Dear Sisters and Brothers

Remembering uncles, aunts, friends, relatives and loved ones that have passed on is both painful, but inspiring in terms of keeping their memory alive. On this day, EL Dia de Los Muertos, I hope that we can all take time out to remember those who have passed on, but have left an imprint in our hearts.

It may not even be someone we knew such as Haydee Santamaria, a freedom fighter from Cuba, or El Hajj Malik El Shabbazz, also known as Malcolm X, but they still touched us in one way or another.

I pause, with you, to honor those who have gone on and have enriched our lives in so many precious ways.

I have enclosed a little information on Dia De Los Muertos from Latino.com.

Peace and Blessings to all.

Cesar A. Cruz -Teolol

- I remember my physical father and his passing.
- I remember my uncles and aunts who have passed on.
- I remember a high school friend, Jaime Villa, and his passing.
- I remember so many that have been gunned down in senseless street warfare.
- I remember so many victims of malnutrition, police violence, natural disasters, and lack of care.
- I remember so many political victims tortured.
- I remember the dead babies at U.S./Mexico border.
- I remember the dead from warfare (overt and covert).
- I remember.

El Dia de los Muertos: A Day to Remember
By Latino.com Staff (c)Latino.com

When the Spanish conquistadores landed in what is now Mexico more than five centuries ago, they came across natives practicing a ritual that seemed to poke fun at death.
It was a ritual the indigenous people had been practicing for at least 3,000 years -- a ritual the Spaniards would unsuccessfully attempt to abolish.
The ritual has come to be known as El Dia de los Muertos. The holiday is a time when many Mexican families set up home altars dedicated to the spirits of their deceased loved ones. Family members honor the dead with ofrendas or offerings, which may consist of food and drink, photographs, bread, flowers, toys and other symbolic items.
Unlike the Spaniards and many other Europeans who view death as the end of life, the natives viewed it as the continuation of life. Instead of being afraid of death, they embraced it.
But the Spaniards considered the ritual to be sacrilege and pagan. In their attempts to convert the indigenous people to Catholicism, the Spaniards tried to stop them from practicing their homage to the dead. In an effort to make the ritual more Christian, the Spaniards made it coincide with All Saints Day and All Souls Day (Nov. 1 and 2), which is when it is celebrated today. Previously, honoring the deceased took place during the ninth month of the Aztec solar calendar, approximately the month of August.
Today, El Dia de los Muertos is celebrated in Mexico and in certain parts of Central America and the United States. Children who have passed on, referred to as angelitos, are remembered on the first day of November. Adults are honored on Nov. 2.
In Mexico, people visit the cemetery where their loved ones are buried. They decorate gravesites with marigold flowers and candles, and bring toys for dead children and bottles of tequila to adults. They sit on picnic blankets next to gravesites and eat the favorite food of their loved ones and interact socially with other family and community members who gather at the cemetery.

Cesar A Cruz - teolol