------------------------
"It's wonderful and it's evocative. It's a democratic movement for a
political voice and it's great because it reminds us of some of the
core values we think of as Americans and the freedom to participate,"
said Barbara Clark Smith, museum curator of social history. (Naples
Daily News, Thursday, 3/28/02)
Here's a nice non-Taco Bell story: The CIW's version of the Statue of
Liberty, created for the march from Ft. Myers to Orlando in February
and March 2000, has been boxed up and carted off to its new home in
Washington, DC -- as part of the permanent collection of the
Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History! Read
the story below, or go to our site (www.ciw-online.org) to see the
story and more pictures of the statue in action on the march and in
Tallahassee. Thanks, Coalition of Immokalee Workers
_________________________________________
Smithsonian to collect farmworkers' version of Statue of Liberty
Thursday, March 28, 2002
By MIREIDY FERNANDEZ, [log in to unmask]
When Immokalee farmworkers created their own version of the Statue of
Liberty, they never imagined Lady Liberty would one day become a
permanent symbol of American history.
Two years after Collier County farmworkers used fabric and plaster
and painted the statue brown to symbolize a new generation of
immigrants, officials from the National Museum of American History,
Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., have decided to collect
the image as an artifact.
"It's wonderful and it's evocative. It's a democratic movement for a
political voice and it's great because it reminds us of some of the
core values we think of as Americans and the freedom to participate,"
said Barbara Clark Smith, museum curator of social history.
The statue was first used during a 230-mile march from Fort Myers to
Orlando in 2000. Draped in green garb, in one hand the 9-foot,
200-pound statue holds a tomato and in the other she embraces a red
bucket, what laborers use when picking vegetables. Coalition of
Immokalee Workers came up with the concept.
"It combines a kind of patriotism and a reference of American values
with an element of protest," Clark Smith said. "It's popular art and
I see it as sort of the latest in artifacts about political protests
and participation."
Wednesday, Lady Liberty was picked up at coalition offices to be
shipped to the museum and become part of a permanent collection
"Democracy in America." The statue will join other artifacts such as
Thomas Jefferson's desk and historical pamphlets and banners from
19th century movements for abolition, labor rights and women's
suffrage. The workers' concept for the Statue of Liberty was to
express how new waves of immigrants — mostly from Mexico and
Central America — are changing the face of American values, said
Lucas Benitez, a coalition leader who helped in the statue's
creation.
"It represents the new immigrants here who are working in
agriculture," he said. "The statue isn't white; she's dark like many
of the people who are coming over and making contributions."
Benitez said it's an honor for him and the coalition that the
Smithsonian chose this piece of artwork to add to other important
collections — but said the workers will miss the statue.
"There will be an empty space here (at the coalition) without her,"
he said. "She's been with us in protests and marches and was part of
us. And she'll remain part of us even if she's far away ... but she's
going to a place alongside historical things and that makes us
proud."
In the 2000 protest when workers marched to the Florida Fruit and
Vegetable Association in Orlando, the statue became part of regular
demonstrations. Since then, it has been used in various other
protests held throughout the state in the fight for higher wages.
Clark Smith said that while the museum is mainly known for collecting
artifacts from leaders and famous people, artwork created by ordinary
individuals is also a priority. She also said the workers' image of
the Statue of Liberty represents the perspective of a diversified
nation.
She said she first learned about the statue from pictures on the
coalition's Web site on the Internet. Clark Smith said she visited
Immokalee last year to get a firsthand look.
"What we're doing is documenting what (farmworkers) are doing. This
isn't about whether we agree or disagree with anyone's point of view.
It's whether they're influential; we're committed to all points of
view," Clark Smith said.
Max Perez, a lifelong Immokalee resident, is a vegetable picker who
helped to create the farmworker interpretation of Lady Liberty.
"This movement with farmworkers is pretty important just like other
movements," said Perez, 21.
"I'm glad that the art is going to the Smithsonian and will be seen
by other people just because other people will see what's going on
here in Immokalee and understand our struggle."