Irish-Mexican Alliance Stages Event In Support Of Journalists' Rights

Nov. 19, 2010 - PRLog -- In a display of journalistic and musical solidarity, THE IRISH-MEXICAN ALLIANCE will hold a concert on Wed., Dec. 8 to raise funds for the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), which is raising awareness of the plight of journalists who are being killed, intimidated and forced to seek asylum in the U.S. while reporting on the Narco War across the U.S. border in Mexico.

Along with its serious intent, THE IRISH-MEXICAN ALLIANCE promises a raucous night of entertainment, as well as an unprecedented show of cross-cultural solidarity between the Irish and Latino communities in NYC. There will be Celtic & Mexican music, Chicano & Irish poets, Mexican and Irish beer. The event will be held at Klub 45, upstairs at Connelly’s Pub at 121 W. 45th Street, near New York’s Times Square, from 7-11 pm.

“This will be a unique and special event,” said journalist and author T.J. English, a co-founder of Irish American Writers & Artists, Inc. (IAW&A), which is sponsoring THE IRISH-MEXICAN ALLIANCE. “The issues of freedom of the press, freedom of expression and the ability to do your job as a reporter or photographer without the threat of intimidation and death is of the utmost importance to all artists. We will rally around this cause while also having a fantastic night of music, poetry and cross-cultural interchange.”

In a show of solidarity, Rubén Blades, the legendary Panama-born salsa singer, actor, and former Panamanian Minister of Culture is scheduled to appear. Author and journalist Pete Hamill, who has lived in Mexico and written often about his deep bonds with the place, will be among the speakers, and musical acts will include the NY-area bands Celtic Cross, Joe Hurley’s Rogues March, Larry Kirwan of Black 47, and Celtic singer/songwriter Ashley Davis. A Tex-Mex band from the borderland of El Paso-Juárez known as Frontera Bugalú (Border Bugalú) is coming all the way from Texas to take part in the evening. And there will also be a full mariachi band.

“Certainly, there is a special connection between Irish and Mexican people that is well worth exploring and celebrating,” Pete Hamill said.  “And the issue of journalists being threatened and killed for doing their job hits at the heart of any functioning democracy.”

THE IRISH-MEXICAN ALLIANCE honors the spirit of the San Patricio Brigade, a group of mostly Irish Americans who fought on behalf of the Mexican people in the U.S.-Mexico war of 1845-48. Copies of the recent CD San Patricio by the legendary Irish band The Chieftains – a melding of traditional Mexican and Irish musical styles – will be auctioned off at the event, and a message of solidarity from Paddy Moloney, founder of The Chieftains, will be read by the actress Aedin Moloney, Paddy’s daughter.

Earlier this year, IAW&A held a fundraiser for earthquake relief in Haiti. That event, which similarly mixed speakers and poets with Irish and Haitian musical acts, was called ISLAND PEOPLE SUPPORTING ISLAND PEOPLE. The event raised $108,000 on behalf of Concern Worldwide, a Dublin-based charitable organization with boots on the ground in Haiti even before the disastrous earthquake struck.

For more information on THE IRISH-MEXICAN ALLIANCE visit the IAW&A website and blog page at www.i-am-wa.org.  The suggested donation for the event is $30.

Media contact: John Lee   John Lee MEDIA    917-475-6981   johnlee@johnleemedia. com

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