Ofrenda: A Decimation Of People, A Celebration Of Life

Texas Standard
10/30/2020

Radio newsrooms are usually busy places, bustling with activity. In 2020, the demands and the challenges we faced to get a good story on air triplicated -- we were working remotely, in the midst of a pandemic, with home Internet connections, and tenuous workflows. But even in these circumstances, there are still times when a special story comes up and a team just knows, deep in our bones, that we are going to have to do everything in our power to bring it to our audience.

That is what happened during a Texas Standard daily news meeting back in late September of 2020 when KUT Executive Editor Teresa Frontado mentioned the grim fact that Día De Los Muertos would be different that year. Yes, different in the way that all celebrations since the pandemic have been: fewer and smaller gatherings, masks, and face shields at those that happen at all. But also, unique because the core of this holiday is remembering those who have died. And, by most accounts, Latinos in Texas have been one of the hardest hit communities. For Día De Los Muertos 2020, many Latino families in the state would remember loved-ones that died only months, weeks, or even days earlier from the effects of the virus.

Latinos make up 40% of the population in Texas, yet they account for 52% of the COVID-19 fatalities in the state, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services. Even in the early stages of the pandemic, it became evident to health care professionals that communities of color in the state were suffering disproportionately. In fact, during an interview with the Texas Standard this summer, infectious disease expert Dr. Peter Hotez went as far as to say that COVID-19 has devastated, indeed “decimated” the Hispanic population in Texas and its effects would be felt for many years. That word, decimated, stuck with the Texas Standard team and helped shape the idea for this special.

We decided to use the elements of the traditional ofrenda or altar made in homes around Texas to celebrate Día de Los Muertos to tell the story of a community battling for its survival. Food, music, color, and a cultural element we called “reckoning,” were the avenues we used to show how the Latino community in the second most populous state in the country is coping with the effects of a deadly pandemic.

Latino culture is Texas culture. So, despite the challenges of a short preparation time (weeks instead of months to plan a special show), a team working in separate locations and doing so while also juggling other coverage of the pandemic and the leadup to the November election, we decided to pursue the beautiful idea of examining the horrific loss in the Latino community through the lens of a cultural celebration of the dead.

The next challenge was how to make this an audio story. Día De Los Muertos is a colorful feast for the eyes, full of textures. It also appeals to the sense of smell with the delicious aroma of Pan de Muerto and other delicacies. We were equipped to capture the sonic elements of the day -- but could we do it full justice? We believe our final result shows our team was up to the challenge.

We found a way to express the offerings in audio -- but something was missing. We also needed to address the loss. We knew that numbers alone couldn't express the disproportionate impact on the Latino community. We also agreed we needed to get personal: hear about individuals. But how to combine those two ideas to represent both magnitude and individual loss? Texas Standard producer Joy Díaz worked tirelessly to track down people who had lost loved ones, capture their stories, and then painstakingly whittle those remembrances down to just seconds. It was excruciatingly difficult but the result was what we needed: a mixture of voices of all kinds from all over Texas talking about the actual toll of the pandemic.

Our ofrenda was also an open one: we invited listeners to contribute their remembrances of loved ones through our social media pages -- and we heard from many. Though our program is presented in English, we also took the extra step to translate our work into Spanish online, to facilitate the distribution within the very community we were covering.

“Ofrenda: A Decimation Of People, A Celebration Of Life” was truly a labor of love; a pursuit of a beautiful idea despite all the challenges and the other demands for our attention. We tried to capture a moment in Texas history that we hope will not soon be repeated. We hope you will agree this work should be recognized and rewarded.

LINK to content online

Submitted by Laura Rice.