The Mexican American artist, David Avalos was born in San Diego in 1947. He grew up in a Mexican American neighborhood known as Old Town National City, California, which is located in South Bay, San Diego. This tight knit community along with his family upbringing is what inspired Avalos not only as an artist, but also as an activist and an educator. Avalos served in the U.S. Army, giving him opportunities to attend South Bay Trade School, San Diego State University (SDSU), and University of California San Diego (UCSD) on a GI Bill. Avalos worked in the Chicano graphic art style, which emerged in the mid 1960’s. Chicano graphics explored Chicano identity through innovative printmaking. Avalos later became a full-time staff member of the Committee on Chicano Right (CCR) in 1978.

The CCR was a non profit organization that was reorganized by Herman Baca to protect human, civil, and constitutional rights for Chicano communities. The goal was to bring awareness of the socioeconomic conditions of Chicanos and be a safe haven for Chicano identity by organizing protests, encouraging self determination, and defending human rights. Gaining momentum during the 1970s, the CCR led anti-President Carter efforts as militarization along the border increased and led to violence, especially at the San Ysidro border crossing. Carter’s visits to the border led to establishing new fencing schemes and barriers. This led to President Jimmy Carter’s proposal of the new border fence known as the “Carter Curtain” (a reference to the Iron Curtain in Cold War Eastern Europe). The final design of this fence called for six miles of a ten-foot tall barrier with a three-foot concrete base. Oil was also discovered in Mexico during this period, leading to new developments in US-Mexico relations. PEMEX, depicted on the oil can on the checkerboard, was the Mexican state-owned petroleum company that was managed and operated by the Mexican government.

On February 11, 1979, a National Protest March took place at San Ysidro gathering over 3,000 participants. Media recognition increased and future planning efforts emerged from the CCR. This trajectory centered on local communities, Chicano and mixed race identities, and private/public divisions. Organizations like the CCR made an historical impact within the Chicano Civil Rights Movement in San Diego. The CCR’s political protests against the militarization of the US-Mexico border eventually brought the Chicano National Conference on Immigration to gather thousands of Chicanx, Latinx, and immigrant rights activists from all over the U.S. to discuss the problems and solutions over unjust immigration laws and policies.