These first two weeks of the new year have given many of us time to reflect on what we want 2026 to be. Whether you wish to continue supporting local organizations by donating or volunteering where you can, or by taking on a more active role in your community, what’s important is that you focus on the causes you believe in most and want to see grow. Let us analyze everything 2025 taught us and use those lessons to guide us through another year.
If you’re new here or already familiar with the local organizations in the 956, a great place to start or refresh your knowledge is to learn more about Voces Unidas, a social justice organization in the Rio Grande Valley (RGV) that primarily advocates for environmental and immigration issues.
Voces Unidas was developed by a trio of dedicated individuals: Co-Director Michelle Serrano (she/her), Co-Director Ruben Garza (they/them), and Programs Coordinator Guadalupe Pardo (she/they). Near the end of 2025, the social justice group hosted several special gatherings, like their annual Día de los Muertos celebration and a winter solstice event, “Noche de Lumbre.” Both events highlight how Voces Unidas goes beyond civic engagement, emphasizing the importance of connecting with the environment and the lived experiences of people in the Valley.
The Power of Storytelling and Art at “Portales de Liberación”
For the past three years, Voces Unidas has held an annual Día de los Muertos event, and each year it has been different from the previous one. In 2025, the event was called “Portales de Liberación: A Día de los Muertos Rave,” which Serrano states took “six to eight weeks” to plan.
“Portales de Liberación” was a liberatory two-part event in Brownsville that began with the ‘Opening of the Portal,’ an artist-led ceremony at Hope Park, followed by a rave dance party at La Tijera with music by Mexican Boyfriend and Grim Figment, two well-known DJs in the RGV.
When asked about their Día de los Muertos events, Garza shared that their events serve as a place to commemorate not only their ancestors but also the lives lost due to immigration policies, border militarization, and colonization. Most importantly, for Voces Unidas, these events center on remembrance through storytelling, art, and the expression of joy in different ways. Typically, celebrated through music and dance.
Serrano mentioned that the “Portales de Liberación” event is about the Valley’s “beautiful migratory corridor,” where encounters happen, and movement is being prohibited.
Essentially, Voces Unidas wanted to discuss how border militarization is affecting animals and people’s ability to connect with the land. “We don’t want to […] complacently sit on our hands and just go, ‘Well, it’s happening, and we tried to tell people the facts.’ […] We thought appealing to emotion, appealing through art, would be easier to understand and more universal in meaning for people to really sink their teeth into,” she said.
Pardo discussed the performance at “Portales de Liberación” and how each detail was developed through conversations about how Voces Unidas could bridge the division occurring between the people and the land. One idea they discussed was to represent the river as a spirit and include spirits that would protect it. As they continued to discuss ideas, they decided that the alebrijes would represent these spirits, such as ancestors and spirits of the land, meant to protect it.
During the performance, when the ranchero and daughter characters were setting up their altar and crossing over, the alebrijes served as a force that protected them from being separated, echoing the importance of unity in our communities.
The Portal Opens: Bringing Community and Creativity Together
To bring “Portales de Liberación” to life, Voces Unidas worked with a team of talented artists.
One artist was Salma C. Rojas (she/they), who had an exhibit, “The Magical Mares,” at the Mercedes Library, featuring colorful horses she created and beautiful, ornate masks that accompanied the costumes. Pardo reached out to Rojas and invited her to work with them on “Portales de Liberación.” Rojas helped Voces Unidas visually shape the event with her unique creativity.
Rojas spoke about what was special to her about creating her artwork, “The most special thing about creating these costumes is that I was able to create them for a good cause. It’s a way to be involved with the community and share my talents along with creatives.”
Mauro de la Tierra (he/him), a visual artist who grew up on the east side of San Antonio, has been a full-time artist for eight years and has been pursuing art for close to 15 years. He also worked with Voces Unidas on “Portales de Liberación.”
Voces Unidas has worked with de la Tierra for all of their Día de los Muertos events, and “Portales de Liberación” was the third year in which Voces Unidas collaborated with him.
For past events, de la Tierra has painted murals and portraits; this year, he contributed masks and costumes, as Rojas did. Although de la Tierra created some additional antagonistic characters, Rojas created more of the protagonists and alebrijes.
De la Tierra commented on what he will take away from the event, “It truly instills the importance that more than ever we need to utilize our voices. There’s power in embracing creativity, imagination, and fun. That we aren’t alone and that with community we create real ripples of change.”
There was also Souther Recio (she/they), owner of Cactus Valley Art in Harlingen, who has collaborated with Voces Unidas in many ways, including hosting events and workshops. Recio is also a performance artist whose work Voces Unidas admires and was invited to “Portales de Liberación.” Recio was the director of the performance that Voces Unidas put on. Recio created the script and helped shape the narrative, while other folks contributed edits and ideas, making it a collaborative effort.
Aside from these artists, “Portales de Liberación” also received the support of a spiritual guide and soul healer, Juan Del Alma, who led the ceremonial opening of the portal. Del Alma has been studying curanderismo and is now practicing it. Del Alma approached Voces Unidas and offered to lead the ceremony for them and also offered limpias to folks who attended “Portales de Liberación.”
Healing with Your Community in 2026!
While 2026 is gearing up to be another year where we have to stand up against the powers that want to crush us, organizations like Voces Unidas remind us that we don’t have to live in fear and that together we can open portals of healing with one another and support each other in honest, tangible ways.
Whether you were able to attend “Portales de Liberación” or Voces Unidas’ winter solstice event, or not, don’t let anything get in the way of being a part of your community.
This year, experience how communal joy can lift your spirits and remind you that you’ll always have a safe place to land, whether it is with organizations like Voces Unidas or any others you love supporting!
