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Documentary Web Series “Voice of Art” Releases Episode, “Migration is Beautiful”, highlighting the growing movement of artists, designers, performers and musicians working for migrant justice, featuring Activist and Artist Favianna Rodriguez
Episode Also Features Actor and Activist Rosario Dawson and Pulitzer Prize Winning Author Undocumented Activist Jose Antonio Vargas
Episode a part of weekly series that airs on Pharrell Williams’ i am OTHER YouTube Channel and produced by Black Dog Films
Los Angeles, CA. – Voice of Art, a powerful new documentary series on Pharrell Williams’ i am Other YouTube Channel, is releasing a three part series episode featuring Artist and Activist Favianna Rodriguez, Actor and Actress Rosario Dawson and Pulitzer Prize Winning Author Undocumented Activist Jose Antonio Vargas. The episode focuses on artists-activists using online and offline art and activism to bring about definitive changes to immigration policy and perceptions of immigrants.
Most recently, the definitive role of Latino and other artists in US politics was highlighted in recent elections in which both Presidential candidates were forced to respond to artist and activist concerns around immigration, as Latino voters in particular exercised unprecedented power and influence.
The episode features Favianna Rodriguez, a leading voice in the movement of artists facing down the tide of anti-immigrant hatred, and follows her to the front lines of the immigration battle in Tucson, Arizona and the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, where Rodriguez joins undocumented activists, from the historic No Papers No Fear bus ride, risking arrest, beatings and other abuse from authorities.
Alongside rappers, emcees, street artists, painters, poets and performers, Rodriguez launched a historic cultural campaign turning the monarch butterfly into an iconic symbol of the immigrant rights movement and of the beauty and dignity of migrants and their journeys.
Other notable voices in the piece include Pulitzer-prize winning author, Jose Antonio Vargas; UndocuQueer artivist, Julio Salgado; both of who were featured on TIME Magazine’s June 2012 Cover Story. Tucson Attorney and Human Rights Activist, Isabel Garcia; Writer and Presente.org co-founder, Roberto Lovato, and Emcee, and Jasiri X.
Additionally, I am OTHER is calling on viewers to upload photos of butterflies to Facebook tagging i am OTHER’s page and using the #migrationisbeautiful hashtag. The first 100 people will personally receive one of Favianna’s iconic butterfly stickers.
ABOUT FAVIANNA RODRIGUEZ
Favianna is transnational interdisciplinary artist and cultural organizer that works for social change. A recent instructor at Stanford University, her art and online organizing projects deal with migration, global politics, economic disparity, patriarchy, and interdependence. Rodriguez lectures globally on the power ofart, cultural organizing and technology to inspire social change, and she also leads art workshops at universities around the country. In 2011, she co-founded CultureStrike, a national organization that works to engage artists in migrant rights. In 2009 she cofounded Presente.org, a national online organizing network dedicated to the political empowerment of Latino communities.
ABOUT VOICE OF ART
Voice of Art (VOA) is a video documentary series following the work of artists as they work towards transformation and social justice in their communities. VOA’s 30 minute episodes introduce artists, discuss the socio-political issues of their choice, and show their creative expressions – street art, graffiti, street theater, art interventions, etc. – on the chosen theme. Voice of Art has filmed artists in Los Angeles, Chicago, Oakland, New York City, Tucson and Charlotte.Themes covered to date have been the battle for visual expression in public space, the military industrial complex, corporate malfeasance, police brutality, immigration reform & the pro-migrant movement, and the California fight to label genetically modified foods. The show is created by ZS Grant and John Carr.
Connect Online:
Blog:Voatv.org
ABOUT BLACK DOG FILMS
Black Dog Films represents some of the most creative and established directorial talent in both the US and UK, and has produced exceptional content spanning music videos, art, photography, fashion, and advertising since its inception in 1991 by Jake Scott.
Connect:
Site: www.blackdogfilms.com
FB: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Black-Dog-Films/112922132056838?fref=ts
ABOUT CULTURESTRIKE
CultureStrike seeks to support the national and global arts movement around immigration. It is a network of artists, writers, filmmakers, musicians, and other cultural workers who want tofight anti-immigrant hate by amplifying the stories of migrants and creating counter-narratives about migration. CultureStrike commissions, publishes, and broadcasts new art, writing and media, featuring a wide range of literature, art and ideas in its online magazine of culture and politics.
FB: Facebook.com/CultureStrike
Twitter: Twitter.com/CultureStrike
