{"id":314894,"date":"2025-10-19T02:16:14","date_gmt":"2025-10-19T02:16:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/314894\/"},"modified":"2025-10-19T02:16:14","modified_gmt":"2025-10-19T02:16:14","slug":"alma-honors-alma-izquierdo-at-4th-annual-community-reception","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/314894\/","title":{"rendered":"ALMA honors Alma Izquierdo at 4th annual Community Reception"},"content":{"rendered":"

The\u00a0Association of Latinos\/as\/xs Motivating Action (ALMA) Chicago<\/a>\u00a0honored LGBTQ+ activist, organizer and mentor Alma Izquierdo at its 4th annual community reception that celebrated Latinx LGBTQ+ leadership, visibility and impact Oct. 16 at Barcocina Lakeview, 2901 N. Sheffield Ave.<\/p>\n

The ALMA del L\u00edder Award was established in 2023, according to the organization, \u201cto recognize leaders who embody the spirit of servant leadership in their personal and professional lives\u2014particularly in advancing the rights and visibility of Latinx, LGBTQ+ and other marginalized communities.\u201d<\/p>\n

Founded in 1989 during the AIDS epidemic, ALMA Chicago has provided support, resources and advocacy for the Latinx and LGBTQ+ communities for 36 years.<\/p>\n

ALMA Board Chair Julio Rodriguez\u00a0spoke about Izquierdo as one of those \u201cleaders in our community\u201d whose decades-long advocacy work is not lauded in media spaces like it should be. He added that whenever Izquierdo is asked to help she says, \u201cTell me where, tell me when and I\u2019ll be there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Izquierdo, a multimedia makeup artist, was a co-founder of both Clandestina Chicago and the IATSE Local 476 Pride Committee as well as Amigas Latinas\u2019s final president.<\/p>\n

\"ALMAALMA Board Chair Julio Rodriguez, ALMA del L\u00a1der Award recipient Alma Izquierdo and ALMA Executive Director Manuel Hern\u00a0ndez-Nu\u00a4ez. Photo by Carrie Maxwell<\/p>\n

Rodriquez said when Amigas Latinas folded, Izquierdo\u2019s only ask was that ALMA include everyone in the Latinx LGBTQ+ community within their organization so Latinx queer women would still have a voice. He added that this is a work in progress for ALMA and there is a \u201clong way to go to really include the voices of our women\u2019s community.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said the work of Chicago\u2019s Latinx activists \u201ceven more important today\u201d due to the recent ICE raids in Chicago and elsewhere in the United States. Rodriguez added that the Latinx community in this country are Americans no,w no matter what their immigration status is.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey should not have to go back,\u201d said Rodriguez. \u201cThey built families here. They built homes and businesses and it\u2019s our job in this room to think about what I can do every day.\u201d<\/p>\n

Izquierdo said she is \u201cdeeply honored and profoundly humbled\u201d to receive the award and especially since it\u2019s from ALMA who have helped her with her own activism journey.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I first became involved with our LGBTQ+ community decades ago, I was simply trying to do my small\u00a0part in the ongoing fight for justice and equality, and to help create safe spaces for us to celebrate our authentic selves,\u201d said Izquierdo. \u201c\u2026I hope to serve as an example of how one person, taking a series of small actions, can create a powerful impact.\u201d<\/p>\n

She said small actions\u2014like showing up consistently and reliably, stepping up with one\u2019s resources and skills, lifting other people up who need assistance, standing up for what\u2019s right and getting fired up to demand change\u2014all build movements, have power and \u201cmotivate others to do the same.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI am acutely aware of the reality we are currently experiencing,\u201d said Izquierdo. \u201cI would be remiss not to acknowledge the fear, anxiety, rage and sense of hopelessness many of us might be feeling right now. We\u2019re witnessing unbelievable threats in our communities \u2026 It\u2019s heavy and overwhelming.<\/p>\n

\u201cNevertheless, right\u00a0now, it\u2019s vital for our wellbeing that we find ways to come together, to find a moment of peace, to find love, to find support and allow ourselves to fully embrace moments of joy like this one \u2026\u00a0Viva mi gente, mi comunidad, nuestra cultura y nuestra fuerza.\u201d<\/p>\n

ALMA Executive Director Manuel Hern\u00e1ndez-Nu\u00f1ez thanked everyone for \u201cshowing up during a time when it\u2019s easier to just stay home. When it\u2019s easier to cede power and just let the pressures of the world to take over. \u2026\u00a0\u00a0In a time in which we are being told don\u2019t go outside, don\u2019t go to public gatherings and go back into the closet. It\u2019s now more than ever that we have to stand up unapologetically in our totality as people.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"ALMAALMA Community Engagement Specialist Elizeth Argelles. Photo by Carrie Maxwell<\/p>\n

ALMA Community Engagement Specialist Elizeth Arg\u00fcelles spoke about ALMA\u2019s inaugural Latinx and LGBTQ+ Advocacy Leadership Institute of which she was a member. She said the leadership institute \u201cnot only allowed me to see myself as a leader, but it also allowed me to feel in community, and in times like this we need that reminder that we aren\u2019t alone and we can\u2019t do this work alone.\u201d<\/p>\n

Other ALMA inaugural Latinx and LGBTQ+ Advocacy Leadership Institute members include Aces Lira, Ebenezer Concepcion, Iselle Jimenez, Milani Varela, Lissette Torres, Rene Castillo, Saul Avina, Jr. and Aisaiah Pellecer.<\/p>\n

Past award recipients included Illinois Department of Human Services Secretary\u00a0Dulce Quintero\u00a0and Hispanic Federation President and CEO\u00a0Frankie Miranda.<\/p>\n

The event also included two lively and athletic drag performances by Angelise K. LaRue who is also a graduate of ALMA\u2019s inaugural Latinx and LGBTQ+ Advocacy Leadership Institute.<\/p>\n

\"DragDrag performer Angelise K. LaRue. Photo by Carrie Maxwell <\/p>\n

\n\tRelated<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The\u00a0Association of Latinos\/as\/xs Motivating Action (ALMA) Chicago\u00a0honored LGBTQ+ activist, organizer and mentor Alma Izquierdo at its 4th annual…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":314895,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5124],"tags":[48153,158397,960,158398,5386,1818],"class_list":{"0":"post-314894","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-chicago","8":"tag-alma","9":"tag-alma-izquierdo","10":"tag-chicago","11":"tag-en-la-vida","12":"tag-il","13":"tag-illinois"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115398428920089311","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/314894","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=314894"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/314894\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/314895"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=314894"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=314894"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=314894"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}