Rally unifies voices amid attacks on immigrants, LGBT+ rights; now it’s time to make noise, organizers say

As anti-immigrant rhetoric and policies seeking to dismantle DEI efforts ramp up, Danny Soriano has seen inquiries and communication to his digital media business noticeably slow down, the Latino entrepreneur said.

Danny Soriano, High Resolution Media; photo by Nikki Overfelt Chifalu, Startland News

“Clients [suddenly seem] deterred from going with me — as opposed to somebody who’s not of color or white,” explained Soriano, the founder of High Resolution Media, expressing an increasing feeling of isolation within the broader Kansas City community.

But on Sunday — at the Unidos Rally for Immigrants and LGBTQIA+ Rights organized by the Chicano Center for the Arts — Soriano, who comes from an immigrant family, was embraced by a crowd who gathered to celebrate a movement for justice, dignity, and protection for all people.

“A lot of people don’t realize that the Hispanic and the Latino communities are a lot bigger than we think,” he said. “Just seeing how many people came out — a lot of new faces, a lot of faces that I’ve already encountered before — to support is really important.”

Soriano, who also is a singer, performed several songs for the scores who gathered in the Westside neighborhood under an I-35 overpass (a site chosen because it represents a technique historically used to divide communities, organizers said, referencing urban planners who wielded placement of interstate roadways to segregate populations).

RELATED: Kansas City bears racial scars of Interstate system

Danny Soriano sings during the Unidos Rally for Immigrants and LGBTQIA+ Rights; photo by Nikki Overfelt Chifalu, Startland News

“It honestly feels really good to be able to have people who understand what I’m saying when I’m singing in Spanish,” Soriano explained after performing Sunday. “Because usually when I’m playing shows — whether it’s at like The Ship or different places in Kansas City — not a lot of people understand what I’m saying. But here, I felt very welcomed. I felt like the people were receiving it well, so I enjoyed it. I loved it.”

Deanna Munoz, founder of Chicano Center for the Arts, stands alongside Melissa Ferrer Civil, poet laureate for Kansas City, Missouri, during the Unidos Rally for Immigrants and LGBTQIA+ Rights; photo by Nikki Overfelt Chifalu, Startland News

Organizer Deanna Munoz, founder of Chicano Center for the Arts, emphasized the importance of visibility in creating a spirit of belonging during a time of political and cultural upheaval in Kansas City and beyond.

“There’s so many things happening around here right now, we need to show up and show our voices,” the nonprofit leader and influential community activist said.

Speakers at Sunday’s rally notably included Melissa Ferrer Civil, poet laureate for Kansas City, Missouri; Missouri State Rep. Wick Thomas, D-Kansas City; Edgar Galicia, director of Central Avenue Betterment Association; and Daniel Scharpenburg, vice president of National Treasury Employees Union Chapter 66.

Johnathan Duncan, sixth district councilman for Kansas City, Missouri, speaks during the Unidos Rally for Immigrants and LGBTQIA+ Rights; photo by Nikki Overfelt Chifalu, Startland News

Johnathan Duncan — sixth district councilman for Kansas City, Missouri, and “a descendant of Mexican immigrants and a product of slaves” — said it makes him hopeful to see everyone show up with pride.

“We’re showing up 10 toes down for our community, regardless of your immigration status, regardless of where you came from,” he continued. “We’re showing up for one another and that’s what it’s going to take.”

“There’s a lot of things that the other side wants to use to divide us,” he added. “They want to divide us inside of ourselves, and they want to divide us from one another. Because when we are disorganized, we are not powerful. I want to thank you all for being here today. I will not stop organizing because I can’t. I can’t. The risks are too damn high, y’all. The risks are too damn high.”

Events like Sunday’s rally are critically important, said Manny Abarca, first district legislator for Jackson County, but they are just the beginning.

“If this is all we do, if we don’t show up for better bus services, if we don’t show up to make sure that the money goes in the right places, to protest your crazy property taxes, then we are not doing all that we can,” he explained. “I want you to go home, charged and ready to go.”