October 17th, 2026
written and edited by Sharon Burns
EL CENTRO — Jobs to Move America’s Oct. 17 event paired a lineup featuring Ozomatli and local artists with messages about participation in the Valley’s future. When Jay Roxxx stepped onto the stage, fans moved forward, phones raised and hands outstretched. As she sang, she leaned toward them, reaching down to touch the hands of audience members eager for a moment of connection.
It was one of the most enthusiastic responses of an evening that brought performers and residents together around live music…
and a recurring call
to take part in civic life.
Presented by Jobs to Move America, the free Oct. 17 concert at the Jimmie Cannon Performing Arts Center at Southwest High School featured a bill led by Ozomatli. Advertised special guests included Jay Roxxx, DJ Raymond T, The Valentines, EST3BAN, Jason Pink and Memo.
The event offered free music and food, with fans eating pizza and chocolate while waiting in line. The program began at approximately 6:40 p.m., 40 minutes after its scheduled 6 p.m. start.
Once underway, the evening brought together different musical styles, performance approaches and messages about the community beyond the stage. Between sets, speakers encouraged attendees to become informed, vote and pay attention to decisions affecting the Imperial Valley.
The result was a concert where entertainment and civic engagement occupied the same space. Fans could come to hear an artist they followed, discover another performer and encounter a message about their role in shaping local life.
Jason Pink’s performance combined laptop mixes with rapping and dancing. With lights flashing around him, his set moved between working at the laptop and performing for the room.
Jason Pink shows off musical prowess, rapping, and dancing at Jimmie Cannon Theatre, Southwest High School. Photos by Sharon Burns.
That combination gave his appearance a different rhythm from a traditional band set. The laptop was part of the performance, alongside his voice and movement, as he brought several elements together onstage.
Photo collage highlighting the concert flyer and pre-concert photos. By Sharon Burns.
DJ Raymond T also worked to build the room’s energy, showing off his DJ skills and hyping up the audience. His appearance added another dimension to a lineup that moved across mixes, rap and live instruments.
Photo of the Valentines band from Calexico by Sharon Burns
The Valentines, an edgy rock band from Calexico, brought guitars and a local connection to the evening. During their set, the band introduced a song as its first original, sharing that milestone with the concert audience.
The Valentines’ appearance put Calexico musicians on a bill alongside the evening’s other guests. For a community concert, that local presence was part of what gave the event its Valley character: residents were hearing performers connected to the same region where the audience lives, studies and works.
Photo collage of Jay Roxxx coming onstage, by Sharon Burns
Jay Roxxx’s arrival brought an especially visible shift in the crowd. Fans rushed toward the stage, lifting phones to record her performance. Many appeared to be middle- and high-school-aged, although their ages were not independently confirmed.
As she sang, she repeatedly reached toward the audience. Fans extended their arms, hoping to touch her hand while keeping their phones pointed toward the stage.
Those exchanges became a defining scene of her set. The performance unfolded through both the music and the small moments between artist and audience — a hand reached down, another reached up, and nearby fans tried to capture it.
Fans react to Jay Roxxx after they got to touch her outreached hand. Photo by Sharon Burns.
The evening’s civic messages asked attendees to think about another kind of participation.
Franca, who identified herself as a Planned Parenthood volunteer and Imperial Valley College student, urged the audience to become informed and resist apathy. She described ignorance and apathy as concerns and encouraged people not to freeze or take a step back. She said…
“Most people
will not vote
for your benefit.”
Her remarks emphasized the need for people to understand the issues and participate on their own behalf. In a room gathered for entertainment, her message brought attention back to the choices residents make beyond a concert.
Jacob, speaking on behalf of Jobs to Move America, connected civic involvement with good-paying jobs, clean air and communities where local people can thrive.
He also recognized people willing to put themselves forward and encouraged more residents to become involved in the civic process. His remarks linked the gathering to the organization’s stated concerns about work, environmental conditions and local opportunity.
Local development questions also entered the program. A speaker identified as Julian Daniel of Holtville briefly mentioned his recent objections on data centers and directed attention toward the Imperial County Board of Supervisors.
That message brought a specific local issue into an evening otherwise moving between music and broader encouragement to vote. It also extended the discussion of participation beyond elections to the public bodies where residents can follow proposals, hear discussion and express their views.
At the top of the advertised lineup was Ozomatli, the Los Angeles group formed in 1995. The band’s musical approach brings together Latin styles, hip-hop, funk and other influences, reflecting the range of sounds represented across the concert’s bill.
The evening gave audiences a chance to encounter performers whose approaches differed from one another. Laptop mixes, rapping, dancing, DJ sets and Calexico rock shared a program that made room for more than one kind of performance.
For attendees, the event offered a place to gather without an admission charge, eat, and hear music together. For the speakers, it offered an opportunity to reach people already assembled around that shared experience.
The connection between those purposes ran through the night. Onstage, performers asked the audience to listen and respond. Between performances, speakers asked residents to carry that participation into decisions affecting their communities.
The music brought people into the room. The message repeated throughout the evening was to stay involved after leaving it.