Between 34th Street and Sunset, along Alum Rock Avenue, I experience poetry. It only takes a few banners.
As I shuffle down the sidewalk, three vertical banners in particular catch my eye, each 2.5 x 8 feet, hanging from light poles that rise from the sidewalk. Pink digital prints with rainbows. Three lines from a poem, “En Otra Vida,” by local artist Ruby Morales. Simplicity reigns free:
“In another life / we are the sisters we always wanted / and the friends we dreamed of having.”
Just in time for Women’s History Month, the banners are part of Womanhood, a public art and digital media project that commissions interactive and educational artworks recognizing the historical contributions of Santa Clara County women to the region and beyond. Originally launched and supported by the county supes, the project promotes the accomplishments of women from all economic, employment and cultural backgrounds.
Currently, if you drive down Alum Rock and crane your neck to see the banners, the effect might not be the same. For me, walking is required. That’s why I have made it my ambition to wander this stretch of road with curiosity. And poetry.
In the case of Ruby Morales, she says “En Otra Vida” describes her own personal desire to have a better relationship with her mother and also others who have experienced trauma as a result of certain domestic predicaments.
“Due to cycles of violence and other hardships, the women in my life, mother, grandmothers, aunts, and cousins have experienced life events that have created emotional blockages that prevent a greater connection,” she writes, in her statement on the Womanhood website. “The anger and hurt has prevented me from having beautiful relationships.”
Sometimes Morales sees older women and envisions them as carefree little girls playing in a time when such problems were irrelevant. She dreams of this imaginary place where she and her mother were the same age, true friends who understood each other and supported one another.
“This poem is dedicated to those who yearn for a different reality with their mothers and other family members.”
The pink and rainbow banners with Morales’ words are on the north side of the street, opposite the Mexican Heritage Plaza, where they continue westward in front of a stripmall. I spot more banners going toward Lily’s Nightclub to the east and still more, further toward 34th Street going the other direction. One depicts a few hands holding flowers and a cut mango. On another, pendants hang from the moon. Each one is part of Morales’ project.
Again, you probably won’t pick up on any of this while driving down the street. One must walk and then further investigate the Womanhood website, which presents elaborate information and biographies of all the women involved—singers, botanists, teachers, painters, scientists, poets, lawyers, judges and more. Some of them are personal friends of mine and all of them are badass creatures with stories to tell, especially now that we live in a time when abusive misogynists are once again running the country, recruiting every lost incel kid they can find, and demanding we all go back to the dark ages.
The future is more important. Humane technology is more important. Which is why there will soon be augmented reality components to this whole project. Sponsored by Art Builds Community, a women-led public art planning and consulting firm, a countywide series of 20 augmented reality (AR) artwork “monuments” titled Journey through Womanhood will be placed in locations throughout the county. Various civic governments, community organizations and educational institutions will host the AR monuments, pairing women honorees to locations where they have made direct impact.
The commissioned artists for the first 20 monuments are Kathy Aoki, Arlene Biala, Jayann Bella, Frances Mendoza, Kiana Honarmand, Pantea Karimi and Elba Raquel. Together, they will honor various women in categories like Social Justice, Community Leadership, Arts and Culture, Technology, Space and Science, and, finally, Sports.
Thus, technology will be used in poetic fashion, to empower people, and to tell stories, rather than to destroy, impoverish and discriminate. Women have always been storytellers, yet they often get ignored by history. You’ll be hearing more as the weeks go by. I promise.
