Barrio Flag

Manuel Gómez Cruz is considered by his peers to be the godfather of the Chicano Art Movement due to his involvement with community arts organizations from the 1970s, well into the 1990s, when he made prints at Self Help. His "Barrio Flag", an image that he first featured as part of a large mural on East Cesar Chavez Avenue in 1994, includes an eagle—a simultaneous reference to the flags of the United States, Mexico, and the United Farm Workers labor union. A banner hangs beneath the bird’s talons with the phrase “Barrios United is Peace & Power,” suggesting the artist’s belief in the importance of the American barrio to the development of Latinx artists.