CultureWorks partnered with the NEA Big Read Lakeshore to explore the rich tradition of using poster art to inspire and propel social and political change.
“Storytelling is one of the most powerful and peaceful ways to transform the world, one imagination at a time.” Julia Alvarez
As the keynote speaker this year for the NEA Big Read Lakeshore, Julia Alvarez spoke about the power of narrative to change the world. As we cultivate a compassionate heart, which can be done through reading books, the story works through the bloodstream of the imagination – a little change here, a little change there – just like the gradual, almost accidental bravery of Las Mariposas (the Mirabal sisters, the heroines of In the Time of the Butterflies.)
As a child, Julia was given the Arabian Nights, and fell in love with it, because it was the only book she’d seen about a princess that was like her (dark skinned). In the book, the cruel Sultan kills a girl each morning until Shaharazad volunteers to be the next victim. She told him stories each night, but left him with a cliffhanger, so he would be forced to spare her life in order to hear the rest of the story the next night. The Sultan repented his evil ways and all the lives of the women were saved.
As a young immigrant to the US, Julia dove into books at school and at the library. She entered new worlds – portable homelands – where everyone was welcome. But, she still didn’t discover many books about herself and her own world, and the signs all around her screamed that she was unwelcome – “Whites only/NO Spanish or Mexicans.” So she began to write, as well as to read.
“We are freedom fighters – when we gather and shape stories or read books together our minds are liberated from solitary confinement and from the tyranny of single narratives. Under the dictatorship, there was no freedom of expression or creativity – every outlet for narrative was controlled by the government, except for the radio big mouth – oral stories and news.” Julia flunked every grade up till the 5th grade. But, “my real education came after I got home from school, with my extended family (her father was one of 25 kids!) Mi familia was my library.”
We created these posters in honor of Las Mariposas, and of all the women who continue to endure violence and oppression in the Dominican Republic and beyond.
