While planning this mural in the Lane Medical Library — Stanford, I reflected on what kinds of things we call medicine. A few thoughts: Food is medicine. Culture is medicine. Water is medicine. Science is medicine. Friendship is medicine. Play is medicine. Representation is medicine. Ritual is medicine. Nature is medicine. Love is medicine. Love is medicine. Love is medicine. 

During the process of painting, I thought about the midwife who delivered my mother and most everyone of her generation in her village in Honduras. The midwife took a swig of guaro before each delivery and then got to work inviting in new life. I think about how my mother's sister died from poor aftercare after having a child and how preventable her death was and how her son went on to become a doctor himself. I've also been reflecting on all the people who are afraid of going to the doctor for fear of alienation, of being disbelieved, of not being able to finance the care they need, of being dehumanized, of not finding their whole selves reflected and honored when seeking medicine. 

This is why I appreciate the vision and the need for the new Diversity Center of Representation and Empowerment at the Stanford Medical School, and why I feel so so honored to have been invited to create a mural in their community space. I wanted to create an image where ancestral knowledge and science enrich and support one another, where culture and medicine worked in alignment.

This painting is a way of celebrating the life's work of Honduran environmentalist and indigenous land right's advocate, Berta Cáceres. Here, Cáceres is depicted mending the torn wing of a hummingbird. As an environmentalist, her work protected the rights of the animals and spirits that inhabit the land. I wanted to create a portrait that celebrated her vision, especially in light of her leading a life in a culture and political landscape that turned her desire to protect the vulnerable into a target, eventually leading to her assassination.