I Am A Child
The world was outraged and the photos quickly went viral on social media with the quote:
“A child is a child no matter what country they were born in.
A child is a child even when they cross the border.
A child's desire to stay with their parents is a human right.
In homage to the iconic I AM A MAN photo.
I am proud to present I AM A CHILD.”
In June 2018, Paola Mendoza conceived and was the creative director for the I AM A CHILD campaign. She created the campaign to protest the Trump Administration’s ‘Zero Tolerance Policy’ of separating children from their parents at the U.S.-Mexico Border.
Inspired by Ernest Withers’ photograph from 1968 of striking sanitation workers in Memphis, the initial I AM A CHILD photo shoot with photographer, Kisha Bari and producer Becky Morrison occurred in New York City on the steps of Immigration and Customs Enforcement building featuring 40 children, ages three to ten.
Family Separation Art Installation
On the year anniversary of Trump’s Zero Tolerance Policy Paola placed a life size art installation in front of the Capitol Building, in Washington DC.
The art installation was a searing reminder to our nation’s leaders that hundreds of children still remained forcibly separated from their parents.
The Caravan
As a storyteller and immigration rights activist, Paola’s work tried to shine a light on each person’s unique and individual story of love, resilience and hope. These are their truths.
Paola traveled to Oaxaca, Mexico to join the caravan of Central American refugees to document their stories as they traveled to the U.S. border in hopes of being granted asylum.
It was during this time that Trump overhauled the asylum application process and made it more difficult for refugees to even request the asylum they are so desperately in need of.
Resistance Revival Chorus
Paola is a co-founder of The Resistance Revival Chorus. The RRC is a collective of more than 60 womxn who join together to breathe joy and song into the resistance and to uplift and center women’s voices.
The great artist and activist Harry Belafonte once said, “when the movement is strong, the music is strong” and the RRC attempts to live up to that call.
Dream Killers
DREAM Killers was a performance art protest demanding that Congress pass a clean DREAM Act in 2017. Hundreds of people came together in an act of creative resistance to protect the 800,000 people who were at risk of losing DACA.
Joy to the Polls
As lead a lead organizer Paola launched a movement to bring joy to the democratic process & make voting a celebration in 2020 and beyond.
Families Belong Together
Paola was a lead organizer for the Families Belong Together marches which mobilized ten of thousands of people across the country against the Trump administration’s cruel and horrific family separation policy in 2018.
LASTESIS
Paola was a lead organizer of A Rapist In Your Path, which was performed in front of the courthouse during the Harvey Weinstein rape trial. A Rapist in Your Path is a Chilean feminist performance piece protesting violence against women. It has been performed in Latin America, the United States, and Europe.
