Four decades after Colectivo Ecologista Jalisco began organizing for Mexico’s environment, its founders, former members and young organizers gathered in Guadalajara to celebrate a legacy stretching from anti-nuclear campaigns to organic food markets and cleaner air. The anniversary brought together people who helped shape that work — and others carrying it forward.

Residents from across the region will gather Sunday, September 27, for the fourth annual International Food + Culture Fest, a migrant-led celebration featuring 17 kitchens, live music, dance and cultural workshops at Casa José Guadalupe Zuno in Guadalajara’s Colonia Americana.

What happens when the home country of the world’s most famous female artist lacks the resources to maintain control of her work? That is the drama surrounding the paintings of Frida Kahlo, as resentment percolates in Mexico over the provenance of the 152 to 200 paintings she did over three decades.

The murders of 22-year-old medical student Karla Margarita Pérez Jiménez in Guadalajara, and a Spanish exchange student in Morelos, have ignited a wave of protests, highlighting Mexico’s deepening crisis of violence against women. 

The names of Mexico’s independence heroes roll off the tongue — Hidalgo, Morelos, Allende — evoking images of priests and generals leading revolutionary armies into battle. But behind these men was an equally formidable force of women. These heroines broke the social norms of the 19th century, acting as political masterminds, spies, financiers, battlefield cooks and nurses, and even commanders. Without them, the revolution might have petered out before it even began.

On a Sunday morning when Avenida Juárez was closed to cars but humming with bicycles, skateboards, roller skates and running shoes, one tented corner of Parque Rojo invited passersby to consider something most take for granted: breathing.