LAUSD unveils mural honoring women leaders

Students at Osceola Street Elementary School returned from summer break to find a new source of inspiration right on their campus walls.

On Monday, Aug. 18, Los Angeles Unified officials, city leaders, parents, students and community members gathered to celebrate the unveiling of a mural featuring women leaders who have left lasting marks on law, politics, activism and education.

The colorful mural, stretching across one of the school’s main exterior walls, showcases late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, former Vice President Kamala Harris, Guatemalan human rights activist Rigoberta Menchú, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, and Theresa Derchan North, a teacher who has taught at Osceola for 36 years.

Principal Jose Velasquez said the project was meant to give “voice to a contingent of individuals who frequently are marginalized.”

From Ginsburg’s fight for women’s rights to Menchú’s advocacy for Indigenous communities, each figure represents inclusion and resilience. Harris, he noted, has spoken of lifting up single parents and marginalized families, while Bass has long stood for immigrant rights. The mural also honors North for her decades of work empowering students.

“So the mural is about voice,” Velasquez said in an interview before the unveiling. “The theme is voices that transformed our history.”

Mayor Karen Bass, whose likeness is among those celebrated, told the crowd that she was humbled to be included.

“I hope you understand that it is our job as adults to make sure that you are completely prepared for when we throw that baton to you, that you take that baton and that you not just lead in the community, but you lead in the city and that you lead in the world.”

North said she was surprised by the tribute, learning only two days before the painting that she would be included.

“Every single day is different, I don’t go to school and think, ‘On my God, it’s another Monday, the same old thing’, because it’s not,” she said. “And I think that’s why my longevity, why I’m here so long — and I’m not ready to retire.”

Superintendent Alberto Carvalho said the mural captures a continuum of leadership.

“Those voices, as this beautiful mural depicts, (are) our voices of the past, of the present, and they will inspire voices for the future.”

For many attendees, the mural was about more than art.

“It’s an inspiration to see all these powerful women in one area, for the students to see and learn, because I’m sure the school will teach them what the mural means and what each woman on the mural means,” said Jamie Gonzalez, a parent at the school. “It’s a pretty inspiring thing, it’s beautiful.”