David Alfaro Siqueiros (1896-1974) was a Mexican social realist painter, one of the main figures of the Mexican Muralist movement. From a very young age, Siqueiros was exposed to innovative political ideas within the sphere of syndicalism and anarchism. His major frescos depict scenes from the social and political spheres from a left-wing perspective, representing the proletariat’s struggle against political oppression.<br><br>On the 29th of August 1970, 30,000 Mexican-Americans (a group known as the Chicano Moratorium) participated in a march in East Lost Angeles. They were protesting against the Vietnam War but their grievances also included poverty, police violence and racism. The demonstration was followed by violent clashes with the police, during which four people were killed. The Los Angeles Times journalist Ruben Salazar was among the dead. He was a protestor on the side of the Chicano movement.<br><br>Siqueiros created "Heroic Voice" to honour the reporter and the Chicano movement in general. He offered the artwork to the Plaza de la Raza in 1971. The work is not simply a portrait of the reporter but also a political statement. The lower part of the lithograph is taken from his 1945 mural titled "New Democracy". As in the mural, a woman with exposed breasts breaks free of the chains of oppression, to freedom from fascism<br><br>Siqueiros continued to express his beliefs through art to the end of his life.<br>