Thank you for this video. Many Mexican-Americans like myself have no idea what the traditions mean or what they truly are as they get blurred out by the cultural appropriation of it all. A few years back I went to Placita Olvera to their celebration and I wound up so confused. This video sheds some light to what I ignored. All I vaguely remember growing up were veladoras and food placed for our loved ones that have passed...nothing like what it is being portrayed by the mainstream media. Mil gracias.
Doctor Babelito, muchas gracias por esta lección. Hoy aprendí muchas cosas muy importantes sobre la celebración de “Día de los Muertos” que yo desconocía! Por favor siga lustrándonos con su conocimiento! Excelente presentación, felicidades!!
Thank you for this! I am a first generation Mexican-American and did not grow up celebrating Día de los muertos. The tradition fell by the waist side when my parents migrated to the United States and they began to assimilate. My sister had a baby late last year and she will be a year old next week. I have thought about celebrating Día de los muertos for the first time, as I would like to have her grow up with the same tradition, my parents had growing up. It feels a bit performative on my end, as this isn’t a holiday I have ever celebrated. But I feel it is important to keep tradition alive (especially with her being second generation American). This video helped me learn a lot about the history of the holiday and makes me feel better about how to approach my first altar. Gracias Babelito and Unsettling Journeys!
Dia de Muertos has definitely been appropriated (for good or bad) as a celebration of identity in the United States. I remember going to a day of the dead parade in New Mexico. It was awesome!!! Low riders and entire families in skull face! However, given the fact, and as you mention, that it is not a nationwide holiday, we need to be more conscious of the ways we celebrate it, and the history behind such a complex day. Thank you for your comment!!! Saludos desde Califas!
This was such a great lecture! I grew up in both Guadalajara and in the US and I remember celebrating a more muted Día de Muertos (usually just a small altar in the home and maybe a visit to the cemetery for those that had loved ones there). I started celebrating it again as an adult maybe a bit over 10 years ago as a way to cope with the death of some loved ones. Thank you for diving into the complexity of this holiday and especially the erasure of its indigenous practices. This year we are doing an altar building event in my neighborhood to help honor folks that have died due to police brutality and Covid (which now I know traditional practices say it should have been for next year 😅). I can’t wait to share this lecture with our organizing team so that we can be more intentional about the space we create. I admit I love the movie Coco but I agree it’s important to be critical of the narrative that is being sold. I can’t wait to further research what you discussed and add this video to our resource list to share with the community. ¡Gracias!
Hola Kari, we are very grateful for your comment and your support. Very happy to see that our videos are useful and have real-life applications. We love to hear you will share with your community especially those in charge of creating these types of events. Salduos y abrazos and please make sure to share and subscribe!
Hey there! I just have to say thank you! I sat through this entire video and left understanding so much more about the complexity of how indigenous people celebrated Día de los Muertos pre columbian times and how it drastically changed afterwards. I was also so thrilled to see and learn more about how Huaquechula celebrates and how their altars and traditions vary from other regions. That’s where my grandparents live and where my mother is from so it’s great to learn more than the surface stuff I knew. I definitely understand why Coco is problematic and that package analogy is great and really stuck with me. Similar to the comment from Bryan as I look to start my own family and as I continue unlearning a lot what I believed made up my identity as “latina” and look to educate myself and focus on the indigenous roots of my heritage I wonder how I can celebrate without continuing to buy into this fantasy and exploitation of día de los muertos.
This is so beautiful. Thank you Maria, there should be no fear in celebrating our indigenous legacy, we just need to be critical in the ways we do it and the reasons why we do it. Thank you for your comment!
Love your work so much tysm❤❤
Great episode! Mezcal and Double IPA's, noted.
Thank you for this video. Many Mexican-Americans like myself have no idea what the traditions mean or what they truly are as they get blurred out by the cultural appropriation of it all. A few years back I went to Placita Olvera to their celebration and I wound up so confused. This video sheds some light to what I ignored. All I vaguely remember growing up were veladoras and food placed for our loved ones that have passed...nothing like what it is being portrayed by the mainstream media. Mil gracias.
Maribel!!!! Muchas gracias por tus comments!!! They mean the world to us, share subscribe and keep commenting!!!!
Actualmente, las celebraciones culturales y tradicionales se han convertido en un espectáculo para el turismo.
Gran video profesor.
Doctor Babelito, muchas gracias por esta lección.
Hoy aprendí muchas cosas muy importantes sobre la celebración de “Día de los Muertos” que yo desconocía!
Por favor siga lustrándonos con su conocimiento!
Excelente presentación, felicidades!!
Thank you for this! I am a first generation Mexican-American and did not grow up celebrating Día de los muertos. The tradition fell by the waist side when my parents migrated to the United States and they began to assimilate.
My sister had a baby late last year and she will be a year old next week. I have thought about celebrating Día de los muertos for the first time, as I would like to have her grow up with the same tradition, my parents had growing up.
It feels a bit performative on my end, as this isn’t a holiday I have ever celebrated. But I feel it is important to keep tradition alive (especially with her being second generation American).
This video helped me learn a lot about the history of the holiday and makes me feel better about how to approach my first altar.
Gracias Babelito and Unsettling Journeys!
Dia de Muertos has definitely been appropriated (for good or bad) as a celebration of identity in the United States. I remember going to a day of the dead parade in New Mexico. It was awesome!!! Low riders and entire families in skull face! However, given the fact, and as you mention, that it is not a nationwide holiday, we need to be more conscious of the ways we celebrate it, and the history behind such a complex day. Thank you for your comment!!! Saludos desde Califas!
This was such a great lecture! I grew up in both Guadalajara and in the US and I remember celebrating a more muted Día de Muertos (usually just a small altar in the home and maybe a visit to the cemetery for those that had loved ones there). I started celebrating it again as an adult maybe a bit over 10 years ago as a way to cope with the death of some loved ones. Thank you for diving into the complexity of this holiday and especially the erasure of its indigenous practices. This year we are doing an altar building event in my neighborhood to help honor folks that have died due to police brutality and Covid (which now I know traditional practices say it should have been for next year 😅). I can’t wait to share this lecture with our organizing team so that we can be more intentional about the space we create. I admit I love the movie Coco but I agree it’s important to be critical of the narrative that is being sold. I can’t wait to further research what you discussed and add this video to our resource list to share with the community. ¡Gracias!
Hola Kari, we are very grateful for your comment and your support. Very happy to see that our videos are useful and have real-life applications. We love to hear you will share with your community especially those in charge of creating these types of events. Salduos y abrazos and please make sure to share and subscribe!
Hey there!
I just have to say thank you! I sat through this entire video and left understanding so much more about the complexity of how indigenous people celebrated Día de los Muertos pre columbian times and how it drastically changed afterwards.
I was also so thrilled to see and learn more about how Huaquechula celebrates and how their altars and traditions vary from other regions. That’s where my grandparents live and where my mother is from so it’s great to learn more than the surface stuff I knew.
I definitely understand why Coco is problematic and that package analogy is great and really stuck with me. Similar to the comment from Bryan as I look to start my own family and as I continue unlearning a lot what I believed made up my identity as “latina” and look to educate myself and focus on the indigenous roots of my heritage I wonder how I can celebrate without continuing to buy into this fantasy and exploitation of día de los muertos.
This is so beautiful. Thank you Maria, there should be no fear in celebrating our indigenous legacy, we just need to be critical in the ways we do it and the reasons why we do it. Thank you for your comment!