“Inside the gang database” features images I created to bring home the effects of Chicago’s faulty database of suspected gang members as young as 12 and as old as 70. People on the database have found themselves struggling to find employment and have been victims of unjust arrest and even deportation. Read more in SouthSide Weekly here: https://southsideweekly.com/inside-gang-database-la-vida-de-la-villita/

“What came first, the neighborhood or the artist?” is a comic journalism piece in collaboration with artist Maria “Wolf” Lopez and editor Sheika Lugtu that explores the role of public arts - murals in particular - and the role they play in challenging or facilitating gentrification in the Pilsen neighborhood of Chicago. Click the link to view the entire piece on 60 Inches From Center: http://sixtyinchesfromcenter.org/what-came-first-the-neighborhood-or-the-artist/

Created April 16, 2017 in memory of Selena's birthday. During an interview on Cristina, Selena slipped and instead of saying "catorce" said "diez y cuatro" but carried through with humor and grace. Her Spanglish was never something she was ashamed of and it gave so many young girls someone to look up to who seemed just like them. 

Cristina interview https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GPu1H5KI8PA

March 2017

Feb 28, 2017

Our young people have questions and we need to give them answers and make them promises. Help them understand our world but remember to promise them something better. 

Jeanette is an immigrant mother who has sought sanctuary in a Denver church. Read her story and support undocumented immigrants as they fight to keep their families and communities togetherhttps://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/15/us/an-immigrant-mother-in-denver-weighs-options-as-deportation-looms.html?_r=0

Bresha Meadows is a 14 year old girl who is accused of shooting and killing her abusive father on July 28th in Ohio. After years of witnessing her father beat her mother, Bresha lived in fear and often tried to run away. She has now been detained and the prosecutor is considering trying her as an adult. 

ScholaR Comics artist, Vicko, created this piece to demand the freedom of Bresha Meadows, a mother's hero. 

If you are in the Chicago area, join Free Bresha: A Night of Abolitionist Art and Action Thursday, October 6th from 5:30-7:00 pm for a night of abolitionist art and action to demand freedom for Bresha Meadows. 

You can also take your own selfie in solidarity today with the hashtag #FreeBresha 

For more on Bresha's case:freebresha.wordpress.com/ and http://www.democracynow.org/2016/8/31/hero_or_murderer_15_year_old

Created for Little Village Environmental Justice Organization and all the work they do helping our hoods breath. Oct 2016

Created as part of a research project on Chicago's memory of the assassination of Fred Hampton. (Dec 2016)

This piece was created to support protest against Creating Change and their decision to invite ICE representatives to their Jan 2016 conference. The piece was created for Brown People for Black Power in Chicago who subsequently cancelled their workshop at Creating Change Conference 2016.

"There is no 'constructive dialogue' to be had about the deliberate genocide of Palestinians, or the detainment of queer and trans people of color. There is nothing good that can come out of the 'inclusion' of those who occupy, those who kidnap, those who incarcerate and those who terrorize."

| READ FULL STATEMENT HERE | 
http://brownpeopleforblackpower.tumblr.com
‪#‎CC16‬ ‪#‎CancelPinkWashing‬ 

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This piece was greatly inspired by "Visions From the Inside" which you can check out here http://visionsfromtheinside.tumblr.com/.

ScholaR turns her knowledge into action as a CholActivist. 

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Made in collaboration with my brother, Daniel. Prints currently not available. Contact alvarez.vicko@gmail.com for questions or inquiries.

Color Me Rising was the first project of the For The People Artists Collective based out of Chicago and which I am a part of. It is a coloring book that highlights various fights for social justice led by Black people and people of color. Coloring pages included justice for Rekia Boyd, the dissapearances of the 43 students of Ayotzinapa, Mexico, and the ongoing campaign to Fund Black Futures. This is the page I created on the hunger strike waged to keep Dyett Public High School open on the south side. 

ScholaR Comics was featured in the Mijente 2015 Convening program explaining the use of the term Latinx. Learn more about Mijente and check out the English and Spanish versions of the comic here http://mijente.net/portfolio_page/latinx/