In the Latin American liberation struggles of the late 20th century, thousands upon thousands of activists, organizers, and religious leaders were murdered for their involvement in movements for social, political, and economic transformation. Latin American liberation theologians and socially committed sectors of the Latin American church remember these individuals, like Saint Óscar Arnulfo Romero, as “martyrs'' whose witness to justice and peace fuels the current fires of resistance and of liberative forms of being church and living life together in community. Indeed, memory of those whose lives have been stolen by the wealthy and powerful is a form of resistance and subversive living in and of itself.

This memory of martyrdom often takes the form of creative expression in visual arts and sacred iconography; in music, song, and dance; and in theater and film. The same is true for remembering ecomartyrs, who are being assassinated for their involvement in movements that seek environmental justice and ecological well-being in tandem with social, political, and economic transformation. 

Artist Spotlight: Alexander Serpas

Alexander Serpas is a grassroots Salvadoran artist whose visual creations commemorate martyrdom and envision an-other possible world in which human beings and more-than-human creation might flourish together in community. Alex created the image Ecomartirio, voz de la tierra - fuerza de vida to be the image that graces the cover of the companion book for this website, Ecomartyrdom in the Americas: Living and Dying for Our Common Home. In the videos below, Alex offers his insights about this image and about the role of art in remembering martyrdom and fighting for social and environmental justice in Latin America. Memory itself is an art of resistance, and the arts are a means of bringing memory to life.