Freedom Rising: Voices Strong

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courtesy Gold Dust Women

The band Gold Dust Women on stage.

Gold Dust Women

May Day is not being ignored this year. This benefit for Voces de la Frontera puts the focus on the rights of immigrants and workers who make such an important contribution to our everyday lives. In this time of unprecedented attacks on these communities, supporters will raise their voices together in solidarity and in song. Live music from pros Gold Dust Women, Honor Among Thieves and The New Kids will be joined by a community sing led by Dodie Whitaker and spoken word from Cue608 Poets. Speakers (including UW-Madison professor of civil society and community Carolina Sarmiento and the always fiery Judge Everett Mitchell), tables featuring community organizations, and makers’ works will also be part of this surely invigorating event. 

media release: On May 1, Madison will take to the streets for the annual May Day march and rally in solidarity with immigrant and workers' rights. And when the rally ends, the work continues. That evening, community members are invited to Freedom Rising: Voices Strong — a high-energy benefit concert at Atwood Music Hall running from 6:00 to 11:00 PM, with music beginning at 7:00 PM.  Proceeds to benefit Voces de la Frontera's Legal Aid and Worker Justice Fund.

May Day — International Workers' Day — has been a day of labor solidarity for over a century. In recent years, it has become one of the most powerful days of action for immigrant communities across the country, a moment to assert that workers' rights and immigrants' rights are inseparable.

This year, with immigrant communities facing intensified enforcement, deportation threats, and the erosion of worker protections, May Day carries special urgency. Freedom Rising: Voices Strong is designed as the evening continuation of that energy— a space to celebrate, sustain, and deepen the movement.

Voces de la Frontera is Wisconsin's leading immigrant and labor rights organization, with decades of experience on the front lines: defending workers from wage theft, providing legal support to families facing deportation, and organizing communities that face very real consequences for speaking up. Their Legal Aid and Worker Justice Fund provides critical direct support to workers and immigrant community members navigating a system that is often stacked against them. At a moment when that work is more necessary than ever, sustained community investment is essential.

Freedom Rising brings together live music, spoken word, visual art, and communityengagement under one roof:

Live Music: Gold Dust Women, Honor Among Thieves, and The New Kids

Spoken Word: Cue608 Poets

Community Singing: Hosted by Dodie Whitaker

Featured Speakers: Prof. Carolina Sarmiento and Judge Everett Mitchell

On-Site Organizing: Voces de la Frontera will host a community organizing table

Additional Activities: Visual art and merchandise displays, and a maker's space for attendees to create something meaningful to take home

$20