Fernanda Gonzalez
“Altar de muertos” is displayed in the Edinburg campus library. The Center for Mexican American Studies decorated the altar, which was on display from Oct. 24 to last Friday.
With more than 150 generations commemorating “El Dia de los Muertos,” the Center for Mexican American Studies joined in the celebration by placing an altar in the Edinburg campus library.
A Mexican American Studies club, LUCHA, which stands for “La Unión Chicanx Hijxs de Aztlán,”was in charge of organizing the altar.
Interdisciplinary studies graduate student and Secretary of LUCHA Kimberly Grimaldo elaborated on the meaning behind the name of the organization.
“We named it LUCHA after the movement that was striked to help and preserve our voice and experiences,” Grimaldo said. “As most of the community is of Mexican-American descent, we are trying to bring a lot of our culture [and] our history to events like this.”
English graduate student and Treasurer of LUCHA Gaby Casas explained how the student body was included in this event.
“We had several classes that they made their own little altars and they were able to go and put them out on display,” Casas said. “It’s part of the culture, especially living so close to the border. So, it was something that should have been celebrated, acknowledged.”
Grimaldo spoke about the process of creating the altar and how planning began in early September.
“One of the first things we did was actually making cempazuchitl flowers out of tissue paper,” she said. “So, we had one meeting where we all got together and learned how to make them. After, we also started wrapping boxes in wrapping paper and we just started adding little things like that. When it came time to put the altar together, we went to the library and we set it up.”
Interdisciplinary studies graduate student, poet and member of LUCHA Rolando Serna explained the celebration of “Dia de los Muertos” in a poem he wrote.
“We celebrate our ancestors and we acknowledge them,” Serna said. “We celebrate the dead so that the living can continue the journey they started. We recognize that without their struggles we would not be here. For that, we thank them.”
This is Fernanda Gonzalez for Vaquero Radio.
