PHILIP VERA CRUZ (2011)

Melanie Cervantes
20″ x 26″
4-color, Handmade Screen Print
Signed and numbered edition of: 50
Heavyweight Archival Art Paper
Printed in Oakland, 2011

Philip Vera Cruz was a labor leader, farmworker, and leader in the Filipino civil rights movement. He was a co-founder of the Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee, which later merged with the National Farm Workers Association to become the United Farm Workers. As the union’s long-time vice president, he worked to improve the working conditions for migrant workers. I created this portrait to honor his commitment to anti-imperialism, justice and the human right to live free of dictatorship (a belief which he led him to leave the UFW).