Artist and activist Laura Soto joins us in this episode to discuss and celebrate recent immigration bills that have passed favoring immigrant rights in the state of Colorado. Laura eloquently shares her personal story and experience through poetry both in Spanish and English. This episode ends in multiple mini interviews with PlatteForum community members who offer what they think Americans should know about the immigrant experience from their perspective.

Laura Soto is a DACA recipient, Mexican ARTivist who currently resides in Longmont, CO and works at Philanthropiece Foundation as Operations Manager. Through her position, Laura serves in many local initiatives in a Bilingual and Bicultural capacity under the themes of Latinx leadership, immigrant rights, indigenous advocacy, climate justice, economic justice and youth engagement. She is an active member of the SVVSD Parents Involved in Education (PIE) Taskforce, the Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition (CIRC) and the Latinx Advisory Committee to Congressman Joe Neguse. She has co-founded local grassroots organizations Voces Unidas of Boulder County and Colectivo Cultura. Laura shares her activism via performance, spoken-word and written poetry. She has performed for Motus Theater, Latino Community Foundation of Colorado, City of Longmont, City of Lafayette, Migrant Youth Leadership Institute, Noche de Peña in Boulder, Tonos Latinos, Latino Advocacy Day, the Hispanic Access Foundation among others. Laura says: " Through my work as an artivist I say that “I was born a warrior.” In part because I want to honor all the struggles and adversities my family, my ancestors, my people, and I have lived through, but also because I wish to inspire this “fighter spirit” onto my community; to show that resilience is not something we do only through hard times, but that it is a way of life."

Art Moves is a new podcast by PlatteForum where resident artists and community members talk about what means the most to them within their practice, in a space where art meets social change.

Special thanks to: Kevin, Brice, Eriko, Tsogo and Edna

To make a donation or learn about upcoming exhibitions, visit our website: platteforum.org/