The neighborhood of Gardere has had a reputation in the past for being an area of high crime and violence. But a few are trying to unite the area by drawing attention to victims of violence through the celebration of the Mexican holiday Día de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead.
It's a Sunday at Hartley/Vey park on Gardere Lane, and a good sized crowd of Mexican and Central Americans are gathered to watch a soccer game. But away from all the action on the field, Melissa Yarborough and her husband David Hernandez are carefully placing framed photographs.
“This is a picture of David’s dad, Bonifacio Hernandez-Hernandez," says Melissa, showing me the photograph. "He died young in a car accident in Mexico City, he was actually riding with the band. A few of the band members died in that accident in ‘94, and we’re putting him - we always put him on the altar every year. And there he is with his guitar in hand.”
The altar is an ofrenda, or an offering for the deceased. It’s essential for celebrating Día de los Muertos. Among the photos are old black & whites of Melissa’s grandparents and a picture of David’s former teacher. Colored candles are placed on the corners, cempasúchils in the middle (the flowers of the dead) and all around the ofrenda - food.
“The food mostly has to relate to the people who you are making the altar for," says David*. "If they liked tequila, you put out tequila. If they liked tamales, you put out tamales. And you put out the things they liked in life.”
For this ofrenda David and Melissa have orange sodas and satsumas; pink and white chicklet candies; green cactus fruit, ripe guava, hard baked bread, bottles of beer, and fresh tamales.
“In Mexico it becomes an all night thing, a velorio they call it," says Juan Cruz, a public health planner in the area who organizes the Día de los Muertos event. (Later, Cruz said he misspoke; it is a velación, a vigil, rather than a velorio.) "And they spend all night in the cemeteries with the food and drink of the person (who has) passed on, and if it gets stale or cold, and the beer gets flat then you know that the ‘animas’, the spirits have passed through and have enjoyed their favorite drink. They appreciate that.”
This is the second year Juan’s forming the event. The ofrendas are new, but the purpose is the same. “It’s about the Gardere," says Juan. "A public event recognizing our dead who are important to us would be one way of beginning to sort of weave community. And so it’s African-Americans who have been murdered and died violently, and also Latino’s who have died violently. I think that Día de los Muertos was a good way of beginning to do another level of protest of the violence and protest of the unsafe conditions in the neighborhood.”
To the left of the ofrenda is a banner reading “We Remember (Recordamos a) Barbara, Hancy, Malcolm.” Barbara Jacobs was hit by two cars while riding her bike down Gardere lane and was killed. Malcolm Johnson was killed in a shooting, and Hancy Sanchez was robbed and fatally shot while standing on his front porch. All three were honored at last year’s event.
Día de los Muertos is celebrated on November 2nd; and today, despite two weeks of poor weather and postponements, a very small crowd gathers to remember them.
“Death is always around us," Juan says, addressing the small crowd. "It’s part of our life. And everybody dies, we all die. It’s learning to understand that they're not gone - nobody is gone unless they are forgotten. So we’re remembering Hansy, and Barbara, and Pompeii, and Franco, and Malcolm. We’re remembering them. It’s a good thing.”
While it is a Mexican holiday with Aztec traditions, Juan feels the message of Día de los Muertos is something that can be learned not just in Gardere, but in Baton Rouge.
“You’re from where your people are buried," Juan says. "So that’s your roots. It’s almost literal. Because if you’re rooted, if you feel like you have some roots, you have a commitment; and if you have a commitment to a place then you’re more willing to keep it clean, you’re more willing to help your neighbor. If you’re just floating through, if you don’t have any roots then it’s easier to pick up and leave and not deal with the issues that are there. And it’s all about that - it’s about really getting people to commit and stay committed to a community and feel like it’s worth it to stay here.”
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*Special thanks to Francisco Nieto for helping interpret David Hernandez.