San Diego City College, located on unceded Kumeyaay land, hosted a land acknowledgment and celebration of local Kumeyaay people on Jan. 31, bringing students, faculty, staff and local community members together on a cloudless San Diego afternoon.

With all rows of chairs in the AH plaza filled, many of the 50 attendees stood to hear the powerful songs of Kumeyaay Bird Singers. An integral part of Kumeyaay life, Bird Songs are used to communicate the philosophies, history and customs of the Kumeyaay. 

After reading the official land acknowledgment to the crowd, City President Ricky Shabazz presented a $500 donation raised by City students and professors to Kumeyaay Community College.  

“I’m learning that every effort in social justice requires two things, love and fundraising,” Shabazz said. “We are a college of love. We are a college of giving.”

Snaking around the City Art Gallery and down the stairs to the AH Building drive-through parking garage, attendees admired and discussed the brightly colored murals inside. 

“Honoring Our Ancestors,” a mural designed by Kumeyaay artist and former City student Kenneth Banks, is a way to connect the present to the past, Banks told City Times in a previous interview.

Priscilla Ortiz Lachappa, Miss Kumeyaay Nation 2022-2023, expressed her gratitude to City College for their partnership at the event. 

“To have (City College) continue taking more and more steps to represent our Kumeyaay people is just very heartwarming,” Ortiz Lachappa said. “I’m really proud of all the work they are doing and the support that they are giving our Indigenous students.”

Associated Students Government Senate President Alexander Daumas felt inspired seeing the murals in the AH parking garage and wished there were more on campus.

“A mural is not just a painting of something pretty,” the first-generation Chicano student and a mathematics major said. “It is the story of the community around them. (The murals) convey a message and that message is to fight to have a better future for everyone.”

Met with lunch upon returning to the AH plaza, attendees mingled while enjoying traditional Kumeyaay fry bread with savory soup and visited the information tables of several organizations focused on protecting the local environment.

Also displayed in the parking garage is “Endangered Birds,” a mural highlighting 40 threatened bird species, designed by Terri Hughes-Oelrich and Amy Rouillard in collaboration with the City Audubon Club.

The murals can be viewed in the AH drive-through parking garage.