From Warning to Healing: A Cultural Renaissance Returns to the Vets Hall
The silence inside the Santa Cruz Veterans Memorial Building on October 24 was the loudest thing I have ever heard.
Attorney Danny Sheehan warned a packed room about the “masked bandits,” his term for ICE, and the urgent need for radical action. A couple months later, his warnings have become daily headlines. The weight of his words stirred memories of my own lineage, my Jewish ancestors who fled the Holocaust and my beloved nanny from Mexico who helped raise me, walking miles across borders to find safety.
Exactly three months later, on January 24, we return to that same room.
A collective called Resistance Entertainment is transforming the Vets Hall into an eleven-hour gathering of music, market, and mutual aid. Marcus Rodriguez of the Pajaro Valley Ohlone Council will open the event. Representatives from the Pomo Reservation will be present. If the stars align, attendees may witness Lakota jingle dancing, one of the most beautiful cultural ceremonies you can experience in person.
Aztec dancers set the tone at noon. Reggae fills the afternoon, including Soul Jah out of Hollister and King Manoa flying in from Hawaii. The evening shifts to conscious hip-hop and rock with Indigenous Cats and headliners The Neighborhood Kids, fresh off an East Coast tour with Rage Against the Machine’s Tom Morello. Juan Dominguez of Burn the Wagon hosts. About ten vendors sell arts and crafts, eight of them indigenous-made.
The event is family-friendly, all-ages, and completely sober. No alcohol will be served.
“Pretty much everyone present believes that sobriety is sacred,” says one of the organizers. “To have such a young, powerful group like The Neighborhood Kids who live a sober lifestyle, we think that’s something cool to bring to the community. We want to change the culture. It’s a push for sober living.”
The gathering will include a kids’ section with games and activities. Teens are welcome on their own.
A dollar from every ticket goes to the Center for Farmworker Families, which provides aid, youth programs, and scholarships to farmworkers in Watsonville and beyond. Dr. Ann Lopez, the founder, will share words. Representatives from Indigenous Justice, the organization behind the sunrise ceremony on Alcatraz, will be present too.
When I asked what success would look like for this event, the answer came in two parts: raising a sizable donation for the Center for Farmworker Families, and something simpler.
“That people connect and bond and walk away with new friends.”
My nanny gave me her blessing to share her story. When I texted her about getting legal help, she wrote back: “I’m not interested in staying in the country. At this time I’m ready to retire and go home in peace.” She’s turned down lawyers before. “It’s complicated. I’m too old and it’s a long process.”
Our system failed her. Organizations like the Center for Farmworker Families exist because it keeps failing.
But that weight is not the theme of this gathering. The theme is community. Reggae bands talking about love. Conscious hip-hop. Different tribes. Teachers and grassroots organizers. All walks of life building together.
On October 24, we faced what we’re fighting against. On January 24, come see what we’re fighting for.
Event Details:
The Neighborhood Kids + Indigenous Cats Full Live Band Concert
January 24, 2026 |
Doors at Noon Veterans Memorial Building,
846 Front St, Santa Cruz
Tickets via Resistance Entertainment
Great cause to support, however, if the writer of this article (and the editor of the publication) had included a VALID LINK to the producer of the event, that would have been useful/prudent/productive. As it is, searching for ‘Resistance Entertainment’ on these here interwebs does not really lead to something that seems to be connected to this important event. Please advise?
noticing the quick edit for ticket link