NumbersProject

GEORGE SANCHEZ-CALDERON

NUMBERS PROJECT

2001

Miami Florida

The Numbers Project was a commission received from the People for the American Way Foundation. The request for a proposal involved creating a statement using the Freedom Tower property in downtown Miami as a backdrop: the message had to pertain to matters concerning “Freedom of Speech”. The proposal involved projecting numerical information onto the building thereby creating a statistical portrait of the community. The numbers and information chosen demonstrated an affinity, which exist amongst the immigrant population of South Florida and the growing concerns shared in the United States; particularly to issues pertaining to Freedom of Speech and Civil Liberties.

IMAGE CREDITS:

1)Black and White of the project- 18”x24” digital print edt.3
2)3162: Patriot Act- 18”x24” digital print edt.3
3)Matrix of Numbers color photo 18”x24” digital print edt.3
4)Matrix of Numbers color photo 18”x24” digital print edt.3

NUMBERS LIST MATRIX: (partial)

1st Amendment to the U.S. Constitution: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.” U.S. Constitution, First Amendment

The first ten amendments to the U.S. Constitution, known as the Bill of Rights. U.S. Constitution

217A

Resolution number for the Universal Declaration of Human Rights adopted and proclaimed by the General Assembly of the United Nations on December 10th, 1948.

Percentage of Americans who believe the First Amendment goes too far in the rights it guarantees its citizens.2003 Survey, First Amendment Center

Years since the 19th Amendment was ratified in Congress, granting women the right to vote in the U.S. U.S. Constitution, 19th Amendment

Number of minutes Martin Luther King took to deliver his "I have a dream" speech.

The longest speech in the U.S. Congress, 24 hours and 18 minutes, was given by South Carolina Senator Strom Thurmond to filibuster the 1957 Civil Rights Act.

Hours Alexander Hamilton spent in 1787 arguing at the Constitutional Convention that America should have a king.

6:4a

Article 6 Section 4a of the Florida Constitution dictates that No person convicted of afelony, or adjudicated in this or any other state to be mentally incompetent, shall be qualified to vote or hold office until restoration of civil rights or removal of disability.

340

Arts organizations that received county grants in the 2002-03

fiscal year, without having to sign away their free speech rights to Miami-Dade County’s so-called “Cuba Ordinance.” Miami-Dade Department of Cultural Affairs

Estimated millions of dollars that Miami-Dade County will receive for bringing the Latin Grammy’s back to Miami.

Estimated attendance (in thousands) of Celia Cruz's memorial service in Miami.

Number of Celia Cruz' songs played on Cuban national radio after 1960.

1934

Year Avery Brundage, American Olympic Committee President, defended planned U.S.participation in the 1936 Olympics hosted by Nazi Germany, saying “the Olympic

games belong to the athletes and not to the politicians.”

Jesse Owens won 4 gold medals at the games.

1935

Year the Nazi government officially stripped the German Jews of their citizenship. Holocaust Learning Center

Number of Hispanic elected officials at the municipal, county, state, and federal level from Miami-Dade County.

450

(thousands) Cuban refugees processed at the Freedom Tower between 1962-1974."House of Freedom, Tower of Dreams,"

1/318

1 in 318 chance that a human being alive today is a refugee. Harper's Index July 2003

676

Persons kidnapped in Colombia by guerrilla groups or paramilitary forces from January to April 2003.

Union leaders murdered in Colombia since January 1st, 2003.

Age of youngest known rebel soldier fighting Colombia's civil war. 600 Dollar amount paid to Venezuelan parents for a selling there children to the FARC rebels.

148

One of three articles (148-150) of the Venezuelan criminal code, assigning prison sentences to those who insult “by speech or in writing,” or show “lack of respect” to the President, Vice President, President of Legislature, Chief Justice and other numerous government officials.

2.8

2.8 million signatures were presented to the Venezuelan National Electoral Council demanding a recall referendum on President Hugo Chavez.

Article 53 of the 1976 Cuban Constitution: “Citizens have freedom of speech and of the press in keeping with the objectives of socialist society. Material for the exercise of that right are provided by the fact that the press, radio, television, cinema, and other mass media are state or social property and can never be private property. This assures their use at exclusive service of the working people and in the interests of society.”

Men, women and children massacred at sea by the Cuban government while attempting to leave Cuba aboard the “13 de Marzo” tug-boat on July 13th, 1994.

Cuban dissident journalists, artists, and authors imprisoned by the Castro regime after March 2003.Payolibre.com

Years independent Cuban journalist Omar Rodriguez Saludes was sentenced to in Havana, April 2003.

11,020

Cuban citizens’ signatures for the Varela Project presented to the Cuban government by Oswaldo Payá Sardinas of the Christian Liberation Movemeant.El Nuevo Herald,

1965

Year the Cuban government began sending homosexuals to prison farms and labor campswhere they were brutally mistreated.

Maximum prison time in years negotiated between the U.S. and Cuban governments for the return of 6 Cubans who escaped the island by hijacking a government vessel.

1976

Year Cuban-American radio commentator Emilio Milian, an opponent of terrorism,survived a car bomb in Miami that took his legs.

1330

AM Broadcast frequency of Radio Haiti-Inter, which was violently shut down for criticizing the governing Lavalas party in 2002

2000

Year radio journalist Jean Philippe Dominique (Radio Haiti-Inter) assassinated for criticizing the ruling political party in Haiti. Committee to Protect Journalists

Haitian journalists attacked or threatened in 2002, as estimated by the Association ofHaitian Journalists.

Article 28 of the 1987 Haitian Constitution: “Every Haitian has the right to express his opinions freely on any matter by any means he chooses.”

1987

Haitian Constitution

241

Haitian detainees held at Krome Detention Center in Miami-Dade County as of July 14th, 2003. Florida Commission On Human Relations/Haitian Neighborhood Center

521

Chilean military personnel indicted by Spanish Judge Balthazar Garzon for human rightsviolations in Chile during 1973-89.

Nicaraguan democratic elections held since 1991 after decades of dictatorships.

410

Cases where defendants were re-sentenced in civilian courts after new Peruvian laws replaced secret military courts and President Fujimori’s decrees.Resource Center of the Americas

43:7

Argentinean senate vote in August 2003 repealing the 1980s amnesty laws. Miami Herald 8/25/2003

Article 6 of the Mexican Constitution, guaranteeing freedom of expression and information by the state.

300

Estimated number of deaths during a 1968 protest of 100,000 students in the district of Tlatelolco, Mexico City.

1976

Year pirate radio station Rádio Favela was founded in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, to provide an independent, uncensored voice for poor inhabitants of the slums.

Journalists in Panama awaiting trial for documenting corruption since President Moscoso took office. Committee to Protect Journalists.

Only 18 out of 35 countries in the Americas have a fully free press.Freedom House

1992

Year the "Yo no creo en el Herald" (I don't believe the Herald) campaign began against The Miami Herald. James McEnteer: In Miami, Manana is Now

Journalists killed worldwide in 2003 as of August 25th.

Committee to Protect Journalists

381

Journalists killed in the line of duty over the past 10 years.

Committee to Protect Journalists

133

Journalists currently imprisoned worldwide for their work as of July 27th, 2003.Reporteros Sin Frontera

660

“Enemy combatants” held without trial by U.S. government in Camp Delta, Guantanamo Naval Base, Cuba.

762

Aliens detained by FBI for immigration offenses during the 11 months after 9/11.

1,000

Estimated number of persons detained and/or deported by U.S. government in secretive conditions without due process since September 11th.

1,073

Number of complaints of civil rights or civil liberties violations received between December 2002 and June 2003 by the Inspector General of the Dept. of Justice that were attributed to the Patriot Act.

Patriot Act complaints the Office of the Inspector General of the Dept. of Justiceconsidered "credible" between June 2002 and June 2003.

153

Number of anti-Patriot Act resolutions passed by local governments across the U.S. as of August 25th, 2003. Bill of Rights Defense Coalition (Bordc.org)

3162

House resolution number for the USA PATRIOT Act, passed by Congress Oct.25, 2001and signed into law by President Bush on October 31st, 2001

Article 19 (Universal Declaration of Human Rights): “Everyone has the right to freedomof opinion or expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information.”

1948

Universal Declaration of Human Rights, The U.N.