La Raza club hopes to bring culture, events

This month and into November, La Raza Student Union will be arranging events to honor the Day of the Dead celebration.

The holiday is of Mexican origin but is celebrated throughout Latin America.

For the past four years La Raza studies Chairperson Agustin Palacios has organized and planned campus events for the Day of the Dead.

“It’s a cultural event. Students tell me they’re Latinos but they don’t know much about their culture,” Dr. Palacios said.

This will be the second year Palacios plans a Day of the Dead celebration along with the LRSU.

The LRSU will host two events related to furthering student knowledge on the Day of the Dead celebration.

On Oct. 23 from 6 to 8 p.m. in the Recreation Room there will be a silk screening workshop where guest speakers and local Chicano artists Melanie Cervantes and Jose de Jesus Cervantes will share different types of Chicano art forms.

“We didn’t get enough people last year (for the lecture),” Palacios said, “I would like to see more people participating (this year).”

The hands-on workshop will have a Day of the Dead theme and give participating students the opportunity to create their own silkscreen prints.

The second event will be held in the Recreation Room on Nov. 1 from 1 to 3 p.m.

La Raza Student Union will be offering sugar skull candies, a traditional Mexican candy special to the Day of the Dead celebration that is meant to represent the soul of a dearly departed.

“Students will be able to decorate their sugar skull candies themselves,” La Raza Student Union member Charlene Cuellar said.

There will also be an open mic for any student who wants to recite a poem or share a song in respect and memory of a lost one, Palacios said.

La Raza Student Union hopes to have a folkloric dance performance over food and beverages that are yet to be decided.

Although the exact details for the Nov. 1 event are yet to be determined, LRSU leadership knows what it wants to accomplish.

“I want to see students from different ethnic backgrounds interact with one another,” Palacios said.

The Day of the Dead is meant to bring out culture on campus, ASU President of Clubs Esmeralda Frias said. “For us it’s very important to show that (Day of the Dead) is not to celebrate the dead, but to celebrate life and our ancestors.”