LOS ANGELES — With paper marigolds in hand, Suzie Ramirez is not only honoring her father, but many others whose lives were lost to traffic violence.

“You never really think that it is going to happen to you and your family,” said Ramirez. “When I found out what happened to my dad, I was in shock and it was totally unexpected.”

What You Need To Know

  • Paseo del Cempasuchil is an interactive art installation that will honor and raise awareness about victims of traffic violence

  • Now until Nov. 3 — residents are encouraged to mark where they have witnessed or experienced traffic violence incidents along a stretch of Cesar Chavez Avenue

  • Paper marigold flowers will mark those areas

  • Marigolds can be picked up at five Cesar Chavez Avenue businesses

Ramirez’s father, Sergio Iñiguez, was just 45 years old when he was hit and killed by a driver while on a walk. Nearly a decade since her father’s death — near misses happen often to Ramirez as she walks the streets of East LA.

“In broad daylight, just passing a crossing a street and a car just came head on toward me and actually hit the brakes hard,” said Ramirez. “I actually touched the front of their hood, so that was really scary.”

With Day of the Dead customs, plaques and altars — Los Angeles County and Public Matters — a civic engagement organization produced The Paseo Del Cempasuchil, an interactive art installation that will honor and raise awareness about victims of traffic violence.

The paseo derives from the Day of the Dead beliefs that spirits follow the fragrance of Cempasuchil, or marigold flowers.

For Shirley Rivera, creative civic engagement associate with Public Matters, the project will hit close to home for many in East LA.

“It’s just felt like a symbiotic relationship,” said Rivera. “We have memories of where you have almost crashed with someone. This is an easy way to tell your story.”

Now until Nov. 3, residents are encouraged to mark where they have witnessed or experienced traffic violence incidents along a stretch of Cesar Chavez Avenue with a paper marigold flower that can be picked up from:

  • East Los Tacos: 4500 E Cesar E Chavez Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90022
  • Alma Family Services: 4701 E Cesar E Chavez Ave, East Los Angeles, CA 90022
  • El Gallo Bakery: 4546 E Cesar E Chavez Ave, East Los Angeles, CA 90022
  • Mystyk Café: 346 N Ford Blvd, East Los Angeles, CA 90022
  • Zamora Bros: 4771 E Cesar E Chavez Ave.

Cesar Chavez Avenue is designated a “collision concentration corridor” by Vision Zero Los Angeles County and deemed one of the most unsafe streets in LA County.

With rush-hour traffic zooming by just a couple of feet away, Shirley adorns a make-shift altar with bright, yellow marigolds.

“This one is for 46-year-old Quincy Edward Jackson, killed on Oct. 24, 2020,” said Rivera. “This stretch of Cesar Chavez has a high number of those collisions and deaths.”

That stretch of Cesar Chavez Ave. is in the Maravilla neighborhood of East LA, a majority Mexican, working class neighborhood.

“You just put a yellow flower by where you have felt unsafe,” said Rivera. “We will collect that data and present that back to Public Works for their findings, reporting and their future infrastructure projects.”

Rivera says, ‘that one life taken to traffic violence is one too many’ and hopes this will get residents and drivers to care.

For Ramirez, the Paseo del Cempasuchil is doing more than just keeping the memory of her father alive…it’s giving her hope his story will help save lives on the streets of East LA.

“It still hurts that my dad passed away,” said Ramirez. “At the same time, events like this are raising awareness, commemorating those lives that have been lost; in a way, it’s empowering.”