Westchester NOW

I have marched and demonstrated on International Women's Day, but never did I see a demonstration of street art such as I saw in Queretaro, Mexico, this past March.

Queretaro has a long history of female revolution. The germ of the revolution against Spanish occupation of Mexico grew in Queretaro and the surrounding cities in the central highlands north of Mexico City. La Coregidora, the wife of the mayor of Queretaro, held the planning meetings in the mayor's mansion. In 1810 when the Spanish found out about it, they ordered the mayor to arrest the conspirators. La Coregidora was put under house arrest in her bedroom, but she got word to a servant through the keyhole to warn the conspirators to flee. They got away to conduct several battles against Spain, but she was kept under house arrest until eventually she was confined to a convent. Her tomb is in a place of honor on a hill above the city with other heroes of the revolution.

The streets of Queretaro were filled with feminist art on March 8. The theme running through all the works was the torture and murder of over 300 women in Ciudad Juarez on the northern Mexico/US border. One work had a grid on the ground of plaster heads with the plaster figure of a male from the waist down dressed in jeans and cowboy boots stepping on the women's heads. The sign next to the work accused the selfish businessmen, drug dealers, drug addicts and the greedy of exploiting, then torturing and killing the women. This has gone on for three years without a single arrest or any show of interest by the government. Earlier this year, a group of Hollywood stars including Susan Sarandon went to Ciudad Juarez to demonstrate against the inaction of the Mexican government in stopping the carnage.

The second artwork was a half-mile long, curving row of cement boxes, just a little bigger but in the shape of tissue boxes with real paper coming out of them. The sign said the women of Ciudad Juarez were just as disposable as paper tissues.

At each artwork, women would stop and stare at the ground and try to figure out what the art meant. It seemed to me the younger women were more open to the experience. Then they would read the signs and nod their heads in agreement. It was inspiring to see Mexican women involved in a feminist protest against injustice, both as demonstrators and as audience. What a great way to mark International Women's Day!

For more information about Westchester NOW, e-mail us at info@westchesternow.org!