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Water Protectors came from all over the world to support the Indigenous-led movement on the Standing Rock Reservation. Unarmed and peaceful activists resisted the violent construction of the poisonous black snake (the DAPL pipeline) that was illegally trenched through sacred burial grounds and under the Missouri River.
Witnessing Water Protectors being beaten and abused, Lula Red Cloud (great-grand daughter of Chief Red Cloud) said, “We were forced to accept the government’s decision with a gun pointed to our heads. We could either leave camp or be murdered by the real terrorists – the government.”
Water Protectors marched out of the Oceti Sakowin Camp for the last time in a good way: singing, drumming, and quietly praying with these words: “It’s a good day to die, but we are still here.”
All Photographs:
Copyright by © Tonita Cervantes
Protests during the administration of #45, spawned by a climate of alienation, misinformation and racist rhetoric, led to the uprising of women, people of color, environmentalists, gun-control activists and humanitarians at the border.
The winds of change were howling, leading to the downfall of a corrupt regime.
All Photographs:
Copyright by © Tonita Cervantes
They come by ox cart, train, truck load, bicycle or on foot. They come by the thousands everyday to eye hospitals in India, Ethiopia and Nepal praying for the gift of sight made possible by a cornea donation.
But time is of the essence. Within a few hours the viability of the gift vanishes, and asking a family to donate the eyes of their loved one is unimaginably delicate.
Yet, that donation transforms a life of hopelessness to living life fully, without the pain of suffering from society’s rejection.
Sightlife in Seattle (sightlife.org), working with doctors and hospitals abroad and at home, gives the gift of sight to thousands, but thousands more wait for a generous donation to cure their blindness.
All Photographs:
Copyright by © Tonita Cervantes
Capturing the unguarded moment or the ethos of a life is unplanned. It can be in the studio or on the banks of the holy river in Katmandu where the dead are cremated in full view for anyone to watch. These people tell their stories with their eyes.
Eyes are indeed the window to the soul.
All Photographs:
Copyright by © Tonita Cervantes
Cinco De Mayo - San Francisco
“What Can I Do? About My Dreams” is an expression scrawled on a dingy wall in the heart of the Tenderloin district - a place where the forgotten and the shunned live in squalor in the alleys of one of the richest cities in the world - San Francisco.
One of the narrow streets is dedicated to vibrantly painted murals, many now painted over, voicing the issues that face homeless men and women, and veterans tossed away by a country they bravely stood to defend.
Each photo in “Dreams” was respectfully taken with the person’s expressed knowledge and permission. They were taken with an iPhone.
All Photographs:
Copyright by © Tonita Cervantes
