La Lucha Continua (The Struggle Continues), from Guariquen: images & words Rican/structed

In a niche headed by three palm trees, the white lace of a first communion dress calls to a saint’s embroidered robe. To the right, barbed wire fences in a crucifix, trapping the last lines of a bilingual, multifaith prayer calling all to action with: “la lucha continua (the continuous fight)… may our spirit ring true.”

The prayer indicates that the divine favor has not been given. It exhorts the viewers to join in syncretic solidarity across spiritual cultures. Porres is asked to intervene between the Yoruba orishas and the Catholic church, which is embodied by the communion receiver’s purity of spirit. The vow becomes a promise to unite and free the third world from “democracy’s prisons,” using the power of intersectional union, words, and images to heal the wounds of colonialism.