“Brown is Beautiful” is a mural at Backesto Park in San Jose.  Analyn Bones, John Garcia, Francisco Ramirez, Mauricio Magdaleno, and Alfonso Salazar are the artists that worked on the mural and was funded by Ramon Castillo. According to Alfonso, “The mural honors the past, present, and future of our Mexican and Chicano culture”. 

Among the Chicano individuals painted in the mural are: Luis Valdez of Zoot Suit and Teatro Campesino fame, Sofia Mendoza, a San Jose Chicana activist in the 70’s & 80’s and Rosanna Desoto, a San Jose High graduate and movie actress who appeared in La Bamba and Stand & Deliver. Also featured are Tiburcio Vasquez a legendary folk hero, and Cesar Chavez founder of the National Farm Workers Association (NFWA) that was later changed to United Farm Workers (UFW). The mural also recognizes the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe, the people indigenous to this area. 

The mural is near the corner of North 13th Street & Empire Street in San Jose and next to the handball courts.

Click below to access mural timeline

Our Lives Our Photographs

For people interested in learning photography and photographing everyday scenes in people’s lives. We want to encourage our members taking photographs of people, their lives, and the natural environment.

We are a photography website for photographers – by invite only

We can be found in cyberspace on the internet. Members can be anywhere in the world

We are photographers who photograph and document everyday scenes in people’s lives. There is always a story behind any life event or incident or anything. We want photographers to capture a story in their lives.

We will mostly use digital cameras or even cell phones but smart-phones are ok since many people use smart phones to take photographs.