As ICE continues to hunt for immigrants in Los Angeles, many people in this city have discovered their own individual roles in the resistance.
While there are those who protest at the Metropolitan Detention Center and host observation hubs at Home Depots for mobile community watch, several local artists are showing solidarity through their work, recognizing that art can be revolutionary.
The Rabble Rouser Tattoo Shop in Culver City hosted a January fundraiser with custom ‘Fuck ICE’ flash sheets.
L.A. TACO spoke with tattoo artist Leslie Young, who says that the idea arose from a conversation with colleague Rosie Knight about wanting a “FUCK ICE” tattoo on her knuckles. This soon evolved into a packed fundraiser at the Rabble Rouser, a tattoo shop that perfectly embodies a maximalist environment, decked out with hanging art pieces and shelves filled with jars, ink, and knick-knacks.
“For the event, I wanted to make sure my community knows where I stand,” Young says. “Art will always be political; it is absolutely crucial for quieter voices, voices with less power/agency/spotlight, to be heard. It is not enough for people to passively not enact harm, but to actively fight against it, so I wanted to use what I had.”