A procession led by the Zapotec community in Los Angeles, an indigenous people from Oaxaca, winded around the Liberal Arts Campus on Tuesday night where many students, faculty and their families showed up for the Day of the Dead event.
The event was put on in conjunction by three LBCC organizations, Siembra, a Latinx student-led organization; Aspire, a group to help first-years pursue educational goals; and Puente Club LBCC, a club centered around creating a community for students transferring to a 4-year college or university.
“It’s always been hard for disenfranchised communities, communities of color, to feel like they belong within an academic space, so having these events on campus is a way we can connect with the campus on a cultural level and also prepare ourselves to also be part of the academic life,” said Miguel Zavala, president of the Siembra Club, on the importance of having an event on campus.
The night started with a viewing of the Disney movie Coco, a story centered around the different facets of the holiday. Alfonso Uballe, the vice president of Aspire, welcomed everybody warmly and started the movie.
As the movie was wrapping up a conch shell echoed throughout the campus, signaling the beginning of the next portion of the event. The people exited the room and a large crowd grew encircling the group of Zapotecs invited to lead the procession.
Fidel Gomez, the Zapotec community leader, addressed the crowd while marigolds and tea lights were passed out to the audience and large incense burners were lit. Smoke billowed into the sky as they formed a large line, played music and waited to begin the procession.
Then they made their way from the M building to the E building with the procession burning the copal smoke (Indigenous term for scented smoke) and leaving cempasuchil (marigold) flower petals so the dead ancestors knew how to get to the altar. They carried a woven mat that symbolized all the ancestors in a “dead body.”
“We die three deaths, the first death is when our hearts beat no more – the second death is when no one alive will ever again see you in the physical form – the third death is when no one alive remembers your name, in essence when you’re forgotten.” said Eric Becerra, interim director of student equity, describing why Dia de los Muertos became an event.
Right before entering the building Gomez once again addressed the crowd, citing the importance of the procession and explaining the symbolism of why smoke and petals were used. The body has made it to its final destination of the night.
The procession entered the main hall which was ornately decorated by the student organizations, as the Zapotec people stood at the front of the room and addressed the audience. Gomez spoke in Zapotec and Spanish while a student helped translate into English.
He ripped corn kernels off a cob and dropped beans onto the body, so the spirits of the ancestors had something to eat when they arrived at the altar.
Then, executive vice president of student services Nohel C. Corral and Trustee Herlinda Chico each took the microphone and spoke to the people. They both had frames with a picture of a deceased loved one that they shared stories about and then placed it on the altar with other community members.
“What we’re doing now is to celebrate his life and celebrate his memory,” said Chico when speaking about her brother who died very recently and was her choice to put on the altar.
Then attendees were invited up to speak a loved one’s name, so they could be remembered, and share a little about them. Then they would place a tea light or flower on the altar for their person.
As attendees were taking turns speaking about their loved ones, food was distributed as a line of people formed at the station that served tamales, pan dulce, aguas frescas and champurrado.
The night began to wind down and the attendees were all mingling, sharing stories about loved ones that have passed, and making new connections and memories while remembering those that have left this world.
Tuesday was the main part of LBCC’s Day of the Dead celebration but in addition to the movie viewing and the procession on campus the students organized an involvement in the Pine Ave. parade in Downtown Long Beach on Saturday.