On Sunday, October 29th, Oakland’s Fruitvale district was dotted with bright orange marigold flowers and filled with the smell of incense as thousands converged for the annual Day of the Dead festival, which spanned seven blocks of International Boulevard.

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This year, El Tímpano set up a community altar called “Garden of Memories” where we invited festival attendees to write the names and memories of deceased loved ones on paper flowers. Parents and kids reflected on grandparents, some people honored friends and family lost to COVID-19, and others remembered groups of people like the desaparecidos of Mexico and the victims of the war in Palestine. More than 250 people participated over the course of the day, including several subscribers of El Tímpano’s SMS platform who brought portraits of their family members for our altar. 

El Tímpano’s Hiram Alejandro Durán captured our booth in photos.

Left: A participant writes several short affectionate messages to her deceased grandparents and best friend. Right: Sammy writes, “Tio Miguel, Thank you for being the best tio and making all of us happy with your bright smile.” Credit: Hiram Alejandro Durán for El Tímpano/CatchLight Local/Report for America corps member
Young participants often needed the help of their relatives to spell out the names of their deceased loved ones. Some drew dotted lines to keep their writing straight and consistent. Credit: Hiram Alejandro Durán for El Tímpano/CatchLight Local/Report for America corps member

I’m honoring my son Diego Canto, who died on April 22nd of this year. At 14 years old he liked Hot Cheetos, Cheetos, picosos, burritos, and he also liked music. I love my son Diego.

Maribel Padilla, San Leandro
Maribel Padilla holds a portrait of her son, Diego Canto, who passed away earlier this year. Credit: Hiram Alejandro Durán for El Tímpano/CatchLight Local/Report for America corps member
Several El Tímpano subscribers brought framed pictures of their loved ones along with small trinkets of what they enjoyed most throughout their lives to place at a community altar near the intersection of International Boulevard and 39th Ave. Credit: Hiram Alejandro Durán for El Tímpano/CatchLight Local/Report for America corps member
Mothers and fathers helped their children articulate what they miss and feel about their deceased loved ones. Credit: Hiram Alejandro Durán for El Tímpano/CatchLight Local/Report for America corps member

I’m honoring my mom Irma Embriz – she would buy me chocolate-covered strawberries and a small pudding. And my father-in-law, Gustavo Velásquez, who left us this year.

Felícitas Embriz, Oakland
Felícitas Embriz stands by the paper flower displaying a remembrance of her mother, Irma Embriz, and father-in-law, Gustavo Velásquez. Credit: Hiram Alejandro Durán for El Tímpano/CatchLight Local/Report for America corps member
A family brainstorms a collective message to their deceased loved ones. Hiram Alejandro Durán for El Tímpano/CatchLight Local/Report for America corps member

I want to honor the missing people who were dismembered in Mexico, to remember the injustice.

Luis HernÁndez, San Leandro
A passerby becomes emotional as she reads some of the messages posted on the “Garden of Memories” wall on Sunday, October 29. Credit: Hiram Alejandro Durán for El Tímpano/CatchLight Local/Report for America corps member

I’m honoring my mother, remembering that when she saw me returning from work she had my food served. May God hold all the faithful deceased who have gone before us in his Holy Glory.

Maria de los Ángeles, Oakland
María de los Ángeles holds the paper flower with her remembrance of her mother. Credit: Hiram Alejandro Durán for El Tímpano/CatchLight Local
Left: José Francisco Velásquez rests his hand on a portrait of his late father, Gustavo Velásquez. Hiram Alejandro Durán for El Tímpano/CatchLight Local/Report for America corps member

I’m honoring my dad Joaquin Vásquez. I would ask him for a soda and he would buy me a carton of 24 sodas. I’m named after him.

Joaquin Vásquez, Alameda

Hiram Alejandro Durán is an award-winning photojournalist from the El Paso-Ciudad Juárez border region. Durán is a fourth-generation Mexican-American and the first person in his family to be raised and educated in the United States. Before moving to NYC in 2018, he worked as a shoe salesman while studying Media Advertising and Marketing at the University of Texas at El Paso. Durán joined the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism with the intention of becoming a print reporter. But, after auditing an intro to photojournalism course, he discovered the power of photography as a storytelling tool. His work has been featured in The New York Times, The Marshall Project, The Pulitzer Center, The Imprint News, Bklyner and The Mail & Guardian in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Katherine Nagasawa is a multimedia journalist who specializes in participatory storytelling rooted in community and place. She creates multimedia stories, tools and experiences that help people more deeply engage with the places they live and with each other — and she invites them to collaborate with her to shape the projects’ direction, content and presentation. Katherine was previously a digital and engagement producer at WBEZ public radio in Chicago, where she helped answer people’s questions about Chicago and the region for the show Curious City. She also led community engagement strategy for WBEZ’s newsroom to expand the reach, relevance, and impact of their journalism to racial communities historically underserved by the station. Most recently, Katherine produced several interactive web curriculums about Japanese American World War II incarceration and resettlement to Chicago and the Midwest Japanese American movement for redress and reparations.