On Nov. 9 and 10, 2024, Enzo Camacho and Ami Lien screened their newest experimental labor-activist documentary, Langit Lupa (Heaven and Earth) (2023), at 2220 Arts + Archives in Historic Filipinotown. The documentary braids personal testimonies from survivors of the violent Escalante Massacre with vivid phytograms taken from a sugar plantation in Negros, Philippines, raw 16 mm film, and theatrical performances by Escalante children. The weekend screenings and related programs were part of Camacho and Lien’s artist residency with Active Cultures, a public arts nonprofit in Los Angeles that explores the intersection of art, food, and ecologies through artist-led projects and programs.
The Right to be Disruptive
The act of protest is one of risk. The university’s justification for sweeping the encampment on the basis of being disruptive overlooks the fact that the disruption was intentional. On May 2 — the night that police forcibly destroyed the encampment — 210 arrested individuals were given a chance to walk away, but didn’t. They chose to remain because this act of resistance is the greatest power they have as students and civilians to affect this cause.
