{"id":6256,"date":"2025-10-15T17:02:07","date_gmt":"2025-10-15T17:02:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/6256\/"},"modified":"2025-10-15T17:02:07","modified_gmt":"2025-10-15T17:02:07","slug":"l-a-county-supervisors-vote-to-declare-local-emergency-in-support-of-immigrant-community-members","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/6256\/","title":{"rendered":"L.A. County Supervisors vote to declare local emergency in support of immigrant community members"},"content":{"rendered":"

Healing and uplifting communities through music and unity is the foundation of this event space created by Zacil \u201cDJ Sizzle Fantastic\u201d Pech<\/a> and Norma \u201cNormz La Oaxaque\u00f1a\u201d Fajardo.\u00a0<\/p>\n

For nearly a decade DJ Sizzle has built a reputation in the queer POC and Spanish-speaking undocumented communities for making the space for them to come together to celebrate their culture and partake in the ultimate act of resistance \u2014 joy.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Couples, companions, comadres all dance together on the dancefloor at Cumbiat\u00f3n. (Photo courtesy of Cumbiat\u00f3n). <\/p>\n

Cumbiat\u00f3n<\/a> was created during the first Trump administration as a direct response to the erasure, racism, homophobia and xenophobia that was engrained into the administration\u2019s mission for those first four years. Now that the second Trump administration is upon us, the racism, homophobia, transphobia and xenophobia are tenfold.<\/a><\/p>\n

This event space is a \u2018party for the hood, by the hood.\u2019 It is led by women, queer and trans people of color in every aspect of the production process. <\/p>\n

The recent fires that burned through Altadena and Pacific Palisades made DJ Sizzle decide to step back from marketing the event in Los Angeles, an area where people had just lost their businesses, homes and where their lives were completely thrown for a loop.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Now they\u2019re back, doubling-down on their mission to bring cumbias, corridos and all the music many of us grew up listening to, to places that are accessible and safe for our communities.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI started Cumbiat\u00f3n back in 2016, right after the election \u2014 which was weirdly similar because we\u2019re going through it again. And a lot of us come from the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) movement. We were the ones to really push for that to happen along with the DREAM Act.\u201d<\/p>\n

DJ Sizzle says that she wanted to create a space out on the streets to celebrate life and come together, because of how mentally and physically taxing it is to be a part of the marginalized communities that were and still are, a major target for ongoing political attacks.<\/p>\n

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Edwin Soto and Julio Salgado pose for a photo at a Cumbiaton event in 2024. (Photo courtesy of Cumbiat\u00f3n). <\/p>\n

\u201cWe need these spaces so that we can kind of refuel and rejoice in each other\u2019s existence,\u201d said DJ Sizzle. \u201cBecause we saw each other out on the street a lot, but never did we really have time to sit down, have a drink, talk, laugh. So I found that music was the way to bring people together and that\u2019s how Cumbiat\u00f3n got started. It was honestly like a movement of political resistance through music.\u201d<\/p>\n

DJ Sizzle is an undocumented community organizer who aims to not only bring awareness to the issues that her communities face, but also to make space to celebrate the wins and bond over the music that brings people in Latin America, East L.A., Boyle Heights and the Bay area together.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Julio Salgado<\/a>, a queer, visionary artist and migrant rights activist from Ensenada, Baja California with roots in Long Beach and the Bay Area, connected with DJ Sizzle over their shared passion in advocating for immigrant rights.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cCumbiat\u00f3n was created during the first [Trump] administration, where you know, a lot of people were really bummed out and so what Sizzle wanted to create was a place where people could come together and celebrate ourselves,\u201d said Salgado. \u201cFast-forward to the second [Trump] administration and we\u2019re here and feel a little bit more like: \u2018oh shit, things are bad again.\u2019 But, things have always been bad.\u201d<\/p>\n

Salgado is involved with Cumbiat\u00f3n through his art. He is a mixed-media artist who creates cartoons using his lived experience with his sobriety journey, undocumented status and queer identity.<\/p>\n

With a background in journalism from California State University, Long Beach, Salgado documents what activists do in the undocumented spaces he has been a part of throughout his life.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In 2017, Salgado moved back to Long Beach from the Bay Area, and at the time he started doing political artwork and posters for protests against the first Trump administration, but because the nature of that work can be very tiring, he says that he turned to a more uplifting version of his art where he also draws the joy and unity in his communities.\u00a0<\/p>\n

When he and Sizzle linked up to collaborate during that time, he thought he could use his skills to help uplift this brand and bring it to the forefront of the many events that saturate the party landscape.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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DJ Sizzle doing her thing on stage, giving the crowd the music they went looking for. (Photo courtesy of Cumbiat\u00f3n). <\/p>\n

\u201cWe are familiar with using the dance floor as a way to kind of put the trauma a little bit away just for one night, get together and completely forget,\u201d said Salgado.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Coming from an undocumented background, Salgado and Sizzle say that their experience with their legal status has made them very aware of how to go about the ID-check process at the door for their events.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you\u2019re undocumented, you have something called a [High Security Consular Registration (HSCR)] and it\u2019s kind of like your ID and many of these heterosexual clubs would see that and say it was fake,\u201d said Salgado. \u201cBut at the gay club, they didn\u2019t care.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Just being conscious of what that form of ID looks like and knowing that it\u2019s not fake, helps many of the hundreds of people who come through for Cumbiat\u00f3n, feel just slightly more at ease.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Edwin Soto, who is another community activist and leader in the undocu-queer community, is also involved in the planning and organizing of the event.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In the long journey of making Cumbiat\u00f3n what it is now, they say that they have all been very intentional about who they bring in, making sure that whoever they are, they also understand the experience of being undocumented and accepted anyway.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cSomething that Sizzle and the team have been very intentional about is making sure that [the security at the door] knows that someone might be using their consulate card,\u201d said Soto.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Bringing together this event space is no easy task, considering the fact that their events are deeply thought out, intentional and inclusive of not just people of color, but also people with differing abilities and people who do not reflect the norm in West Hollywood clubs.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe created the space that we were longing for that we did not see in West Hollywood,\u201d he said. \u201c[Cumbiat\u00f3n] is what life could really be like. Where women are not harassed by men. Where people are not body-shamed for what they\u2019re wearing.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

When it comes to their lives outside of Cumbiat\u00f3n and partying, Sizzle says that it does get exhausting and planning the event gets overwhelming.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is really difficult, I\u2019m not going to lie,\u201d said DJ Sizzle. \u201cWe are at a disadvantage being queer and being undocumented because this administration triggers us to a point that, anyone who is not a part of those identities or marginalized communities would ever be able to understand,\u201d said Sizzle. \u201cThere are times where I\u2019m just like: \u2018I\u2019m going to cocoon for a little bit\u2019 and then that affects the marketing and the communication.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Usually, the events bring in hundreds of people who are looking for community, safety and inclusion. (Photo courtesy of Cumbiat\u00f3n). <\/p>\n

That\u2019s a little bit about what goes on behind the scenes \u2014 which really shouldn\u2019t come as a surprise for anyone who is out there fighting for basic human rights, while also making the space to party and enjoy themselves.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m really trying to find balance and honestly my life raft are my friends and my community,\u201d she said. \u201cLike, being able to share, being able to have this pl\u00e1tica, and be like \u2018bitch, I see you and I know its fucked up, but we got each other.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Cumbiat\u00f3n was made with the purpose of making space to include and invite the many different people in these communities who are otherwise sidelined in broader conversations and in party scenes where they are not as inclusive or thoughtful about their attendees.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cHow beautiful is it to be queer and listen to rancheras and to norte\u00f1as and cumbia, and to just own it,\u201d said Soto.\u00a0<\/p>\n

To join Cumbiat\u00f3n at their next party, visit their Instagram page.<\/a><\/p>\n

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