The concept for Roots and Wings was planted in the late summer of 2018 as Antonio and his wife Georgia were flying back from their honeymoon on Vancouver Island in Canada. While there, Lopez picked up a free newspaper called The New Agora with an article about stepping into this new form of masculinity and fatherhood with a quote from Goethe that hit him in the gut. “There are only two lasting bequests we can hope to give our children, one of these is roots, the other, wings” (The New Angora). He read these words in the airplane, flying miles above the ground. Tearing up, Lopez reminisced about his childhood and all the sacrifices his parents made in order for him to have a better life than they had.
Lopez is the youngest of five children. His mother is a retired second grade school teacher who dedicated her life to educating generations of youth. She grew up the youngest of eleven children. Lopez’s father is an activist and attorney. He and his brother Reyes became lawyers in order to amplify the voices of oppressed people during the Chicano Civil Rights Movement in the 1960’s and 70’s. During this time, the FBI formed a secret branch called COINTELPRO, aimed at infiltrating and disrupting domestic social movements. They often used illegal tactics, and it is believed that these operations lead to the death of his uncle Reyes in a mysterious car bombing at Chautauqua Park in Boulder, CO in 1974. The way they tried to silence Lopez’s dad was trumping up false charges, forcing him into exile and into relinquishing his license to practice law for over ten years. He was later exonerated of all charges and gained his license back, but the shadows of those events still loom over the family.
