It Begins with Lola Marina (A Hxstory of Renting) by Artist Member, Erina Alejo

Excerpt:

Lola Marina (lola - grandmother, in Tagalog) turned 98 last month. She has lived through and is part of nearly a century’s worth of hxstory. Radio Marina, as my late Lolo— grandpa— would call her, because she remains astute and lucid as our family circle keeper. She is our oldest matriarch and remaining manghihilot, or healer. Sometimes, I wish she can live for many more years; that’s up to her and the universe. In the meantime, I’ll finally begin writing about archives I’ve collected of Lola Marina for the past few years. A portion of my project exploring anti-displacement narratives, A Hxstory of Renting, traces my family’s immigration story and how I became a third generation renter in San Francisco— on my mom’s side, it began with Lola Marina.

- Erina Alejo

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Erina Alejo (b. San Francisco, CA) is an interdisciplinary artist, researcher, and educator. They build visual and temporal archives on labor, displacement, and family and communal history to remember; to make transparent and collectivize power. They are a third-generation renter with family in San Francisco, documented through their long-term project, A Hxstory of Renting.