How far I am from the land where I was born!
Immense nostalgia invades my thoughts
Seeing myself so alone and sad like a leaf in the wind
I would like to cry, I would like to die of feeling
Oh Land of the Sun! I long to see you
Now that I live far away without light, without love
And seeing myself so alone and sad like a leaf in the wind
I would like to cry, I would like to die of feeling
‒Mixtec Song (1915), José López Alavez, Oaxacan composer
Amidst the pain, memories and desolation, the flame of candles and hearts light the way in the hope of a better future. This is how dozens of residents, leaders and officials of Half Moon Bay gathered on Tuesday night to remember seven agricultural workers who are no longer in the community, after their lives were taken by one of their colleagues on January 23, 2023.
The date is marked, exactly one year after the tragedy that forever marked the coastal town of Half Moon Bay, the non-profit organization ALAS held a vigil to commemorate not the death, but the life of these seven workers who, above all, were friends, family, and a pillar to bring food to the tables of thousands when it was most needed.
Everyone arrived on time for the appointment, in the background you can hear a mariachi playing the tone for the ceremony that Helping Latinos Dream (ALAS), with support from the Latino Community Foundation, held an emotional event in which acquaintances of the victims spoke about the bonds forged and the memories that remain alive.
The event was attended by the city's mayor, Joaquín Jiménez; Sao Leng U, a worker from Self-Help for the Elderly; the director of ALAS, Belinda Hernández Arriaga, who led the event; and farmers from the Latino community, mostly Mexican, but also Chinese.
The event closed with the unveiling of an art piece called “Corazón de Campesino” (Peasant’s Heart) by Mexican artist Fernando Escartiz, a work that shows a heart with roots that symbolize the birthplace of the peasants, in this case Mexico and China. The heart has wings that symbolize migration, and all of it is crowned with a flame of fire that reflects the passion with which the peasants give themselves to the land; in the center of the heart, there is a vase to keep a fresh flower always as an invitation to remember what happened and prevent such a terrible act from happening again.
The heart, which emulates the Mexican “milagritos,” will be permanently at the entrance to the ALAS offices.
There was no shortage of food, somehow it always unites, gives and fills the soul. Tamalitos for everyone, from the classic ones with pork, to those for vegetarians, with spinach. Traditional sweet bread shells and delicious rice atole that, in the cold, warmed the soul.
No one was left out, the entire event was simultaneously translated into Spanish and Mandarin Chinese, because if anything broke down that tragedy, it was the language barriers.
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