MIAMI, FL – May 7, 2020 – (LATINX NEWSWIRE) – On Tuesday, May 5th, 2020, Cinco de Mayo was reimagined when thousands of viewers across the world came together for an epic first of its kind, livestream fundraiser, Altísimo Live (www.AltisimoLive.com) music and pop culture festival celebrating farmworkers’ contributions during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Via livestream from the Mana RC Cola Plant in Wynwood Miami, Moishe Mana was joined by City of Miami Mayor Francis Suarez, a recent COVID-19 survivor. The event was sponsored by Mana Wynwood, and included the unveiling of a monumental mural wall “El Sembrador” painted by two local celebrity artists, Luis Valle and Ivan Roque. Altísimo Live viewers were given live updates from the Mana RC Cola Plant in Wynwood, thanks to the Moishe Mana who sponsored the entire Miami pop-up event. The event included four segments including a musical tribute to the Legendary Tito Puente with Tito Puente Jr. playing his timbales to “Oye Como Va”.
“The breathtaking, and colorful wall mural ‘El Sembrador,’ completed by Ivan Roque and Luis Valle depicts a harvester planting seeds to sow Florida’s harvest of oranges, avocados in an infusion of tropical colors,” said Susana Baker, Mana Community Outreach Director, who hosted the Miami Altísimo Live pop-up event. “The beautiful painting can be seen at the RC Cola Plant in Wynwood, which invites the public to visit this free mural museum with over 150 monumental murals, a must see when normality returns in tourism”.
“We were honored to be invited to participate and recognize the contributions of America’s farmworkers by Enrique Santos and Manny Ruiz the co-creators of Altísimo Live,” said Moishe Mana, founder and creator of Mana Wynwood. “The farmworkers are essential to keeping us fed, yet they are often overlooked, and especially now with this pandemic, I felt compelled to join forces with Altísimo Live to honor the farmworkers who are essential workers”.
The most poignant moment was when six graduating seniors from New World School of the Arts took center stage to share their dreams, with Mayor Suarez and Moishe Mana Altisimo who honored them by providing a certificate of recognition for their achievements as COVID seniors of 2019-2020. COVID-19 has stolen the most important moment for all seniors as graduation ceremonies and senior activities were cancelled for their senior year. The seniors representing were: Chantal Bonitto, Luis-Pablo Garcia, Jose Gomez, Celeste Castellon, Daniela Couso, and Jamie Mcquagge.
“It is important to recognize and honor these hard working seniors, that unfortunately due to COVID 19 many senior events were erased due to this terrible pandemic, we wanted to give them a tribute to honor all seniors across the nation and world, the Class of 2020,” said Susana Baker, event coordinator for Altisimo Live Miami and Mana’s Community Outreach Director.
Altísimo Live!, Created by RetroPop Media and iHeartLatino, iHeartMedia’s Hispanic platform, and co-produced with WFHN-TV, CIEN+, Justice for Migrant Women, Hispanics In Philanthropy (HIP), INGEÑUITY, The Latinx House, Hispanic Heritage Foundation (HHF) and PEOPLE en Español, the festival was co-hosted by actor, producer, director, and activist Eva Longoria and iHeartLatino Chairman and Chief Creative Officer Enrique Santos. Other celebrity co-hosts featured throughout the livestream benefit festival included JBalvin and Kate Del Castillo.
To learn more, participate and/or support Altísimo Live! visit www.altisimolive.com
For more on the Mana RC Cola Mural Museum go to www.manawynwood.com Susana Baker
PHOTO CREDITS: Armando Colls