Liliana’s Invincible Summer: A Sister’s Search for Justice

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Liliana’s Invincible Summer: A Sister’s Search for Justice

In 2019, Cristina Rivera Garza traveled from her home in Texas to Mexico City in search of an old unresolved criminal file. "My name is Cristina Rivera Garza," she wrote in her request to the attorney general, "and I am writing to you as a relative of Liliana Rivera, who was murdered on July 16, 1990." Knowing there is only a slim chance of recovering the file, Cristina is inspired by feminist movements across the world and enraged by the global epidemic of femicide and embarks on a path toward justice. This is her account and the outcome of an amazing journey. Rivera Garza will be in conversation with Latin Grammy-nominated musician, songwriter, recording artist, and activist Ceci Bastida. This program is in partnership with the LA Phil’s Pan American Music Initiative and the new ballet called Revolución diamantina, reflecting on the Glitter Revolution in Mexico City, composed by artistic curator Gabriela Ortiz, inspired by Cristina Rivera Garza.
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Cristina Rivera Garza and Ceci Bastida

Cristina Rivera Garza is the award-winning author of The Taiga Syndrome and The Iliac Crest, among many other books. A recipient of the MacArthur Fellowship and the Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz Prize, Rivera Garza is the M. D. Anderson Distinguished Professor in Hispanic Studies and director of the Ph.D. program in creative writing in Spanish at the University of Houston.

Born and raised in Tijuana, Mexico, and now living in Los Angeles, Ceci Bastida is a Latin Grammy-nominated musician, songwriter, recording artist, host of Punk in Translation, and activist. Formerly part of the bands Tijuana NO, Julieta Venegas, and Mexrrissey, she now works as a solo artist and has a new album, Every Thing Taken Away. An advocate of immigration reform and prison abolition, she partners with the Young Center for Immigrant Children’s Rights as a child advocate and with Revolve Impact as a musical activist.