Object Details
- Artist
- Miguel Luciano, born 1972
- Associated Person
- Felícita Méndez, 1916 - 1998
- Exhibition Label
- Felícita Méndez (born Felícita Gómez Martínez) 1916–1998 Juncos, Puerto Rico
- Felícita Méndez is an icon of the struggle for school desegregation and racial justice. At age ten, she moved with her family from Puerto Rico to Phoenix, Arizona. They were among the 1,500 Puerto Ricans recruited by the Arizona Cotton Growers Association to pick cotton in the Southwest. In Arizona, half of the workers—including Méndez’s family—led a historic strike against the hidden relocation fees and derelict housing as well as an unannounced salary decrease.
- Later, Méndez witnessed discrimination against her own children: Due to their skin color and Latino surname, they were prohibited from attending a school in their local California district. In 1945, she and her husband, Gonzalo Méndez, mobilized families and led the class action lawsuit Méndez v. Westminster against four Los Angeles-area school districts. Their efforts resulted in the desegregation of California’s schools in 1947, paving the way for the 1954 Supreme Court decision Brown v. Board of Education, which ordered the end of segregated schools nationwide.
- Inspired by the tradition of the Puerto Rican Schwinn Clubs, Miguel Luciano appropriated the 1971 Schwinn model “Cotton Picker.” Subverting its racist name, adorning it with Puerto Rican flags, and creating a leather vest for Felícita Méndez, its imagined rider, he recognizes her work and legacy.
- Felícita Méndez (nacida Felícita Gómez Martínez) 1916–1998 Nacida en Juncos, Puerto Rico
- Felícita Méndez es un ícono de la lucha por la justicia racial y la integración de las escuelas. Cuando tenía 10 años, su familia emigró a Phoenix, Arizona, como parte de 1,500 puertorriqueños reclutados por la Asociación de Algodoneros de Arizona para recoger algodón en el suroeste del país. Una vez allí, la mitad de los trabajadores (incluidos los Méndez) hicieron una histórica huelga contra los costos ocultos de reubicación, las terribles condiciones de vivienda y la reducción de salarios sin previo aviso.
- Más tarde, Méndez vio que sus hijos también eran víctimas de discriminación: por el color de su piel y el apellido latino, se les prohibió asistir a una escuela en su distrito de California. En 1945, ella y su esposo, Gonzalo Méndez, movilizaron a numerosas familias en una demanda colectiva, Méndez v. Westminster, contra cuatro distritos escolares del área de Los Ángeles. Sus esfuerzos condujeron a la integración de las escuelas de California en 1947, abriendo camino para que en 1954, en el caso Brown v. Junta de Educación, el Tribunal Supremo ordenara acabar con la segregación escolar a nivel nacional.
- Inspirado en la tradición de los clubes Schwinn puertorriqueños, Miguel Luciano se apropió una bicicleta Schwinn “Cotton Picker” de 1971. Luciano subvierte el nombre racista de la bicicleta, la adorna con banderas de Puerto Rico y crea un chaleco de cuero para Felícita Méndez, su ciclista imaginaria, rindiendo honor a su labor y legado.
- Credit Line
- National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; acquisition made possible in part by the Smithsonian Latino Initiatives Pool, administered by the Smithsonian Latino Center
- 2011
- Object number
- NPG.2022.136
- Restrictions & Rights
- Usage conditions apply
- Copyright
- © Miguel Luciano
- Type
- Mixed Media
- Medium
- 1971 Schwinn Cotton Picker, restored and customized on platform, LED lights, flags; Archival digital pigment prints mounted on sintra
- See more items in
- National Portrait Gallery Collection
- Exhibition
- 20th Century Americans: 1960-2000
- On View
- NPG, South Gallery 342
- National Portrait Gallery
- Topic
- Symbols & Motifs\Flag
- Vehicle\Bicycle
- Portrait
- Record ID
- npg_NPG.2022.136
- GUID (Link to Original Record)
- http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/sm4347372df-1189-4d64-a943-df28cfb268f5
