We Stood Up
Stories of Solidarity. Strategies for Action.
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** We Stood Up: Singing in the Midst of Pain
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August 7, 2025
Welcome back to We Stood Up, where NPQ spotlights the first-person stories from workers, builders, activists, and organizers sharing moments from their work and world.
In this issue, Loyda Alvarado, a regional organizer for the National Day Laborer Organizing Network (NDLON), shares how being a singer in a band that fights for social justice is more than an artistic endeavor—it means being in service of a greater purpose.
Singing in the Midst of Pain
By Loyda Alvarado
In my day job, I’m an organizer. But I also stand up through music. Being a singer in a band that fights for social justice—like Los Jornaleros del Norte ([link removed]) (The Day Laborers of the North)—is more than an artistic endeavor. It means being in service of a greater purpose—to heal, accompany, educate, mobilize, denounce, resist, fight, and remember.
There is something very raw about putting your body and voice out there when you know that so many are going through moments of terror and hopelessness. Even so, when I step on stage, I do my best to project strength, joy, and hope.
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