Pandemic Amplifies Meaning of Dia De Los Muertos This Year

Dia de los Muertos, the annual Latin American tradition of honoring
the dead, will take on a special significance this year, in which
the pandemic has created a collective sense of grief. While
coronavirus has impacted everyone, Latinos have disproportionately
felt the brunt of the pandemic both in terms of deaths and economic
hardship. Dia de los Muertos is, in essence, a time of confronting
death and remembering loved ones who have passed. In a society that
prefers to neglect feelings of grief, cultural and spiritual expert
Lara Medina says the tradition provides lessons in how to heal,
cope and understand death. With Dia de los Muertos approaching next
week, Medina joins us to talk about what the tradition can teach us
in a year so heavily marked by loss.