La Doña Mural in the Mission Exemplifies Resilience of Latinx Community
By: Ana Woods
A larger-than-life mural of native San Franciscan musician La Doña proudly displays the word “RESILIENT” on Casa Guadalupe supermarket at 26th and Mission. The mural has been a part of the Mission since June 2021. Local artists Agana, Vogue and Robz were asked to create the mural for a collaborative campaign with the S.F. Giants.
For the mural, Agana, Vogue, and Robz had to wait to find the right wall and the right circumstances. However, after finding out the wood on the side of Casa Guadalupe was weak, Agana said, “I basically repainted the whole mural twice. It was worth it because I knew how much it meant to the folks who lived there. Through creating the mural, I was able to connect the dots and cross-pollinate music, sports, and Bay Area love.”
Agana is also from the San Francisco Bay Area, and her art includes contemporary street art and large-scale muralism. She uses her platform to speak out on issues such as racial injustice and women’s empowerment. Agana became more widely recognized for her work on the “RESILIENT” mural but said, “I’ve painted a million murals for free.” Agana’s cultural work through intentional and intricate artistry can be admired throughout the Bay Area.
When asked about the connection between art and activism, lead artist Vanessa “Agana” Espinoza said, “Art is a way for the community to engage. Walls and borders are built to separate us. If we put our stories on them, it brings us together and creates unity. It’s a big responsibility and I don’t take it lightly.”
Cecilia Cassandra “La Doña” Peña-Govea grew up in a musical family playing trumpet for her parents’ conjunto. In “To My Sister Before Fame” from her most recent album “Los Altos de Soledad,” her sister René performs a spoken-word poem about fame and family. La Doña embraces the ties with others and the support we can provide to those around us during troubling times.
La Doña’s music embraces many different Latin American rhythms heard around the streets of the Mission, such as reggaeton, cumbia, salsa and norteña. La Doña represents her community through music and doesn’t compromise her activism or values for palatability. She expresses this in her 2023 song “Can’t Eat Clout”:
“Ya I might sound good
But you can’t eat clout
Me dicen que no puedo (they say I can’t)
Sin elles no puedo (without them I can’t)
Pero esto es mi juego (but this is my game)
Siempre gano en mi juego (I always with my game).”
La Doña takes power in her music to embrace who she is and where she comes from. She rejects notions of having to conform to those who don’t agree with her message or values.
She described the San Francisco music scene as “such a tight-knit, close community. A lot of us are making art around a shared reality of resistance to gentrification, of cultural integrity, and cultural art. Community has been built around migration, this exodus from other places. By home-making within San Francisco and the larger Bay, we share a lot of the same messages, which makes it very worthwhile, exciting, and comfortable.”
When asked how she felt after seeing the mural completed, La Doña said, “We did a beautiful unveiling with my family. They came out and played music, and we had just a really beautiful moment to celebrate their artwork. Murals’ act of occupying public space is so unique to me. It’s combating whitewashing, putting color on the walls and painting our stories, but also maintaining a presence.”
La Doña and her mural remind us now more than ever of the importance of staying true to our values. Amidst recent political attacks on vulnerable communities, La Doña’s intersectional activism shows the resilience of San Francisco, the Mission, and the Latinx community. Artists like Agana and La Doña aim to inspire younger generations to reimagine their monuments and idols to create a world that reflects their lived experiences.