25 Years of American Cultures at UC Berkeley (2014)

Melanie Cervantes
Poster design for various sizes and substrates, printed in Berkeley, CA, April 2014

The American Cultures Center at UC Berkeley commissioned a poster to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the American Cultures requirement. As part of the process of developing the piece I interviewed students, staff and faculty about the role the students have the opportunity to play, in serving their communities through an engaged praxis, via the American Cultures classes. Their history is rooted in the Campaign Against Apartheid a movement of “students, staff, faculty, and community members demanding that UC divest its portfolio of multiple billions of dollars in investments tied to apartheid South Africa.” I will be talking about the history of political graphics as related to social movements in the continental Americas and throughout the Third World during their week of celebratory events. There will be several free events in a couple of weeks to celebrate the anniversary.