Photos of RYSE member and staff at the mural unveiling
Flowers for our Families is a tribute to the ways that working class Asian Americans have built power and made home in Contra Costa.
“We are daughters, sons, grandmothers, mothers, fathers and aunties. American-made wars tore our homes apart and made our families refugees. Bravery and sheer determination led us to cross oceans to find a different future for our families. Today, this determination allows us to show up at school, at city hall, and in our community to call for a Richmond with clean air, water, and land for us to live, work, play and thrive.
Together, we’ve painted this image of our journeys: across generations and nationalities, “Flowers for our Families,” represents the past, present, and our hopes for the future. The blue waters of the mural carry the boats of our ancestors fleeing for safety, even as it washes around the hands of elders holding a child at the center of the mural. At the top left, there is the Bay, representing a vision of our hopes for the future.
There are the national flowers of our homelands, including the dok champa, the white flowers that surround the images of our elders and decorate the hair of our youth, a reminder of Laos; the red and pink peony of China; the lotus of Vietnam; the coffea arabica of Yemen; the orchid of Singapore; and the golden cassia fistula or ratchaphruek of Thailand. They represent how we bring our culture and tradition to enrich this community and make it flourish.
We are grateful to the facilitation, vision and expertise of artists Elaine Chu and Marina Perez-Wong of Twin Walls Mural Company for their help in guiding the mural process.
Elders and youth together, we brainstormed, planned and painted this mural – and we can do the same to build a safe, healthy community.”
-APEN Youth Leaders