‘Altísimo Live!’ stars raise money for farm workers
Vergara, Juanes, Mana included in livestream for Cinco de Mayo
On Cinco de Mayo Eva Longoria will host a livestream, along with a who’s who — or a quién es quién — of Latino talent to raise money for farm workers here in South Florida and across the nation.
“Altísimo Live!” kicks off at 1 p.m. on Tuesday on Facebook.com/AltisimoLive, YouTube.com, Twitter.com/altisimolive, Periscope and Twitch.
At press time, the lineup includes the likes of Maluma, Los Lobos, Rosanna Arquette, Mana, Andy Garcia, Edward James Olmos, Gloria Estefan, Sofia Vergara, Marc Anthony, Elvis Crespo, Carlos Vives, Juanes, Esai Morales, Alejandro Sanz, Adamari López, Luis Fonsi, Nicky Jam and Steve Aoki.
Co-hosting alongside Longoria will be Rosario Dawson, J. Balvin, Kate Del Castillo and Alejandro Sanz.
For a complete list of celebrities involved in the benefit, go to AltisimoLive.com.
“We have more artists knocking down our door,” says Manny Ruiz, co-founder and executive producer of the fundraiser, in a Zoom press conference Thursday afternoon. “[On Monday] we’re going to have a final lastminute celebrity count because more people want to be a part of this. A lot of artists don’t want to be left out. And we think that’s going to bring the value to just another epic Mount Everest level.”
The word altísimo translates from Spanish to English as “soar
ing” or “almighty.”
“When I think of [altísimo], I think the most high, what I think of when I think of God,” says Ruiz. “And also God’s desire to elevate people.”
How “Altísimo Live!” rose from the ashes of a 1980s convention. In a separate interview Ruiz, who is also the CEO of RetroPop Media, told the Sun Sentinel he was putting some last flourishes on his ‘80s pop culture convention planned for April 25 and 26 in Wynwood when the coronavirus pandemic broke out in March, sending everyone into self quarantine.
“At first I panicked,” he said from his home in South Miami. “But then I wanted to help. God put it in my heart to do something that would help others, safely, but in a high impact manner. It’s been 30 days [organizing the event], which is a crazy compressed time. But it was either do it or don’t do it.”
He decided to focus on farm workers because, he says, “They are overlooked, invisible heroes. Everyone knows about the first responders
and all the people working [in hospitals], but we noticed that no one had noticed the farm workers. You know, there are 2.5 million farm workers in the U.S. They are extremely vulnerable. There is a crises in farm workers. They are not getting the support from our government and they are on the front lines of our very food supply. If the farm workers go down, our food supply goes down. So actually it’s a very patriotic reason to do this, aside from the humanitarian side.”
Hoping to raise millions, five bucks at a time. The artists are all donating their time and performers are foregoing royalties for their music. Viewers will be asked to donate $5 if they can. The “Altísimo Live” producers are using the hashtag #CincoOnCinco.
“The hashtag makes a lot of sense,” says Ruiz. “As you know, Cinco de Mayo has been embraced by America as another day to go and have a good time. The word is celebratory in itself. It’s the St. Patrick’s Day of the Latino community.”
“Altísimo Live!” aims to raise $3 million for the Farmworkers’ Pandemic Relief Fund, which was
created by Justice for Migrant Women and Hispanics In Philanthropy.
Fashion for a cause. Fashion designers Mario De la Torre, Raul Peñaranda and Carlos Marrero will also join in the fundraising with special-for-the-benefit farmworker-inspired apparel that will be sold during the event. Marrero, who was born in Puerto Rico but now lives in Fort Lauderdale, designed a signature scarf for the event.
“It’s Hispanic and philanthropic, so it’s the perfect thing for me to tap into,” says Marrero, who also hosts the “Trendencias with Carlos Marrero” fashion video series on YouTube.com. “You know, when this [pandemic] starts business stops. I had all this time on my hands. I started doing drawings of [COVID-19] heroes — Dr. Fauci, Andrew Cuomo, Dr. Birx and, you know, her scarves.”
He continues, “And then at the same time this is happening, I decided to create a line of masks. So, I began tearing down these garments … to create the masks. All the fabric companies were closed. So I took T-shirts and dresses I had made. That has been
very exciting. If you had told me that this print on a dress or a T-shirt, that months later people were going to wear that around their face to protect themselves from this pandemic, I would say you’ve lost your mind. But now people keep contacting me for more because they love them.”
Marrero also says that his scarf design for “Altísimo Live” features his favorite textile design themes. ” I just put pen in hand and started to draw,” he recalls. “I started doing silhouettes of farmers at work. Yet I wanted it to be something people would wear and feel glamorous, but, you know, I consider the scarf fashion with a purpose. I wanted to bring the Marrero style, so I did a flower print and colors that are very Latin, very bright, very joyful.”
Last week’s revelation. The money raised by Altisimo Live! will go to support 25 organizations serving farm workers at risk, several of them in South Florida.
“It’s going directly for things like baby formula, diapers, medical supplies,” explains Ruiz. “And in some cases, cash will be given to the farm workers
who are immobilized because of the pandemic on farms. They live in cramped quarters. They have to work right next to each other.”
What Ruiz didn’t realize until last week was that his own family worked in the fields.
“I literally discovered my father and grandfather were farm workers when they got here from Cuba. My aunt told me. In the ’60s the people who came here, they were city dwellers. My family felt closer to the farms. I didn’t know this. I was too young. I come from a very blue collar background. Part of my family was very much a blue collar family, even in Cuba.”
He feels that no matter what happend on Cinco de Mayo, or down the road (there is already talk of future projects), that “Altísimo Live!” will, in the words of Ruiz, “...always be a vehicle for good and unity.”
He adds, “I feel good that at least I know that during this pandemic I did one thing to contribute to alleviating the suffering. That’s what I want for my family and I, that we did one thing, and a high impact one, to bring some life and light to the people.”
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