Fundraiser Set To Benefit Immigrant Family At Old Lyme Church

OLD LYME, CT — New Orleans piano virtuoso Tom McDermott, and his friend, the award-winning New Orleans author, Tom Piazza, will perform a benefit concert on April 7 to call attention to the plight of Malik Naveed bin Rehman and Zahida Altaf, who have taken sanctuary at First Congregational Church of Old Lyme to avoid deportation. The couple, who have lived in New Britain for nearly 20 years and have a young daughter who is a United States citizen, face deportation to Pakistan.

The public concert – an evening of songs and stories design to raise awareness and community support – is scheduled for 5 p.m. in the FCCOL Meetinghouse. It is open to everyone, and while admission is free, donations will be welcomed. Doors will open at 4:30 p.m.; seating will be on a first-come, first-served basis.

The concert will be followed by a homemade pizza dinner in the Fellowship Hall, prepared by the New Britain couple in sanctuary, who are also the owners of the popular Pizza Corner restaurant on Broad Street in New Britain. Admission to the dinner is $10. All proceeds from the evening will go towards assisting the couple’s efforts to achieve a stay of deportation.

From a First Congregational Church of Old Lyme release:

McDermott is an internationally recognized pianist and composer, and a fixture in the world of New Orleans music. His work was featured in the HBO series "Treme" - where he played himself several times throughout the series. He has released 17 albums, including 90 original songs - in styles ranging from jazz to Brazilian choro, to ragtime, to swing, to classical compositions. He’s played Carnegie Hall, the 92 nd Street Y, most states in America and a couple dozen countries abroad. He’s been reviewed a half-dozen times by the “New York Times,” as well as the “Wall Street Journal,” “Rolling Stone” and other media; and has lectured at Harvard on New Orleans, American music and his unique house.

Piazza is a celebrated writer on American music. His 12 books include the novels, “A Free State” and “City of
Refuge”; the post-Katrina manifesto, “Why New Orleans Matters”; and “Devil Sent the Rain,” a collection of
his essays and journalism. He was a principal writer for the HBO series “Treme” and became a Grammy Award winner for his album notes to “Martin Scorsese Presents the Blues: A Musical Journey.” In 2015, he received the prestigious Louisiana Writer Award, given by the State Library of Louisiana and the Louisiana Center for the Book. His work has appeared in the “New York Times,” “The Atlantic,” “Bookforum,” “The Oxford American,” “Columbia Journalism Review” and many other periodicals.

Malik Naveed bin Rehman and Zahida Altaf were offered sanctuary earlier this month at FCCOL as a way to help slow the deportation procedure down, give the appeals process a chance to work, and provide
immigration authorities with an opportunity to recognize the injustices and flaws of the law as it is being
applied in this case. Connecticut Senators Richard Blumenthal and Chris Murphy, New Britain Mayor Erin
Stewart, the New Britain city council, the New Britain Democratic Town Committee and numerous human
rights organizations are among the groups and individuals who have asked federal authorities to grant the
family a stay of deportation.

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