"Flowers, candles, copal (a resin burned as incense), salt, water, food: These are elements of Mother Earth calling to the dead," Patricia Flores said, listing items commonly displayed at an ofrenda, or home altar, for deceased loved ones during Día de los Muertos. Other items include pan dulce sweet breads and photos of the people who have passed and items they enjoyed in life, like their favorite foods, a musical instrument, or other loved belongings.
Celebrated Nov. 1 and 2, Día de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead, is a significant Mexican holiday to remember and honor those who have passed on. About 25 local organizations create colorful ofrendas on the top floor of El Centro de la Raza, and this year marks the 20th year of displaying ofrendas based on social justice themes. This year's theme is Semillas de Justicia: Luchando por Dignidad y Democracia (Seeds of Justice: Fighting for Dignity and Democracy). Organizations, such as National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), Northwest Immigrant Rights Project, Mothers Impacted by Gun Violence, Open Arms Perinatal Services, and others, are preparing ofrendas for the free festivities on Nov. 1 that include food and performances.
Maria Luisa Aguilera is a teacher at El Centro de la Raza's José Martí Child Development program and has been preparing the main ofrenda under a large photograph of the organization's founder, Roberto Maestas. She and her family hand-cut the papel picado, colorful papers that hang from the ceiling, representing the element of air. Aguilera pointed at the decorated handprints of each child in the José Martí program hanging from the ceiling. "They are our seeds of justice," she said.
Aguilera, from Auburn, wore a traditionally embroidered Michoacán huipil and Michoacán woven rebozo. She says she always wears traditional clothing to prepare the ofrenda. She says the ancestors guide her as she places items.
Veronica Gallardo is the director of facilities at El Centro de la Raza and has organized Día de los Muertos events at the organization since 2018. She studied how to organize them from the late Francisca Garcia, who began inviting organizations for the collaborative social-justice-themed ofrenda displays. Gallardo says Garcia taught her that the holiday is "celebrating life more than anything, in remembering those who have passed."
Gallardo's family arrived in the Pacific Northwest as refugees impacted by the Chilean Pinochet regime and settled in Rainier Beach in the 1970s. Dozens of other families arrived in Seattle and have stayed connected. Her father had been a city councilman in Los Muermos, Chile, and had been targeted by the Pinochet regime. He was tortured and sentenced to five years of imprisonment.
After arriving in Seattle, Gallardo's mother and father took English as a second language (ESL) classes at El Centro de la Raza and organized a Chilean school at the building.
Photos of Gallardo's father, Atilio Gallardo, and her brother, Dr. Gabriel Gallardo, are part of the Children of Chilean Refugees ofrenda.
Patricia Flores described NAMI's display as a three-tier ofrenda, crowned with a plaque of the NAMI founder. NAMI, which advocates for people navigating mental health issues and their families, was started in the 1970s by a Seattle mother, Eleanor Owen, who advocated for her son who had a mental illness. She worked to understand her son's condition and identify resources for him, and she influenced policies regarding mental health for decades. In 1979, Owen also played a key role in establishing the Downtown Emergency Service Center.
Flores works as a Spanish program coordinator and comes from a family of Mexican American farmworkers and organizers. She runs Floreciendo Juntos, a weekly online group in Spanish, so community members can gather, anonymously if they wish, to share and support each other.
"I tell them it's so important for us to speak, to give voice to our pain in a place where we can trust and not be judged, it's critical to our healing," Flores said.
Flores says some in the groups have said they don't have documents or insurance, and they want to see a therapist but don't have resources. Some aren't sending their kids to school, while others have groceries brought to them because of fear of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Flores says many people face overwhelming issues, including making family plans in case they're apprehended by ICE. She's received notes saying Floreciendo Juntos is a "refuge or a balm on a wound," and people call and text. She tells them, "I will not lose sight of you."
Flores says a photo of her mother will be incorporated into the ofrenda, along with pan dulce and tamales, which had always been highlights at family gatherings. Her mother had suffered post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and postpartum depression. Flores herself has been diagnosed with PTSD.
Flores sat with her hands in her lap. She looked out the window and cried. "The ofrenda is power and healing. Our ancestors are with us, and they're showing us the way," said Flores. "We know our assignment, and it's to save us and to heal us and that is going to happen by connecting to one another and facing the systemic challenges with all the power that we are together collectively."
In a bright corner of the hallway, Liz Huizar, executive director of Southeast Seattle Education Coalition (SESEC), an organization that advocates for equitable education systems, set out items for their ofrenda: pan dulce, or sweet breads; calacas, or skeleton figures of loved ones; images of national and local education leaders, like Aki Kurose, a South Ender whose namesake school is in Rainier Valley; and colorful tissue paper to make paper flowers.
Huizar, a daughter of Mexican immigrants, said a silla, or chair, is sometimes added to represent a place for the ancestors to rest. She noted that El Centro de la Raza's rental rooms include a life-sized colorful chair as a reminder at gatherings "that our ancestors built the table before us."
Huizar says this year's SESEC ofrenda theme is "keep our kids safe." As the organization's staff sat with this topic, they thought of the ICE raids near schools across the country. They considered the attack on trans and LGBTQ+ youth, the increased gun violence, and public safety issues. "We can't be passive at this time," Huizar said. "As we remember our ancestors, [we] celebrate their life and bring the work they had done into [the] present day. You will see that there will be underlying political messaging and things that need to be said today."
El Centro de la Raza's 20th Annual Día de los Muertos celebration takes place Saturday, Nov. 1, 12–6 p.m. at Plaza Roberto Maestas, 1600 S. Roberto Maestas Festival St.
This year's theme is "Semillas de Justicia: Luchando por Dignidad y Democracia" (Seeds of Justice: Fighting for Dignity and Democracy).
The ofrenda exhibit will remain open Nov. 3–21 on El Centro de la Raza's third floor, Monday–Friday, 11 a.m.–8 p.m. and Saturday, Nov. 8 and 15, 12–6 p.m.
Mail in your ballot or drop it off at a ballot box by 8 p.m. on Nov. 4.
The Seattle Channel offers a video voter's guide and an opportunity to watch footage of King County and Seattle candidates speak on how they hope to serve you.
The King County Elections site includes information about what's on the ballot, accessible voting options, and elections results.
As news of the loss of SNAP benefits due to the government shutdown heightened, Gov. Ferguson announced on Oct. 28 that Washington State will provide $2 million of funding per week to food banks until SNAP benefits are restored.
A King County map of area food banks gives the community options.
Halloween Parade and Trick-or-Treating
Oct. 31, 6–9 p.m.
Georgetown
Georgetown is hosting a free family event with decorated vehicles, giant puppets, bands, and candy.
Comet Lodge Haunt
Oct. 31, 5:30–9:30 p.m.
5923 21st Ave. S.
Located near Comet Lodge cemetery in Beacon Hill, Comet Lodge Haunt is a home haunt with a corn maze. Halloween candy is included.
Kent Station Haunted Boo-Levard
Oct. 31, 5–8 p.m.
417 Ramsey Way, Kent
Trick-or-treat at businesses, plus attend a Creepy CarnEvil with classic carnival games to win candy and prizes. Hosted by Kent Station Shopping Station (next to the Kent light rail station) and the City of Kent.
Bunka no Hi - Japanese Culture Day Festival
Nov. 2, 11 a.m.–5 p.m.
1414 S. Weller St.
From experiencing a Japanese tea ceremony to watching a sumo demonstration or learning about the Japanese approach to artfully mending broken pottery, ripped clothes, and paper products, the Japanese Cultural and Community Center of Washington hosts a cultural festival with food and music.
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