“ARTS IN SOLIDARITY” Benefit Concert for an Immigrant Legal Defense Fund at Alhambra Palace Restaurant – Chicago, IL

“ARTS IN SOLIDARITY”

A Benefit Concert for Immigrant Legal Defense.

Proceeds to The Midwest Immigrant Bail Fund

Sunday, September 7, 2025

5:00 PM – 9:00 PM

Alhambra Palace Restaurant

1240 W. Randolph St., Chicago, IL 60607

$25 suggested donation/ no one turned away

ABOUT THE EVENT

An ad-hoc volunteer collective of local arts presenters and advocates has come together to raise funds for legal defense and to speak out against the ongoing persecution of our family, friends, and neighbors by law enforcement agencies—often without due process. This group has curated a powerful event featuring cultural voices from across the community. All proceeds will support legal expenses resulting from detentions and prosecutions.

The event will take place in the beautiful Alhambra Palace Restaurant in downtown Chicago.

Participating artists confirmed to date are:

CARPACHO Y SU SUPER COMBO

LOS PLENEROS DE DON SEGUNDO

SURABHI ENSEMBLE

AFROCOLOMBIAN BAND “EPA!”

DAMON LOCKS

LUIS TUBENS – Emcee

Speakers confirmed to date::

AISLINN PULLEY

ALEJANDRA OLIVA

Il. STATE SENATOR GRACIELA GUZMÁN

JORGE MUJICA

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

LOS PLENEROS DE DON SEGUNDO

Born at the Segundo Ruiz Belvis Cultural Center (SRBCC), Los Pleneros de Don Segundo have been performing original plena music in Chicago since 2016. They have become one of the city’s most sought-after Afro-Puerto Rican folkloric groups, known for their commitment to advancing the genre through original compositions and arrangements, and a celebration of plena as music of resistance.

SURABHI ENSEMBLEThe Surabhi Ensemble is a Chicago-based world music collective that blends diverse musical traditions, including Indian, Arabic, African, and Spanish flamenco. Founded by Saraswathi Ranganathan (veena) and Carlo Basile (guitar) and featuring Ronnie Malley (oud) and Bob Garrett (percussion) along with special guests, the ensemble tastefully fosters cross-cultural connections through music and dance. The ensemble often incorporates traditional dance forms from various cultures into their music performances.

CARPACHO Y SU SUPER COMBO

Carpacho y su Super Combo is a fun, high-energy group specializing in Colombian Salsa and other Tropical dance styles like Cumbia, Merengue, Latin Jazz, and Cha Cha. Carpacho y su Super Combo started in 1986 with a main idea of integrating the band with musicians and sounds from various Latin American countries including Puerto Rico, Ecuador, and Colombia.

AFROCOLOMBIAN BAND “EPA!”

Ecos del Pacifico Afrocolombia is a Chicago-based group formed in 2006 by Julio Cesar Montaño Montenegro and steeped in the Afro-Colombian music and dance traditions of the Pacific coast of Colombia.

The group features members of the Montaño Arboleda family and a diverse complement of Chicago musicians of various ethnicities performing on traditional Afro-Colombian percussion, marimba, guitar, clarinet, and bass. Ecos del Pacifico focuses on the Pacific cost sounds of Currulao, one of the most African influenced-styles in all of Colombia, The music is centered around a drum known as a “cununo”, which superficially resembles the “alegre” drum (used in Cumbia), and a shaker known in parts of Colombia as a “guasá” or “guache”, and Colombian marimba, a wooden xylophone which resembles the African balafon.

DAMON LOCKS featured DJ

Damon Locks is a Chicago-based visual artist, educator, vocalist/musician and DJ. He attended the Art Institute of Chicago where he received his BFA in fine arts. Since 2014 he has been working with the Prisons and Neighborhood Arts Project at Stateville Correctional Center teaching art. He is a 2025 recipient of the Creative Capital Award. In 2017 he became a Soros Justice Media Fellow. He received a Helen Coburn Meier and Tim Meier Achievement Award in the Arts in 2015. In 2019, he became a 3Arts Awardee. He spent 4 years as an artist in residence as a part of the Museum of Contemporary Arts’ SPACE Program, introducing civically engaged art into the curriculum at Sarah E. Goode STEM Academy High School. He teaches Improvisation in the Sound Department at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Damon leads the Black Monument Ensemble, is a member of New Future City Radio, Exploding Star Orchestra and co-founded the band The Eternals.

EMCEE: LUIS TUBENS

Luis Tubens, a.k.a “Logan Lu”, was born in Chicago’s West Town neighborhood and raised in Logan Square. In 2014, he earned a B.A. in Communications, media and theater from Northeastern Illinois University. Luis has performed poetry across the United States including with the GUILD COMPLEX, Tia Chucha Press, and the National Museum of Mexican Art.

ABOUT THE SPEAKERS

ALEJANDRA OLIVA, MIBF BOARD CO-VICE PRESIDENT

Alejandra Oliva is the Co-Vice President of the Midwest Immigration Bond Fund, as well as the author of the book Rivermouth: A Chronicle of Language, Faith and Migration.

AISLINN PULLEY

Aislinn Pulley is a co-executive director of the Chicago Torture Justice Center founded out of the historic 2015 reparations ordinance for survivors of Chicago police torture. Aislinn is also the co-founder of Black Lives Matter Chicago.

Il. STATE SENATOR GRACIELA GUZMÁN

Graciela Guzmán (she/her/ella) serves as the state senator for District 20 and as an organizer for the Chicago Teachers Union. Before becoming state senator, she served as chief of staff for Senator Cristina Pacione-Zayas and political director for her and Senator Omar Aquino.

JORGE MUJICA

Jorge Mujica emigrated to the United States from Mexico in 1987. He currently works as lead strategic campaigns organizer for Arise Chicago, a non-profit organization addressing the needs of low-wage workers, particularly stolen wages. He is also a Congressman in the Méxiccan Chamber of Deputies, representing Mexicans abroad.

ABOUT THE RECIPIENT

The Midwest Immigration Bond Fund was formed through a coalition in 2020 and began paying out immigration bonds for IL, IN, WI, and KY residents as funds allow in February 2021.

The Midwest Immigration Bond Fund facilitates a revolving immigration bond fund to pay immigration bonds that frees individuals from ICE custody and gathers community to advocate for the abolition of immigration detention and surveillance.

ABOUT THE EVENT ORGANIZERS

A broad array of community based NGO’s, solidarity organizations, religious congregations, peace activists and others, are joining the organizers and supporting this event with outreach and volunteer efforts.

The ad-hoc volunteer committee organizing this event are:

Presented by host committee: Marguerite Horberg, Jaime Garza, Juan Dies, Nan Warshaw, Omar Torres-Kortright, Shawn Lent, Elsie Hernandez, and Brian Keigher

This group represents many seasoned arts administrators who have enjoyed collaborating on building community-based projects over the years.

HotHouse is an award-winning non-profit arts and education institution in Chicago that has programmed international events for 39 years.

Segundo Ruiz Belvis Cultural Center (SRBCC) is the longest-standing Latiné cultural center in Chicago. Established in 1971, it was named in honor of Segundo Ruiz Belvis, a Puerto Rican patriot and member of a secret abolitionist society that freed children who had been enslaved under Spanish rule. In that spirit, SRBCC realizes its mission to preserve and promote appreciation of the culture and arts of Puerto Rico and Latin America, with a focus on its African heritage.