Yajaira, December 18, 2011, from Occupying Wall Street: A Portfolio of 20 Images
Accra Shepp, American, born 1962
print 2015
Gelatin silver print
4/12
Image: 19 3/16 × 15 11/16 in. (48.8 × 39.8 cm)
Sheet: 19 15/16 × 16 in. (50.7 × 40.6 cm)
Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth: Purchased through a gift from Marina and Andrew E. Lewin, Class of 1981
2017.37.10
Geography
Place Made: United States, North America
Period
21st century
Object Name
Photograph
Research Area
Photograph
Not on view
Inscriptions
Accra Shepp / Occupying Wall Street Portfolio / 2015 4/12 / "Yajaira Dec 18, 2011"
Label
Occupying Wall Street: A Portfolio of 20 Images busca documentar la historia y el poder político de una protesta contra la desigualdad económica que tuvo lugar en los Estados Unidos en 2011. Accra Shepp quería asegurarse de que los espectadores pudieran ver a los participantes de esta marcha como individuos, por quiénes eran y qué representaban. En este contexto, se le da una voz muy particular a Yajaira. Vestida con la bandera del país que ella misma está luchando por mejorar, aprovecha esta oportunidad para defender a los inmigrantes y, específicamente, a las personas que entraron a los Estados Unidos siendo jóvenes. El término "DREAMers" identifica a los estudiantes indocumentados que fueron traídos a los Estados Unidos como niños, y el DREAM Act—propuesto en 2001— les habría concedido estatus legal si se hubiera convertido en ley. Desde entonces, la única legislación aprobada en el Congreso estadounidense para proteger a estos estudiantes de la deportación ha sido Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA, Acción Diferida para los Llegados en la Infancia), una orden ejecutiva firmada por el presidente Barack Obama en 2012 que le dio protección provisional a estudiantes indocumentados menores de 35 años. El afiche de Yajaira, dirigido al gobierno de los Estados Unidos, insiste en la necesidad de crear y aprobar leyes que pudieran liberar a estos alumnos de la amenaza de deportación. Occupying Wall Street: A Portfolio of 20 Images aims to document the history and political power of a protest against economic inequality in the United States in 2011. Accra Shepp wanted to ensure that viewers could see individual protestors for who they were and what they represented. In this context, a specific voice is given to Yajaira. Dressed in the flag of the country she is fighting to improve, she takes this opportunity to stand up for immigrants and, specifically, young arrivals to the United States. The term "DREAMers" describes undocumented students who would have been granted legal status by the DREAM Act, proposed in 2001. Since then, the only legislation enacted to protect these students from deportations has been Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), an executive order signed by President Barack Obama in 2012 that grants temporary protection to undocumented students younger than 35. Yajaira’s poster urges US government to provide legislation that would free undocumented students from the looming threat of deportation. From the 2019 exhibiton A Space for Dialogue 93, Los Mojados: Migrant Bodies and Latinx Identities, curated by Armando Pulido '19, Class of 1954 Intern
Course History
LALACS 80.2, GOVT 84.6, AAAS 90.1, Latin American, Latino and Caribbean Studies, Identities and Power in the Americas, Lisa Baldez, Spring 2019
ARTH 48.06, Borderlands Art and Theory, Tatiana Reinoza, Spring 2019
WGSS 10.01, Sex, Gender and Society, Douglas Moody, Winter 2021
Exhibition History
A Space for Dialogue 93, Los Mojados: Migrant Bodies and Latinx Identities, Armando Pulido, Class of 2019, Class of 1954 Intern, Alvin P. Gutman Gallery, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, May 11-June 16, 2019.
Publication History
Armando Pulido, Class of 2019, Class of 1954 Intern, A Space for Dialogue 93, Los Mojados: Migrant Bodies and Latinx Identities, Hanover, New Hampshire: Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, 2019.
Provenance
Steven Kasher Gallery, New York, New York; sold to present collection, 2017.
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