fuerza to vida

giving nacimientos to fragrant ríos   

dulces frescos verdes turquoise strong

carne de nuestros hijos rainbows

 

 

 

detail of Walls of Identity

 

 

let us gather in a flourishing way

en la luz y en la carne of our heart to toil

tranquilos in fields of blossoms

 

 

 

detail of Walls of Identity (nos sueños means ‘our dreams’)

 

 

juntos to stretch los brazos

tranquilos with the rain en la mañana

temprana estrella on our forehead

cielo de calor and wisdom to meet us

where we toil siempre

in the garden of our struggle and joy

 

 

 

? Name, date and artist: mural of acrylic paint with added incised and painted ceramic.

Northern Liberties, Philadelphia.  Mural Arts Program Philadelphia

 

 

let us offer our hearts a saludar our águila rising

freedom

a celebrar woven brazos branches ramas

 

 

 

detail of Walls of Identity

 

 

 

 

 

detail of Walls of Identity

 

 

ripe mariposa fields and mares claros

of our face

to breathe todos en el camino blessing

 

 

 

 

 

 

seeds to give to grow maiztlán

en las manos de nuestro amor

 

 

 

  Aqui y Alla;  mural, 2012; paint, parachute cloth, acrylic paint

Designed by Michele Angela Ortiz, executed by young people from Philadelphia and Chihuahua, Mexico.  South Philadelphia.

 Mural Arts Program Philadelphia

 

 

 

*Mural Arts Philadelphia (formerly Philadelphia Mural Arts Program) was started in 1984 by the artist Jane Golden who is today its executive director.  It began life as part of an anti-graffiti program. It is believed to be the largest public art program on the continent. 

 

The program – which runs between 50 and 100 projects every year – collaborates with artists, community-based organizations, city agencies, nonprofit organizations, schools, the private sector, and philanthropies to train young people and people involved in the restorative justice movement.  

 

Of the more than 3800 murals on a large variety of popular subjects, painted since its start all over the city, it is thought that 2000 still remain on view.  Many have been destroyed or hidden by new construction.

 

 

**Philadelphia became a sanctuary city  in 2014.

While there is no standard legal definition for ‘sanctuary city’,  cities described in this way do not comply with certain Federal requests to detain individuals or turn individuals in to Federal authorities based on their immigration status.

 

According to Philadelphia’s Office of Immigrant Affairs, the city works with Federal authorities on anti-terrorism and drug trafficking.  And Philadelphia  does not stop ICE  from arresting Philadelphians whom ICE believes are undocumented.

However, sanctuary cities believe that local police should not be required to do the work of Federal agencies, or share information that could be harmful to residents of their cities. 

 

From 2016 to the present, Philadelphia, with other sanctuary cities, has undergone significant Federal pressure to terminate sanctuary policies and practices. 

Philadelphia remains a sanctuary city (2025).