New Hempstead mural turns blank wall into colorful mural with inspiring message

A blank brick wall on an unexceptional one-story building in Hempstead is now enlivened by a colorful mural with an inspiring political message.

Activists, organizers and community members gathered Sunday on West Columbia Street for the official unveiling of the artwork, which is intended to promote civic participation and leadership in immigrant and working-class communities.

The mural, painted by Chilean artist Dasic Fernández, features the faces of activists and community organizers in New York City and Long Island and bears the words "Vota por tu comunidad / Vote for your community."

It's located on a wall of a building at the corner of West Columbia and North Franklin streets that includes a church and a market.

The Center for Popular Democracy, a Brooklyn-based social justice group with affiliates across the country, commissioned the mural and partnered with the nonprofit Make the Road, which has an office in Brentwood, and the Brooklyn-based New York Communities for Change.

Jamasia Moore, 30, of Hempstead, is an organizer with New York Communities for Change, mainly around issues of fair housing and climate. Her son T.J., 9, who has attended protests and traveled to Albany to lobby for social justice issues, is one of the young people portrayed on the mural.

"We were very excited to be a part of this," Moore said.

The celebration of the artwork on Sunday afternoon was a lively scene: Children drew with chalk and teens painted a banner with the message "El pueblo jamas sera vencido," which  means "The people will never be defeated." Adults grilled corn and chicken, and many of those gathered for the event took one another’s photos in front of the mural.

Some community members who came to the corner to watch Fernández as he painted were back Sunday, said Jesus Gonzalez, senior director of strategic initiatives at the Center for Popular Democracy.

"The reception has been beautiful," he said.

The mural is the first of about 50 planned for communities nationwide "at the forefront of all the injustices," Gonzalez said, "and they deserve to have beautiful art."

The next mural is planned for Las Vegas.

Hempstead's new mural — and its message, "vote for your community"— is part of the three organizations’ efforts to inspire immigrant and working-class communities to get involved in organizing and electoral work, organizers said.

"Voting is one tool of many to improve our communities, and we’re hoping that this art engages folks, makes people curious enough to learn about what’s happening in elections," Gonzalez said. "Our mission is to make voting cool."

Kendra Cornejo Muñoz, lead organizer with Make the Road’s Youth Power Project, said: "We are in a political moment in this country that can really determine the future for these young people. So they want to be here to make sure their voices are heard."

Muñoz said the students she works with are "listening to the conversations" about immigration and race "and a lot of the rhetoric that is used, it makes them angrier and it makes them fight even harder for the rights that we have."

One of those young people, Jeronimo Montalvo, 16, came from Colombia four years ago and now lives in Bay Shore. He said a lot of the discussions about the border and immigration get it wrong.

"I think America is a great place for immigrants and I think we can contribute to this country," Montalvo said.