Meek, 37 years old from Ecatepec, Estado de Mexico, Mexico

Ecatepec is an area in the Estado de Mexico considered to be one of the most violent municipalities to live in right now. For instance, femicides have soared in recent years, making it one of the most unsafe places for women in Mexico.

According to United Nations statistics, this year Ecatepec was located within the 16 most violent places in the world to be a woman, and another study conducted on behalf of the Belisario Dominguez institute in Mexico indicated that 5,163 femicides had occurred between 2000 and 2015.

Aside from those issues, Ecatepec is also Meek’s home and where he started to paint graffiti when he was young.

He grew up very humbly and although he tragically lost his father at an early age, he always received love from his Mum and his sisters.

Despite such adversities, he was passionate about drawing to heal the pain. Nonetheless, it wasn't until an uncle of his, who had served a long stint in prison in the United States for murder and who returned to Mexico after that, taught Meek the basics of drawing. In the process, he used to inculcate in him the culture and values of the Chicano culture and gang life.

At the same time, Meek was fortunate to grow up along the freight tracks where he got to see many graffiti pieces rolling by from the United States and Canada. He remembers pulling out his notepad to copy them and subsequently study the shapes and angles. He also remembers seeing many immigrants travelling on the top of the trains.

Meek would occasionally throw rocks at them as a way of defending his turf, although sometimes he showed some compassion for them. He recalls helping two migrants who were in terrible shape once. Meek and a friend housed them and fed them until they were fit again to continue their long journey.

Even though he was interested in traditional letter forms, his motivation in graffiti actually came from representing his Mexican roots and the Chicano culture that he learned from his uncle. Meek adds, ‘I like to put the name of my country up high through my art work’.

Parallel to his development as an, Meek was beginning to learn about gangs and later on became a member of the South Side 13 clique. He explains that it was important to belong to a gang where he lived and continues, ‘If you didn’t belong to a gang you were nothing. Unity is power and if, as a kid, you were not affiliated to a group you could be at serious risk’.

Meek recounts how he literally used to go out all the time to rob people in order to satisfy his needs.

He doesn’t agree that graffiti can save you from violence and he points out that if, for instance, you cross someone else’s tag or mural you could face violent consequences that in some cases could lead to death.

As life carried on and got more complicated and dangerous he decided to migrate to the United States.

From a young age, he had been fascinated about travelling to California as his uncle had told him marvelous things about life over there. Meek was also interested in escaping his violent surroundings and experiencing new cultures as well as to learn new things…

His crossing into the United States happened through Tucson, Arizona. As he arrived on the other side, he was locked in a safe-house for about a month until someone paid for his rescue. The pay eventually came thanks to a family member and Meek was freed. He travelled to Tampa Bay, Florida where he remained for 3 years until he was forced to return due to a severe illness.

Meek stayed 5 months in Mexico until he decided to do the journey once more.

This time, he crossed through Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas with his friend Armando.

Both, in the company of a small group of people and a Coyote who charged Meek a sum of about 1,500 dollars, walked through the desert for 5 days. In the process, they encountered many intricacies. For instance, Armando reached a critical point whereby his feet were so hurt that he wasn't able to continue. He told Meek to leave him behind though Meek knew that if he remained in the desert he would die. He carried him for the rest of the journey until they reached San Antonio, Texas where they were locked in a safe-house for 5 days until someone bailed them out and were eventually dropped off at a petrol station. Meek felt greatly relieved when he realised they were in the United States.

While living there, he says he did not paint much graffiti given that the law was pretty strict. It was especially tough with gangs so he maintained a low profile to avoid any problems. He recalls, however, how he once painted a truck outside his job. Meek's boss identified the spray marks and sacked him on the spot; even the police turned up, took pictures of the damage and filed the incident.

Overall, Meek felt much freer in the United States than back home; despite the adversities of being an illegal immigrant he felt as American as an American citizen. He was extremely grateful to the people he met and felt much more solidarity than in Mexico. In fact, his boss, who was from England, greatly appreciated Meek’s hard work.

After 7 years of living in the United States he decided to return to Mexico as he did not see himself living a full life in the United States. He had realised his dream and felt it was time to move on. He also wanted to go back to be with his Mum, whom he missed very much.

Meek makes an analysis on the situation in Ecatepec and says that the levels of violence are extremely high right now. The marines and federal police have been deployed to patrol the streets but he reckons that things have not changed much. For example, femicides occur, he says, because there are many rapists and sexual predators around who torture and kill woman for the sake of it. He has seen women's cadavers floating in the polluted river next to his house and it would appear as if nobody gives a damn about it. The authorities simply turn a blind eye to the problem and meanwhile, the mystery of such killings continues…

Human rights do not exist here, ‘We live in the wild, wild West, he remarks. You need to look out for yourself as safety is not guaranteed by the local authorities. Equally, he feels that he is living in a state of war because the army and helicopters fly around at all times; this generates paranoia and a feeling of fear in him.

Shifting gears, Meek talks about Trump and adds, ‘the United States belongs to the native Americans, like the Comanches, the Navajos, Seminoles and the Cherokees, etc. Nevertheless, he believes that Americans overall are good people and they will help you. They are friendly and educated unlike Mexicans, who tend to be much more violent.

If he had the opportunity to talk to President Trump, he would tell him that he is wrong in wanting to divide us since we have always coexisted side by side.

Art symbolises existence to him, ‘it’s the evidence that I live in this damn world’, he points out. Graffiti is a form of expression that allows him to talk about aspects of his life. It is a way to let your heart speak for you. His vocation is strictly about developing letter forms. He sees letters as characters that are brought to life when painted on walls. Aside from that, he likes to add details like spikes to them as his intention is to make them look violent and mean. Currently he associates his graffiti with Satanism as that is what he believes in…