Julisa Garcia is a Xicana, Puerto Rican and the founder and creator of a beautiful jewelry and accessory line titled “Soldadera.” She is based out of San José, California and presented her collection in events hosted at USF. She identifies with her Afro-Latino roots and has utilized the struggles and culture of that identity as inspiration to make her jewelry. Julisa’s personal politics come out in her work as well as her Instagram page ShopSoldadera. She fights for social justice and identifies with the name of her jewelry line; she is a soldier. Her line includes bamboo and door knocker earrings, necklaces in bold print, purses with cultural textiles, and headscarves in various colors among other things. She attends different cultural festivals and sets up her stand ready to sell her unique creations.

Julisa started out making her jewelry as gifts to friends for special occasions. Her friends' love of her gifts and their encouragement continued to push her to selling to a bigger audience. One of Julisa’s friends sells vintage items at festivals and thought it would be great to bring her along to showcase her jewelry. During the middle of the week her friend told her to have some of her pieces ready to sell on Saturday. Julisa didn’t have a choice and found herself selling her jewelry at her friend’s stand. This was the beginning of "Soldadera"'s sales.

She started to sell more and more but hadn’t come with a name for her brand. She had suggestions from friends that were cute, but weren’t what she had in mind. Julisa wanted something that would honor her culture and her personal politics. Then, one day, she thought of the word soldadera. She loved the idea of having the name of her brand as something that would represent her Latin roots as well as the meaning behind the word, which she related to a freedom fighter.

It is almost impossible to walk past Julisa’s work without wanting to stop by and check it out. The prints she uses are very catchy and appealing to the eye. Her bamboo and door knocker earrings are covered with fabric that looks like colorful sarapes. Even the table cover has funky fabric that ties in nicely with her collection.

The word soldadera comes from the time of the Mexican revolution. Women fought alongside men and helped the soldiers by cooking, washing clothes, and giving medical attention during the fight. Another name that is associated with soldaderas is "Adelitas". The most iconic image of an Adelita or soldadera is of a Mexican woman in battle gear. Her look consisted of braids along her shoulders, a blouse, and a skirt down to the floor. A bandolier sat across their chest as they stood tall holding a rifle ready to defend their beliefs. The history of soldaderas reminds Julisa of strong independent women fighting for freedom and she wanted to interpret that definition through her pieces. Many of the pieces are bold in color and print which confident women today can wear and be proud of the fabric that ties back to their Latino or African roots. 

The Soldadera collection varies with different prints and fabrics in all colors, shapes, and sizes. A lot of the fabric she uses has a Latino style to it as well as African inspired prints. Often times these prints create a unique combination that spark conversations and sales of her hand-crafted pieces. Julisa gets her fabric from several fabric stores and buys whatever catches her eye. She’s had luck with her friend’s trips to Latin America and has requested them to bring back some new material.

Julisa’s collection will be showcased at Galeria de la Raza in the Mission district in San Francisco starting March 26th through June 2015. Besides Instagram, she currently does not have a website but hopes to open an account on Etsy where she will be able to start her journey of online sales. I wish good things for Julisa and Soldadera.