A new mural at a Compare Foods in south Charlotte will honor two young Latina girls who took their lives after being bullied.
“Jocelynn Rojo Carranza, 11 years old, and Gabby Aparicio Ortega, 13 years old — and it just gives me chills right now just to say their names,” artist Rosalia Torres-Weiner said.
Torres-Weiner is a self-proclaimed “artivist” with Red Calaca Studio. Since 2011, she has used her mobile art truck to bring murals and public art to neighborhoods across Charlotte, often where Latino families live.
“I use my art truck to bring the arts to underserved areas in Charlotte," Torres-Weiner said. "I'm always representing the Latino community through my colors, and this is one of them.”
Jocelynn Rojo Carranza, of Texas, took her own life in February after she was bullied and taunted at school over her family’s immigration status. Gabby Aparicio Ortega, of Durham, died by suicide the same month after she was also bullied and burdened by anti-immigrant rhetoric.
“As an 'artivist' and as a mother, I could not stay silent," Torres-Weiner said. "I needed to do something.”
She started a GoFundMe. When she asked for a wall where she could paint a mural, a friend connected her with Compare Foods in south Charlotte, which offered a massive brick wall as a canvas.
“Right here where Latinos buy their tortillas, buy their food, and everyone is going to see this mural," Torres-Weiner said. "Everyone is going to read (the girls') story.”
Torres-Weiner invited her fellow artists to help paint, including local artist Eva Crawford.
“When we first heard about Jocelynn and her tragic death, and Rosalia — just poured that out on social media about, ‘I want to do a mural, I’m looking for a wall,’ I was like, ‘I'm there,'" Crawford said.
Crawford says in past collaborations, Torres-Weiner has usually led the design and bold colors, while Crawford brings the portraits to life.
The mural will include flowers, pink snakes and butterflies.
“We want them to be drawn in by these faces, by these eyes," Crawford said. "And then to ask questions like 'who are these girls?'
"And then to see these snakes and hidden things that are speaking lies into these girls' ears.”
Another artist, Matt Moore, says he was working another job when he saw Torres-Weiner’s post, and couldn’t stop thinking about it.
“I have two nieces, and one of them is 13," Moore said. "And I couldn’t shake Jocelynn’s image out of my mind for hours.”
He offered to help in any way he could.
“With street art, public art, what a gift that you get to be this voice for people that maybe aren’t here anymore or that don’t have a platform to say what needs to be said," Moore said.
It’s a responsibility these artists feel deeply — one that goes beyond art — and into community, culture and identity.
“I paint with vibrant colors, with my corazon (heart), with passion, because I know mi gente (my people)," Torres-Weiner said. "We’re strong and resilient.”
Crawford, who has immigrant family members, says she wants to use her privilege as a white woman.
“I have no fear, so I can use my position to help draw attention to people who may be fearful of speaking up,” Crawford said.
For those who visit the mural, a checklist is written on the wall that asks people to be kind and respectful.
