Art For Human Rights

By AMY MARCZEWSKI Special to the Palisadian-Post In June 1993, this Lifestyle page featured Palisades High senior Angelica Pereyra, who described her life as a traveling student riding the bus every day from her home in East L.A. ‘As a student, school is my only job and so I figured I would do my best and take it as far as my effort, persistence, and abilities could take me,’ Angelica said. She was an editor on the ‘Tideline’ student newspaper, leader of the Latino Awareness Class, and a tutor at Palisades Elementary four afternoons a week. Angelica went on to UCLA as a scholarship student, earned her teaching credential, and then returned to PaliHi as a teacher, first in math and now in art. Her persistent, can-do attitude is unchanged. In her classroom there’s a small flyer on the wall with the iconic image of a woman flexing her upper arm, which typically includes the message ‘We Can Do It!’ but instead it reads in Spanish: ”Nadie me puede decir que me calle!’ ‘No one can tell me to keep my mouth shut!’ Back in 1993, Angelica told the Palisadian-Post, ‘I come on the bus and I’ve been working hard to let students at Pali as well as those in the surrounding community know that ‘bussed-in kids’ do enhance the environment at Pali in a positive way.’ This motivation to effect change in the world around her continues to drive Angelica, who still lives in East L.A., and it inspires her students to create and learn. ‘There was something about Pali, a gravitation to come back here, something about the diversity I encounter here every day,’ Angelica says. ‘I wanted to serve my community [of East L.A.], because I think it’s important for kids of color to see professionals of color. But I also think that white kids need to see professionals of color.’ Given what Angelica calls the ‘diversity of diversity of diversity’ that is PaliHi, she knew that her impact would be significant at a school where 24 percent of the 2,700 students are Latino. One facet of Angelica’s job as role model has been to incorporate human rights into the curriculum, even during her first four years teaching math at Pali. ‘I had to get through the state standards,’ she says, ‘but beyond that, there are all these ‘teachable moments.’ How do we [as human beings in society] deal with each other?’ Angelica explored this question in creative ways. When discussing properties of equality in algebra she broadened the discussion to the topic of equality in society. A lesson on the mathematical subject of identity elements segued into discussions of cultural and personal identity. ‘This is such an important concept for this age group,’ she says. ‘To have them question it allows them to think about and solidify their own identities.’ Now, as an art teacher, Angelica continues to incorporate human rights into the curriculum. She insists that these concepts are essential for young artists: ‘An artist has to know about everything going on in the world, because if you have something to say, you’d better know what you’re talking about.’ In order to assure that her students ‘know what they’re talking about,’ Angelica keeps a library of Human Rights Watch reports from around the world in her classroom. ‘I try to keep the reports near the supplies so that the students remember they’re there as a resource.’ Angelica’s three key classroom philosophies underscore the value she places on human rights: ‘Excellence doesn’t happen by default,’ ‘Process is the currency of the classroom,’ and ‘The classroom is a space where all maintain their dignity.’ Considered as a whole, these ideologies constitute a miniaturized version of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, drafted following World War II in order to guarantee the rights of individuals in the aftermath of the Holocaust. Angelica’s version guides students through art projects that at times draw their inspiration directly from the original document. This fall, the HRW Student Task Force club, with Angelica and Spanish teacher Sandra Martin as co-teacher advisers, has continued a third year of activism dedicated to bringing protection to the people of Darfur. When Angelica learned about a November rally at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum that would urge China to take a stronger leadership role in bringing protection to the people of Darfur, Angelica quickly thought of a way to involve her classes. The rally aimed to encourage China to use its status as host of the 2008 Olympic Games to bring the message of peace and brotherhood that the Olympics conveys to Darfur, where violence has reigned since 2003. Dozens of students submitted original art works for a portfolio that will be delivered to the Chinese Consulate in Los Angeles, urging China to ‘Bring the Olympic dream to Darfur.’ Students presented early sketches and explained their vision to Angelica, who asked pointed questions to get them to think about the impact of their images. ‘It’s in the doing that [students] come to ownership of the information,’ says Angelica, whose students demonstrated strong knowledge of the links between China and Sudan after completing their artwork. In this case, her role as art teacher overlapped, as it often does, with different disciplines, such as current events and global politics, and her students’ creativity generated more than a pretty painting. While Student Task Force efforts have been geared towards large-scale on-campus actions in the past, including assemblies with activist guest speakers and hosting a simulated refugee camp, Angelica and Sandra Martin have worked together to broaden this focus. Sandra, whose students translated the Universal Declaration of Human Rights into Spanish as part of their coursework last year, explained: ‘We are pushing the kids to take into consideration that small actions can make a big difference.’ These small actions, like incorporating human rights into their daily classwork, empower the students to work continually to effect change. ‘Not everything in high school is remembered,’ Angelica says, ‘but students in the Task Force will remember their experiences. I don’t see anything else so worthy of my time.’ (Amy Marczewski has a Ph.D. in French and Francophile studies from UCLA and is a consultant for the Human Rights Watch Student Task Force at eight Westside high schools.)