For someone like Grammy-nominated Kali Uchis, who grew up between Colombia and Virginia, Selena was a bonafide legend. “Selena has always been one of my icons who I looked up to as a kid,” Uchis, 25, says following her performance at Selena for Sanctuary, a Selena-inspired fundraising concert...

The crowd glistened under the blistering blue light of the “F*CK ICE” projection that served as the backdrop to Kali Uchis’ evening closer. Bathed in New York’s relentless summer rain, a mostly unfazed crowd of more than 5,000 gathered in the middle of Central Park to remember reina Selena...

Selena for Sanctuary, an electrifying dance party that brought together several artists to cover the late Tejano superstar’s songs. The celebration was such a success that it has become a recurring event, highlighting nonprofit organizations...

Both Uchis and Muñoz referred to Selena as the first Latina singer they’d seen have crossover success when they were growing up. “She’s a symbol of hope,” Muñoz said. The concert is meant to be that, too. “Doing something at this scale shows how much power we...

...the event’s inception coincided with a striking phenomenon in American pop culture. That same year, Luis Fonso and Daddy Yankee’s “Despacito” would boost Latin pop’s global cultural capital — both on the charts and in the zeitgeist — while simultaneously, those early days of the Trump Era...

Artistas emergentes se reunirán este domingo 18 de agosto para cantar los éxitos de Selena Quintanilla. La cita es en Central Park de 8:00 a 10:00 pm. La recomendación es llegar temprano para poder disfrutar del evento.

For the last few years, a loosely connected musical movement has been germinating in bilingual bedrooms and living rooms across Southern California. Informed by, but not beholden to, border-blurring vintage balladry and soulful love songs, the sound is driven by young Latinx singers drawing on oldies for stylistic inspiration.

Beyond such sonic homages, Cuco lays proud claim to his Chicano identity in the public sphere. Later this year, he will perform at the second annual Selena for Sanctuary, a concert in New York organized to benefit immigrant families at risk of deportation.

Cuco’s music reminds me of these low-rider anthems, which were adopted by young Chicanos as a way of expressing dreams and vulnerabilities that they sometimes didn’t feel comfortable articulating for themselves. It’s one of the ways that Banos’s identity comes out...

“If it wasn’t for the strength my dad had on his journey to the States, I wouldn’t be here,” says Uchis, whose parents are Colombian immigrants. Cuco, now a perennial presence in the series, recalls his father as the last in his family to become a citizen...

Since 2017, Doris Muñoz of Mija Management has been producing Selena for Sanctuary, a concert to help undocumented immigrants. Her mission remains to donate all proceeds from her concerts to undocumented people who need funds...

Over the past year, a woman from San Bernardino County has harnessed the power of music to raise funds for immigrants fighting deportation. Concert promoter and artist manager Doris Muñoz created the recurring concert series Solidarity for Sanctuary to support immigration activism.

Fueled by the fear that lingered after seeing her brother deported in 2015, Muñoz hosted her first ever Solidarity for Sanctuary event on March 26, 2017, in Highland Park, Los Angeles. About 300 people showed up, putting the Hi-Hat at capacity.

To date, the series has raised over $10,000 for legal services... “We’re about raising funds, but more raising awareness and creating safe spaces for people. The takeaway is the energy that people experience when they enter these events and these spaces..."

The free NYC concert brought together Latinx artists young and old to channel Selena’s spirit, and bring attention to immigration issues.

Our hearts go "bidi bidi bom bom" when we listen to Selena's music, but just wait until you hear a rendition of the Queen of Tejano's song belted out by singer Nina Diaz and Chris Perez on guitar.

The concert will let fans "link arms and fight the good fight. We can do this while enjoying a beautiful night of music for our immigrant communities, at a prestigious platform like Lincoln Center where our community deserves a seat at this table...

Created by Doris Munoz, daughter of undocumented immigrants, “Selena for Sanctuary” pays tribute to the most successful artist in Latin music while fighting for a cause. It arrives at the outdoor stage of the prestigious Lincoln Center after having smaller editions in South California.

Selena for Sanctuary is the brainchild of Los Angeles-based music manager Doris Muñoz, who started the event back in California to raise money for her undocumented parents’ legal fees.

Selena for Sanctuary also amplifies the voices of various activist groups aimed at improving the lives of immigrants.

A woman with a mission, who has such a passion for the music work and management she does, while also carrying out social justice and making her world a better place. She was really exciting — and these are the kind of people we want to make sure have a space at Lincoln Center

I never could have imagined, and that's the vicious cycle that the undocumented community stays in. They work from paycheck to paycheck and are doing their best to find the correct pathway to citizenship.

Muñoz plans to focus on one individual or family fighting deportation for each event — not just undocumented Mexican immigrants, like her parents, but Syrian refugees and other groups under threat from the anti-immigrant policies of the Trump administration.

“What I really want to do with this series is to start breaking down the criminalization of undocumented immigrants...”