To Whom it May Concern:
Three weeks ago Semillas was once again to partake in the annual Dia de los Muertos commemoration in El Sereno by local community volunteer organizers. We were asked to "bless" the altar with danza Azteca and our children's offerings and our oral tradition and songs in Nahuatl. Since 2002, our school community has raised altares honoring our heroes, heroines, loved ones and fallen ones as we remembered and celebrated their long life and eternity. For the last five years we have led a pilgrimage throughout El Sereno and Ramona Grardena honoring fallen youth murdered by lack of love, opportunity, culture and education - stopping by so many street altars sown by their families to bring desperate meaning to their lives.
Two weeks ago we learned of a possible "beer and wine garden" actively being pushed allegedly by Hecho en Mexico, the local bar/taco stand. The organizers and all elected officials we contacted evaded our direct inquiries regarding the beer garden and ignored our clear and documented opposition to any such activity near our schools or as a part of such a sacred ceremony. Today, we learned that the organizers have capitulated to the bar/taco stand because they allegedly are sponsors of the street closure and have paid for the city permits. Additionally, we were told by both the organizers and city councilman staff contacts that the beer garden would be located on private property IMMEDIATELY ADJACENT TO OUR KINDERGARTEN. To us, this is unconscionable, reckless and irresponsible.
Due to the priority given to the sale of alcohol in this year's El Sereno "Dia de los Muertos"® and the lack of any community participation or public process, we cannot in good conscience encourage our children and families to participate in the event under these conditions. We will not initiate the ceremony under such indignant and disrespectful terms. We will not contribute to the confusion of our children, nor the lack of safety in our community. This was not the El Sereno organizers' original intent and it should not have been hijacked by a private interest and business elites trying to pad their wallets.
Hecho en Mexico's owners Jorge Bravo and Connie Castro's alleged insistence in strong-arming the organizers to allow a beer and wine garden, yards away from their own bar, surrounding our kindergarten campus effectively excludes Semillas Community Schools students from the event.
We know that thirteen years ago when Semillas first opened, ours was the only free, public community recognition of Dia de los Muertos in El Sereno. Today, as we look around L.A., we are witnessing art fairs, vendor booths, beer gardens and unscrupulous event promoters capitalizing on the ancient Mexican Azteca-Tolteca ceremony of Micailhuitl to turn it into a circus, freak show, vaudevillian modern alternative for the entrepreneurial hipster/chipster. This is not our way, nor does it honor the dozens of teens around El Sereno's streets that have been murdered within the last two years. We know that abstinence from alcohol during ceremony is a basic requirement to establish community respect. We also know that flauntingly promoting a culture of debauchery embeds the colonial mindset and encourages social, emotional and physical violence against women, children and families. Put simply, more alcohol equals more abuse. Shame on the elected officials and public authorities if they turn a blind eye to this degradation of our community, ceremonies, traditions, children and our dead.
Our students have still celebrated in school and will continue to learn about this important ceremonial cycle throughout the week- alcohol and abuse free.
!Que vivan los muertos!
Marcos Aguilar | Tlayecantzi
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