Honoring the pedestrians who have died in 2024 at Día de Muertos in the Tenderloin
On November 1, Walk SF created an altar to honor pedestrians who died in 2024 as part of Day of the Dead – Día de Muertos – at the celebration held in the Tenderloin this year.
The location was a poignant one, in part because the ‘Golden Gate Greenway’ is a section of car-free space for community events in the neighborhood.
It was also a poignant location because the Tenderloin has long suffered more traffic deaths than any other neighborhood in the city due to decades of prioritizing vehicles over the people who live there, most of whom don’t even own a car.
The advocacy community groups, the Tenderloin Traffic Safety Task Force, and Walk SF have won meaningful changes – including 20 MPH speed limits and no-turn-on-red on all streets, plus major redesigns of the most dangerous streets – and fewer crashes in recent years. But it’s been a long road.
The Tenderloin neighborhood is very aware of this. Many people shared gratitude for Walk SF’s presence and altar for the 21 pedestrians who have died so far in 2024.
There was one conversation I won’t forget: when a child asked their mother, “Why are there baby shoes here?”
The mother paused. Then she replied, “Well, this year we had a family in West Portal get hit by a car, they had kids, and they all passed away from that crash. The shoes are here to remember them. The altar is here to help us understand that we all need safe streets and it’s the job of our city and everyone on the street to make sure we can cross it safely.”
Thank you to everyone who visited our altar, and the conversations and powerful healing energy from the event with the ancestral blessings, dancing to live music, skeleton face paintings, the delicious food, cheering on the Luchadores (Mexican wrestlers) during their matches, and the beautiful decorations.
We are grateful to the Tenderloin Community Benefit District and all the organizers for inviting us to attend.
This Sunday offers a chance to honor all those hurt and killed in traffic crashes. The broader community is strongly encouraged to attend in solidarity for a candlelit vigil at a temporary memorial on the steps of City Hall.
Please join us at World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims on Sunday, November 17th from 5:00 – 6:00PM.
Banner image by Fiona Yim
