Even though they are no longer on this earth with us; their movements, their ideals & memory lives on. These icons of Mexico were more than just revolutionaries and artists, they were icons. For many of us, their movements still speak to us from a bygone era. These individuals forever left their mark on society.

Frida Kahlo

“Feet, what do I need you for when I have wings to fly?”

Famed Mexican artist Frida Kahlo may have been known for her fantastical self-portraits, but she was also a poet. Before her death in 1954, Kahlo's life was riddled with sorrow. As a child, she had Polio, she was in a near-fatal traffic accident at 18 that caused prolonged problems, and she married self-confessed serial womanizer Diego Rivera, who was one of Mexico's most successful artists at the time. Despite the despair, Kahlo found strength in her pain. It inspired her profound paintings and thought-provoking quotes—which she wrote in love letters to Rivera and in her diary. She once said that she didn't "belong to any category," and as such, her words were vast.

“Pain, pleasure and death are no more than a process for existence. The revolutionary struggle in this process is a doorway open to intelligence.”

Emiliano Zapata

“If there is not justice for the people, let there be no peace for the government.”

Emiliano Zapata Salazar became a leading figure in the Mexican Revolution of 1910–1920, the main leader of the people's revolution in the Mexican state of Morelos, and the inspiration of the agrarian movement called Zapatismo.

“I'd rather die on my feet, than live on my knees.”

Cesar Chavez

We cannot seek achievement for ourselves and forget about progress and prosperity for our community... Our ambitions must be broad enough to include the aspirations and needs of others, for their sakes and for our own.

Cesar Chavez was an American labor leader and civil rights activist. Along with Dolores Huerta, he co-founded the National Farm Workers Association, which later merged with the Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee to become the United Farm Workers labor union.

“You are never strong enough that you don't need help.”