A La Esperanza

Themes: Latinx community, history, hope

This mural is large (2,000 square feet) and its use of colors splashed between thick black strokes creates its meaning. From left to right, the mural depicts a young male student at a desk, a woman looking into the distance, and two girls sitting at desks (one reading, the other listening). Then, there is a faint figure reaching out towards a middle aged woman who is manipulating a string between her fingers. Next is a muscular figure wielding an axe followed by text that reads: “A LA ESPERANZA” 1979, Dedicated to the Students of Benito Juarez Community Academy.

After this, a woman with her eyes closed made with some skeletal imagery is next to a man wearing a cloak. There is a boy sitting with his arms wrapped around his legs looking up at a man who is touching his forehead, next to this is a mustached man holding an unseen object above his head.

The mural is then split by a double door, but continues after with a skeletal figure pulling a red figure. Next to them is an armored figure shooting a large multicolored figure in the head, followed by a deformed red face that seems to be yelling. Then there is a hunched over figure writing on paper while holding open a book. The mural concludes with four dancing women who are colorfully dressed.

The location, the Benito Juarez Community Academy, is significant to the community of Pilsen. Before the school’s construction in 1977, the neighborhood’s children attended Harrison High School who’s dropout rate was nearing 70% for students in the Pilsen area because many of them had to cross gang territory to attend school. Due to this, and other reasons such as the need for a bilingual education, locals organized protests demanding that a school be built in Pilsen.

The name, Benito Jaurez, is significant because Jaurez was a president of Mexico who attempted to organize education reform and resisted foreign intervention, similar to the story of the school which serves a 94% Latinx student body.

Shortly after the school was built, in 1979, the mural was commissioned by the same group who fought to build the school and was named “A La Esperanza,” or “to the hope.” It was created by multiple artists, mainly local, who combined their styles to create a cohesive visual. Interestingly, the muralists asked permission of local gangs to paint it so that they wouldn’t deface the message, although it was eventually defaced by an unidentified individual.

This mural is abstract in style, but many believe it depicts the struggle and aspirations of the latinx community at a national and local level. The student on the far left is believed to depict a young Benito Jaurez looking smart and confident. The skeletal figure pulling the red figure may be seen as a gangbanger leading a passionate youth into a life of trouble (death) and the armored figure shooting his gun could either represent gang violence or police brutality.

This description was written by Garrett Kenny (Accounting and Collaborative Innovation), Notre Dame Class of 2023.