After Mexican Dance Students Harassed, Barber Raises $10,000 For Kids: ‘We Show Up Louder’

LOGAN SQUARE — A Logan Square barbershop owner raised $10,000 for a Mexican folk dance studio whose young students and families were harassed and battered in a viral video.

Ricardo Sepeda, the owner of Calaveras Barbershop & SMP at 3005 W. Armitage Ave. in Logan Square, raised $10,000 via raffles and GoFundMe contributions from more than 100 local donors for Ballet Folklorico de Chicago. Ofelia Guerra, founder and executive director of Ballet Folklorico, 3006 N. Pulaski Road, said the donation funded college scholarships for six of the studio’s dancers, who plan to attend schools such as DePaul University and University of Illinois Chicago this fall. 

“It just warmed my heart,” Guerra said. “It turned a negative situation into something positive.”

Sepeda and Ald. Jessie Fuentes (26th) presented Guerra with a jumbo novelty check June 7 in front of a crowd of hundreds at Sepeda’s annual block party on the corner of Armitage Avenue and Humboldt Boulevard, where Ballet Folklorico students of all ages performed dances from various regions of Mexico in traditional, colorful folkloric dresses, Guerra said. Sepeda dubbed the fundraiser event “10K for 10 Years” because he was celebrating a decade since he opened Calaveras Barbershop & SMP, he said. 

Sepeda said he delivered the real check to the dance studio and met the scholarship recipients Wednesday. 

“Our community doesn’t shrink in the face of hate; we show up louder, more vibrant, and more united,” Sepeda wrote in the GoFundMe. “The best answer to that violence is a resounding celebration of everything they tried to silence.”

On March 6, dance students and their families were leaving Ballet Folklorico when two residents of a neighboring apartment building attacked them in an incident recorded on video. In the video, a woman yells at the families to leave while a man pours a container of clear liquid from a balcony onto the families.

“You’re lucky ICE is not here,” the woman says to the families in the video.

The victims were three girls ages 13, 14 and 15; a 13-year-old boy; and three adult women.

Robert Villanueva, 50, was arrested and charged with five misdemeanor counts of battery days after the incident. Villanueva and the woman, who was not charged, spoke to CBS2 in March and denied that they were racist. They said noise from the studio had been an issue. 

Sepeda said he was scrolling through social media in search of inspiration for a theme for his 10-year anniversary block party when he encountered Belmont Cragin United’s video of the harassment. 

Sepeda said he quickly recognized the man pouring liquid on the students and parents — he’d been cutting his hair for about nine years. Soon after, Sepeda sent Villanueva a message letting him know that he could no longer be his barber, he said.

The video also “struck a nerve” because many of his family members, including his mother, were folklorico dancers, Sepeda said. Almost immediately, he reached out to Ballet Folklorico to dedicate the block party to them, he said.

“I was disgusted by it because for one, nobody should be treated like that anyways,” Sepeda said. “But it was towards kids. All they were doing was practicing and going home.”

Guerra said Ballet Folklorico was flooded with emails and calls of support after the incident, so much so that she “didn’t even know where to start” in responding. But she said Sepeda was “adamant” about getting in touch with her, sending followup messages almost hourly. 

When Sepeda first told her he had a goal of raising $10,000, she thought it was “a pretty lofty goal,” Guerra said. One week before the block party, the GoFundMe was at about $5,000. She said she would’ve been “super grateful” for any donation, but Sepeda “shocked” her by saying he raised the $10,000. 

“It’s just unbelievable that people that don’t even know you show such kindness and generosity toward you and your organization,” Guerra said. 

Ahead of the event, more than 100 community members had brought the donation total to $7,000. To raise the final $3,000, neighborhood businesses donated items like gift certificates, a TV and a karaoke machine for a raffle at the block party, Sepeda said. 

“Just to believe in the mission and to jump on board, and just to have these local businesses ready to just, ‘let’s go’ … that just meant everything to me,” Sepeda said. 

In addition to Ballet Folklorico’s performances, Sepeda said the block party highlighted local cultural artists, including Aztec dancers, salsa classes and graffiti writers. He said he hoped the event would generate revenue for other local businesses who took part, like Babe’s Sports Bar, 3017 W. Armitage Ave., and Yaba’s Food & Middle Eastern Grill, 3011 W. Armitage Ave. 

Guerra said the block party was a “feel-good event overall” with a diverse display of art. She said it was “heartwarming” as dozens of attendees came up to her to introduce themselves and offer to lend a hand in any future fundraising for Ballet Folklorico after seeing the video of the harassment.

“We’re going to continue being in each other’s lives,” Guerra said of Sepeda. “We still want to keep the partnership going. I said, ‘You know what, you guys are familia from now on.’”