We sneed your help to remedy the harmful misrepresentation of the Mesoamerican Olmec head icon represented in the Heart of Hyde Park Mural at Crenshaw & Slauson boulevards in Los Angeles

We understand the mural was made with good intentions. However, the impact of the mural as it exists, displaces the Spanish speaking Indigenous people of the community from their cultural identities and inheritance. This harm is caused by the misrepresentation of a prominent Mesoamerican (Mexican) icon (the Olmec heads) and appropriating them as African culture.

 At 1:20 in this video one of the main facilitators of the mural, Assata Umoja, speaks on the intended purpose of the Olmec head icon suggesting the notion of pre-Columbian African presence on this continent:

”We wanted to be able to show the FACT that our beginnings here in not just this community, but in Los Angeles and in California is ancient, so you see Olmec.”

It is a sad irony that in the process of rectifying their invisibility, our African American siblings are contributing to the erasure and invisibility of Mexican Indigenous heritage. We are requesting all facilitators of this mural to assist in correcting this culturally and historically harmful Olmec depiction.

As some of you may know, the Olmec are considered the first civilization of MesoAmerica. Unfortunately, due to pop culture theories of the past few decades that have never been corrected in the public sphere, it is a popular misconception in the African American community that the Olmec were West African people. However, as most Native Americans know, there is zero evidence that supports any claim that the Olmecs were non-Indigenous Americans from outside Mesoamerica. 

No genetic, archaeological, linguistic, or cultural evidence exists to support a theory of external origin for Olmec people or civilization. More importantly it should be noted that these notions are also not credible and have no basis in any Native American creation stories or historical record keeping traditions.

You may refer to some of these precedents..

• Journal retracts paper claiming Indigenous Americans were African
• Olmec head removed from Galveston, Texas Juneteenth Mural

..and these literatures to better inform yourself.

• Robbing Native American Cultures
• Olmec Heads are of MesoAmerican Origin
• Additional literatures: https://hijackinghistory.com/category/academic-research/ 

Perpetuation of this misinformation and the false depictions it produces is harmful erasure of Indigenous peoples’ heritage. More precisely, it damages the historic integrity and identity of the Spanish speaking Indigenous (so-called Latino/Hispanic) population that makes up more than 52% of the constituents in Los Angeles as well as the LA City District (8) where it is located.

Africa and Mexico are both home to beautiful civilizations, each with their own accomplishments in technology, linguistics, agriculture, and science. When we embrace the pseudohistory of “African Olmecs,” we trivialize and marginalize the legacies of both Africans and Indigenous Mexicans.

It is also our understanding that other members of the Native American community reached out to the artists and their parent organizations with the same concerns but were ignored. We are asking all creative parties involved in creating this mural to help us rectify this harmful Olmec icon misrepresentation that is damaging to both Indigenous Mexican and African communities.

We are looking for collaborative pathways to have the Olmec icon removed from this mural and perhaps be replaced by a strong but historically accurate African icon.

Certainly, we can recognize the remarkable local history of our African siblings without promoting a false and harmful version of history that harms both Black & Brown communities in the long run. 

Tlazocamati. Thank you.

Mesoamerican Heritage Alliance