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• 1 media/15-840.jpg media/15-840.jpg 2021-04-05T20:34:17-07:00 Education is a Basic Human Right 8 Noni Olabisi and Alma Lopez Angeles
  Mesa Branch, Los Angeles Public Library
  1998 plain 2021-05-18T15:55:15-07:00 1998 Education is a Basic Human Right by Noni Olabisi and Alma Lopez is mounted at the Angeles Mesa Branch of the Los Angeles Public Library. The mural depicts historical racial justice movements in the 1940s through 1960s, including battles over education. Looking from top to bottom, there are three distinctly important aspects of the mural. The first scene featured in black and white, showcases the Mendez family uniting together in the wake of being denied admission from Westminster School in Orange County, California. In 1945, Gonzalo Mendez sued four Orange County school districts for turning away his children and being steered toward a "Mexican" school. The gleeful faces seen in the right corner are the reactions due to the federal court ruling of Mendez v. Westminster that desegrated schools in Southern California in 1947. The middle panel depicts the 1950s Supreme court case Brown versus Board of Education. Stirring up much tension, the Brown family can be seen being escorted by the police for their own protection. The historical case ruled that segregation of children in public schools was unconstitutional. The third panel shows young people holding up an American flag reading "Education is Basic Human Right." The middle boy is holding up a fist, a symbol of Black Power associated with the Black Panther Party, who radically opposed White supremacy in the late 1960s. The cotton workers on the flag are a tribute to the hardworking individuals "who labored in this country with blood, sweat, and tears in order for all of us to have an education and opportunities denied to them." Olabisi and Lopez’s mural captures the essence of black power in educational rights starting in the 1950s.
  
  Written by Kaisa Liljenwall, c/o ‘24