Skeletons and MARIGOLDS

The theme for Sunday’s South Valley Día De Los Muertos Marigold Parade and Celebration was “Protect Our Sacred: ¡Lucha por lo que Amas!”

Participants in the 26th annual event, sponsored by La Raza Unida and Cambio, called on their ancestors in aiding their pursuit for justice.

Día de Los Muertos is an ancient tradition rooted in Mexico. It celebrates life and honors those who have passed on.

The South Valley celebration draws its influences from Jose Guadalupe Posada’s early 1900s portrayal of personalities and professions as skeletons or Calaveras. Posada depicted rich and poor alike as skeletons in ordinary and sometimes outrageous but tragic life settings.

GREG SORBER/JOURNAL The Reginald Chavez Elementary School float was festooned with skulls for the Día de Los Muertos Marigold Parade on Sunday in the South Valley.

Shayna Ernest of Albuquerque, a teacher at the Gordon Bernell Charter School, took part in Sunday’s parade.

Raven Del Rio of Albuquerque dressed in honor of her father, Herb Green, and drove his old truck in the parade.