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For members of (un)Occupy Albuquerque, the Marigold Parade is something deeper than an annual Mexican tradition.
Armed with signs and fake money, (un)Occupy members marched along Isleta Boulevard on Sunday, to protest against the U.S.’s Mexican border policies as part of this year’s Día de Los Muertos celebrations.
“There’s tons of border injustice,” said Ruben Pacheco, a UNM alumnus and member of the local activist organization. “A part of celebrating death for Día de Los Muertos also includes immigrants who have lost their lives crossing their borders unnecessarily and unjustly. Our border policies cause so many unintended consequences.”
Sean Potter, a UNM student and group member, said this is the third-straight year that (un)Occupy has participated in the parade. He said the organization has marched since its formation in 2011 and last year it protested the construction of the Keystone XL Pipeline.
Potter said (un)Occupy protests during the parade because it is an effective way of raising awareness among Albuquerque residents.
He said his organization urges the U.S. government to tear down the Mexican border and to stop undermining Mexican immigrants in the country.
“The theme of the parade is ‘Sin Papeles, Sin Miedo’ (‘Without papers, Without fear),” he said. “Our ancestors are our documentation. It’s challenging borders and challenging states to do something that we really support.”
Darcy Brazen, one of the organizers of the Marigold Parade, said the parade has traditionally featured political groups. She said she has participated in the parade for five years and has been helping organize it for two years.
“Día de Los Muertos, as I know, has always been a politically motivated event,” she said. “People have come addressing political inequalities in this event.”
Members of (un)Occupy carried protest signs and placards while walking the parade. The organization also distributed fake paper money to symbolize how corporations support the border because they earn from it, said Julie Jaynes, a UNM student with (un)Occupy.
Jaynes said the organization stands behind undocumented immigrants who are “being arrested, being deported, being split up from their family members, being put in jail, being racially profiled.”
She said the U.S. should be more inclusive and demolish the border.
“We shouldn’t be split up by fake borders, especially those imposed by our governments,” she said. “Our communities are stronger than that. We are all one people. States are false and they just work to divide our communities.”
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Still, she does not expect politicians and companies to react to (un)Occupy’s message.
“I don’t necessarily expect them to address this effectively because there’s a lot of money being made,” she said. “A lot of corporations are building a lot of money building the wall and security systems that go into detaining immigrants.”
Jaynes said her organization will continue protesting the border locally and will participate in next year’s parade as well.
“Unless the borders are down,” she said.
