The Unitarian Universalist Church of Brunswick and Woodfords Congregational Church of Portland are proud to announce a concert to benefit The Immigrant Legal Advocacy Project (ILAP) at 7 pm on Saturday, October 24th at the Woodfords Church.  This eclectic and exciting concert will feature a wide variety of music, poetry, and dance presented by Maine artists from a diversity of cultural backgrounds and life experiences. 

Musical artists include Madeleine Hanna and the 4-person Jawahir Arabic Music Ensemble performing song and dance primarily from Lebanon, The Pihcintu Multinational Girl’s Choir along with the band Akiwacu, featuring the voices of children from 16 different countries impacted by war, famine, and turmoil, and Hadithi Abdulle, oud player and singer from Somalia, presenting music on the theme of resiliency and personal testimony. Poetry will be shared by Jeri Thériault, a Franco-American poet from Maine, and Richard Blanco (via video)—selected by President Obama as the fifth inaugural poet in U.S. history. Signed copies of his poetry suitable for framing will be available by donation. The evening will be topped off by the Singing Resistance chapters of both Portland and Brunswick-Topsham who will lead songs developed in 2026 as resistance cries in the face of the Minneapolis ICE occupation. Pulling this all together will be our amazing emcee:  Brunswick comedian, Mohamed Awale.

Donations will be accepted at the door and go directly to ILAP as well as to presenting artists who have been impacted by recent immigration activity. ILAP is Maine's only statewide provider of free immigration legal services. ILAP advances justice for Maine's immigrants through free immigration legal services, community outreach, and advocacy.

Please join us for this unique and inspiring concert to benefit Maine's immigrant community!