Frida Kahlo May get Street Named After Her
A bigot’s name could be removed from a street sign in San Francisco, and Frida Kahlo’s might will take its place.
“At the end of the day, we can endure much more than we think we can,” said Kahlo, the famous Mexican surrealist and queer icon.
Kahlo was born in Mexico City in 1907, and at the age of 18 suffered through a bus accident in which she was impaled by an iron railing through her abdomen. While Kahlo survived this accident, she lost the ability to walk for two years –an event that led her to painting. In her art, she created self-portraits and magical realist works exploring questions of identity, gender, class, and race.
Today, her work is celebrated on an international scale as she has become the face of indigenous, feminist, and LGBTQ movements. She is remembered as one of the first openly bisexual female artists, having relationships with both men and women. Some accounts suggest that she and her husband were an early version of what would be considered poly or open today.
Her popular fame has recently prompted a street in San Francisco to possibly be named after her, according to New Now Next, removing James D. Phelan’s name, a San Francisco Mayor and U.S. senator who died in 1931. Phelan was overtly racist and supported anti-immigrant policies, specifically concerning Asian immigrants. His campaign posters included the phrase “Keep California White.”
Changing the street name would be a monumental event for San Francisco, as it would condemn Phelan’s attitudes towards people of color and praise Frida Kahlo, a queer immigrant who unapologetically represented marginalized communities.
The city, known for its vibrant and diverse culture, hosts one of the most prominent LGBTQ communities in the world, with roots in the 1920s and 30s. This era brought Frida Kahlo and her husband, Diego Rivera, to the California city, as they were both artists.
The street that may be changed is located within the City College of San Francisco, the campus that hosts her husbands Pan American Unity mural. However, Kahlo’s reputation extended beyond that of her husbands’ and she can be seen throughout various murals in the city. The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art includes Kahlo’s painting of her and her husband from 1931.
This change, which could be in effect by next year, would be a welcomed addition to an already diverse community, and a tribute to Kahlo’s life.
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