[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
piedras nopales plumas piercing bursting
figs and aguacates
detail of Walls of Identity
ripe mariposa fields and mares claros
of our face
to breathe todos en el camino blessing
detail of Walls of Identity
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).
