(bc i hate writing in 3rd person, I’ll just keep it real … ) 
Ana Ruth Castillo is the name my momma gave me when I became the first person in my lineage to be born in Los Angeles, Ca. My mother and father are from Guatemala, Central America and met sometime in the late 70′s in Huntington Park/South Gate. I mostly write and create for three reasons 1) I am proud of my culture, 2) I am liberating my thoughts and perceptions of the world, 3) I am exposed to metaphors, magic, and spirit when creating. My personal artwork is an an act of honoring my ancestors, the beauty of the natural world, and the sacred feminine. My favorite art medium is muralism and i do it with the intention of being of service to my community. Art is the funnest, most messiest process i can engage with and I have learned to commit to each art piece because it becomes my teacher with every mistake or beautiful discovery along the way.
I am a college graduate from UC Santa Cruz, I’ve been a community organizer since 17, and a feminist since the age of seven (if not before). My career has been dedicated to working with youth in art, writing, media/radio production, leadership development, and academic empowerment. Currently, I am redirecting my career to become a teaching artist. I keep myself busy by skill building/sharing: seeking out opportunities to work with youth in the arts, taking more art courses, searching for an ideal MFA program, hiking and bicycling, facilitating a Central American Writing/Arts Collective, and being true to my heart and spirit.
hola ana…como estas hermana. Estoy aqui en londres escribiendote… Espero que estas bien y fuerte en espiritu…gracias por los tamales.
I’ve been trying to remember your info…i finally typed your placa in google and you came up.
I’m heading back early april…just been here in this hemisphere learning, growing, understanding…many problems in the world.
pues…te cuidas un chingo. Stay brown…keep painting….paz
-j
Ana,
your blog is beautiful. thank you! i’m a painter. the focus of this series of paintings is of my grandmothers immigration from guatemala in the 1940′s, during the time of the over throw of Ubico and the beautiful “10 yrs of Spring” that Arana & Arbenz brought. the stories are fictional, based on the little i knew of her journey i elaborated by using the dramatic shit that was going on in guatemala at the time. my gramma & grampa went to school with Arbenz…so i am really zeroing in on that story now. anyways, i just wanted to say i got so much from your writing. that documentary about what happened to women in 2005 was haunting…
right now i’m reading two books: 100 yrs of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez (fiction but has a lot of truth to it) & Bitter Fruit about this coup in Guatemala… both of these i would recommend…i think you might like them…(if you haven’t read them already;)
anyways, it was a nice surprise to stumble upon you here.
have a nice day!