GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — A flowery, Mexican flag and the symbolism it carries — green for hope, white for unity and red for the blood of those who fought for the country — covers the basketball court at Briggs Park in Grand Rapids.
It's pride and protest. It's titled, 'Rosas.'
"Very much a love letter to my background, my heritage," said artist Edwin Morales. "We can create something beautiful if we're given the opportunity."
"This is proof of that," he said.
Morales is a recipient of DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals), which protects undocumented immigrants who were brought to the United States as children and have been granted protection from deportation.
"This is a thank you letter to those who came before me, the ones who made sacrifices for me to be here today," Morales said about 'Rosas.'
A nonprofit in Grand Rapids, Lions and Rabbits Center for the Arts, contracted Morales to paint the mural. He'd done similar work before, but "never something of this scale." After around 35 to 40 hours of painting this past August, though, he completed the tri-color piece of art.
Through green, white and red on a blacktop, Morales is "fighting the fight [in] the way that you can."
"I believe in protesting. I believe in marching. I believe in fighting for what you believe in, but I also believe in leaning into your medium," he said.
Over the past several months, the first-generation immigrant has seen "tension and turmoil" within the Mexican-American community. ICE raids. Fear of deportation.
While Morales would "love to march," he says he can't afford the time or the risk.
'Rosas' is his personal form of protest, how he shows pride for his heritage.
"That's the legacy that I want to leave behind for as long as I'm here," he said.
