‘Am I Next?’ protest art in downtown LA boldly asks who’s safe from ICE | Los Angeles

Each evening, drivers on the busy 101 freeway in downtown Los Angeles pass billboard-size portraits of Angelenos that flash across the side of a building with a simple message next to their faces: Am I Next?

Three Los Angeles institutions have teamed up to launch a response to federal immigration raids in the nation’s second-largest city, projecting illuminated images of everyday LA residents in support of the thousands of community members who have been detained this year.

Part of a protest art project entitled Am I Next?, the striking black and white images began appearing nightly on 6 November on the facades of the downtown buildings of the California Community Foundation, LA Plaza Cultura y Artes and the Japanese American National Museum in objection to the undermining of democratic norms and attacks on civil liberties.

Along with projecting portraits of Angelenos, Am I Next? highlights brief stories of people, including US citizens, accosted and snatched out of homes, cars, workplaces and the streets by federal agents, under the word “Taken”:

Mauricio, waiting for a bus.

Rosalina, at home with her children.

Juan, on lunch break from his construction job.

The campaign addresses the fear and trauma millions have experienced since Donald Trump and his administration began its violent and militarized approach to immigration enforcement in June – one that’s changed day-to-day life in a city where nearly half of its residents are Latino.

It also asks the question: if fellow residents are arrested without consideration of constitutional rights, then who is really safe?

“I carry my passport around, which I never imagined as a native Angeleno,” said Miguel Santana, president and chief executive of California Community Foundation, or CalFund. “I know people who are afraid to leave their homes, who don’t go shopping at Home Depot – because it doesn’t matter if you’re a US citizen or not. We’re putting up a mirror to what is happening.”

More than 65,000 immigrants across the US are confined in federal detention, a two-thirds increase since January, and recent data shows that 74% of those in custody have no criminal convictions.

A few of the faces in Am I Next? are familiar: the veteran actors and activists Edward James Olmos and George Takei, who was incarcerated as a five-year-old boy during the second world war, and Los Angeles mayor Karen Bass. The dozens of others are LA residents who Pulitzer-winning photographer Barbara Davidson met throughout city neighborhoods such as East LA, Venice and Echo Park.

“Some were too nervous to participate because they, or a family member, were in the process of becoming citizens and didn’t want to risk jeopardizing their application,” said Davidson. “Others were eager to take a stand against the ICE raids.”

A dedicated website allows people to submit their own photos in a show of solidarity.

“The photos draw contrast to the cowardice of the masked men who hide their faces because they know what they’re doing is wrong,” said Santana, whose own portrait appears on CalFund’s building, which is visible from City Hall and walking distance from ICE’s downtown LA detention center. “Courage is the best antidote to authoritarianism.”

For the Japanese American community, the use of force, dehumanization tactics, lack of due process and the racist targeting of immigrants feels all too familiar.

The Japanese American National Museum, or JANM, in historic Little Tokyo is not only a nightly canvas for protest art, but was where more than 37,000 Japanese Americans from Los Angeles boarded buses for American concentration camps in 1942. It’s also where about 75 armed federal agents conducted an immigration raid in August, during a news conference event with Gavin Newsom, a sight that caused widespread outrage.

“What’s at the heart of this campaign is a reminder to people that when we protect the rights of anyone in our community, we are really protecting the rights for everyone, including ourselves,” said James Herr, director of the Democracy Center at JANM. “The same kind of xenophobia, fear, prejudice and racism that Japanese Americans faced during world war two is what our current immigrant populations are facing.”

JANM’s evening projections also incorporate images of former incarcerated people with Angelenos standing against ICE raids.

At the nearby LA Plaza de Cultura y Artes, over 30 large-scale digital images and neon from 10 LA-based artists, including Brandy González, Lalo Alcaráz and Patrick Martinez are on view in addition to images from Am I Next? The bold and colorful works, entitled We Belong Here, reflect the immigrant experience and call for justice with messages such as “Invest in the oppressed“ and “It is the weak who are cruel”.

More institutions in Los Angeles and Long Beach plan to host Am I Next? on their walls, and Santana said he’s heard from colleagues in San Francisco and New York who are looking to project similar images to bring awareness.

“The violent way in which [immigration enforcement] is happening really needs to be exposed and not normalized,” said Santana, who said the project will run indefinitely. “We will keep it going until we can all sleep at night knowing that our core American constitutional rights are not going to be violated. We’re living in a moment where every American has to decide if those rights apply to all of us or some of us.”