Heroes of our time: Francia Marquez Painting

Francia Marquez is an Afro Colombian human rights en environmental activist. Francia’s people, descending from Africans forced into slavery, maintained an independent existence on their territory in La Toma, the south-west of Colombia. This was threatened when the land they live off and the Suarez river they fish in was poisoned with toxic waste of the illegal mining activities and intense deforestation. The impact on the community was devastating. Francia started to fight against the environmental destruction as a teenager, put herself through college, studying law to learn how to protect her people in the face of corporal interests. She led a group of 22 woman, and they successfully pressured the government to committing to stop illegal gold mining in their territory. Francia won the Goldman Environmental Prize and is an inspiration for the indigenous to defend their land. She has survived an assassination attempt. Since 2016, hundreds of social activists have been killed in Colombia. Photo credits: Goldman Environmental Prize This portrait is one of a series of 13 called ‘Heroes of our time’ about woman who fight for human rights. The series are for sale, not the individual portraits. Price indicated with this portrait will be x 13, for all 13 portraits Half of my earnings will go the portrayed, to support their case.