Protest Graffiti Mexico Oaxaca

On October 27, 2006, Mexican police opened fire on a crowd of protesters in the city of Oaxaca, killing three people (including American journalist Brad Roland Will), and the world became aware of a social conflict that at its core was about the right to an education. Since 1981, teachers in the Mexican state have held annual strikes, but 2006 was the first time that violence erupted. Within hours of these shootings, graffiti calling the region's governor a murderer was sprayed throughout the city. The graffiti that has since overwhelmed the historic city center constitutes the protest art of a community rising up.

Unlike in other cities where graffiti is recognized by many as a form of public art, in Oaxaca, graffiti became a way of achieving justice through community organization, creating and facilitating an ongoing dialogue of rage. And because teachers in Mexico are primarily women, the graffiti is very much inspired by and made by women.

Oaxaca resident Elaine Sendyk took the photographs in this book during the summer of 2007. Depicting oppression, empowerment, and the messages of struggle and revolt, this graffiti echoes universal desires, making for stunning and poignant visuals that remind readers: "We Are All Oaxaca!"