[dropcap size=big]L[/dropcap]os Angeles based artist Ralph Ziman – aka Afrika 47 – has a new exhibit at The Rendon Gallery in the Arts District. L.A. Taco attended the opening of the exhibit called The Casspir Project, which features work inspired by Ziman's childhood in Johannesburg. Ziman's works draw from experiences growing up in post-Apartheid South Africa and "addresses human rights issues such as apartheid, the over-militarization of police, and state violence."
'The centerpiece of the exhibit is a massive Casspir military vehicle that Ziman has transformed into a work of art. During the Apartheid era, Casspirs were used weapons of terror, often used against civilians. Widely despised and feared, they became synonymous with violence, police intimidation, and institutional oppression. Post-Apartheid, many Casspirs were decommissioned, their hulls left to rust, a relic of the past better forgotten. Others were sold to the United States during the Iraq war years, and later, to local police forces.'
Moving to California felt healing—and almost like entering "a new country," says Soy Nguyen. For the first time, she saw Vietnamese and Asian cultures openly embraced, a stark contrast to Florida.
According to original reporting by Andrew Free, “Sources close to the facility report the man was in solitary confinement following an altercation with a CoreCivic guard that left the guard unconscious.” He was 33, from Cuba, and was found dead on April 28th at the Georgia facility run by CoreCivic, where 15 people have died overall.
Either through willful ignorance or foolish naivety, our local governments are building the surveillance apparatus that ICE currently uses and will continue to use to persecute immigrants, people of color, and dissidents to Trump.
