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Peruvian filmmaker and visual artist Mabel Valdiviezo spent 16 years separated from her family while living in the United States. Her return to Peru became Hija Pródiga — Prodigal Daughter, an intimate documentary about migration, family estrangement, identity and healing.

Hija Pródiga was nominated for Cinema Tropical’s Best U.S. Latinx Film award. It won Best Documentary at the Arizona International Film Festival and the Audience Award at the Festival de Cine Peruano in Madrid.

Valdiviezo spoke with Rossana Longo-Better, producer of KGNU’s Storytellers of Color, a program that spotlights BIPOC media makers and the stories they tell from within their communities. The conversation was recorded September 5 at CU Boulder during Centro Amistad’s 20th Cumbre de Mujeres Compañeras, Hilando Nuestras Voces — Weaving Our Voices.

Valdiviezo, who lives in San Francisco, said moving between English and Spanish has become part of her identity.

“My English is fine, but it’s never going to be 100% as if I was born here, and I’m totally okay with that,” she said. “I’m actually happy with that. I love my accent.”

Valdiviezo began making Hija Pródiga in 2009, when she received her green card and was able to visit her family in Peru for the first time in 16 years. She completed the film in 2024.

“This is a film where there is a whole process of healing—personal healing, family healing, cultural healing and gender healing,” she said. “There are different things that need more time than just a quicker production.”

The film also places her personal experience within the political and historical forces that cause people to leave their countries.

“It was really important to put the historical, political and social context,” Valdiviezo said. “Where was Peru when I left my country, and where is it now? What has changed? That puts into perspective a lot of things.”

Valdiviezo said she faced limited access to funding and opportunities as a Latina immigrant filmmaker. Rather than wait for approval from the traditional documentary industry, she found another path.

“I said, ‘You know what? I just have to go do it in the best possible way, however it takes,’” she recalled.

For Valdiviezo, telling stories from within her own community is an expression of narrative sovereignty.

“We take the scene and say, ‘We are no longer the participants or the passive participants of these films made by other people who are not from our communities,’” she said.

Hija Pródiga, at the Cumbre brought that story directly to a community gathered to share its experiences, culture and hopes across generations.

“The liberation and the struggle are not just individual,” Valdiviezo said. “We are only going to continue to be human, and continue to have strength and hope, in dialogue, in conversation, in community—in the collective.”

The Denver multidisciplinary artist discusses creative refuge, his two-string slide bass and why art remains one of humanity’s most powerful forms of expression.

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For Denver artist and musician Cipriano Ortega, creativity is not limited to one medium. It can become a painting, poem, theatrical performance or song, depending on what an idea needs to communicate.

“I would say fundamentally I am an artist, by definition, but I’m just a creator,” Ortega told KGNU’s Rossana Longo-Better during Storytellers of Color. “I really believe in the blessings that we have as human beings to be able to use our hands and our minds to create things and express ourselves.”

Ortega, an Indigenous and Latino artist raised in North Denver, grew up in a family where art was part of daily life. His parents, artists Tony Ortega and Sylvia Montero, encouraged him to build objects, invent characters and transform his playroom into what he called his studio.

That childhood space remains his professional studio today.

Ortega described creativity as a refuge from the difficult realities that can overwhelm people. His studio, artistic practice and creative relationships form what he called a “saving sanctuary.”

“We live in these realities, in these harsh realities that bombard us at times,” Ortega said. “But we can always use, in a healthy way, escapism to be able to play pretend and contextualize our lives.”

Ortega’s practice brings together music, theater, poetry, painting, sculpture and performance. He describes himself as a sociological artist because his work questions what society accepts as normal and confronts the continuing effects of colonialism.

“I believe art is one of the highest ways we can express ourselves as a species,” he said.

Music has become increasingly central to Ortega’s work. He is the vocalist and two-string slide bassist for Los Lo Los, a Denver band that describes its sound as “low rock blues,” blending elements of blues, jazz and rock through minimal instrumentation.

Ortega developed his custom instrument with longtime guitar builder Scott Lofquist after discovering the two-string slide bass played by Mark Sandman of the band Morphine.

Ortega and Lofquist have created several versions using different woods, pickups and scale lengths. Ortega also constructed a one-string diddley bow for his installation at the Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art to demonstrate how music can begin with something as simple as a tightened wire and a slide.

During the KGNU conversation, Ortega shared “Oh Cocoa,” a song from Los Lo Los’ debut album, Lo Lo House. The song emerged while he was reflecting on cacao, Indigenous traditions and his identity as a Brown man.

“I think ‘Oh Cocoa’ is just, again, that testament of, like, I’m here,” Ortega said. “I have brown skin. You have brown skin. Brown is beautiful.”

The track also carries a family connection. Ortega’s mother grew up wanting to play drums but faced barriers as a Latina woman. Today, mother and son sometimes play together in his studio.

“It’s one of the things I treasure the most,” Ortega said.

Ortega also spoke about protecting his humanity during a time when Indigenous, immigrant, queer, Black and Brown communities are repeatedly forced to defend their history, dignity and right to belong.

He said he thinks about the struggles endured by his parents, grandparents and ancestors — and about how much they would want him to continue moving forward.

“I just think about how much they would want me to strive and shine and to look forward into the future,” Ortega said. “I can use all those things to turn them into gold.”

Storytellers of Color is built around more than interviewing an artist for a quick quote or promoting a single event. The program creates time for artists and community storytellers to explain their work, history and humanity in their own words.

That approach matters because responsible community journalism should not simply extract stories from artists of color. It should build relationships, recognize the knowledge artists carry and help their voices travel farther without separating their work from the experiences and communities that shaped it.

Listen to the complete conversation above, including music from Cipriano Ortega and Los Lo Los.

Ortega’s work appears alongside art by his parents, Tony Ortega and Sylvia Montero, in Tres Voces, Un Corazón at the Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art. The exhibition explores family, cultural memory, identity and artistic lineage and remains on view through Sept. 13, 2026.

Upcoming BMoCA events include:

Find music, videos and new releases from Ortega’s band at LosLoLos.com and listen to Lo Lo House through the band’s Bandcamp page.

Storytellers of Color airs on the second Monday of every month on KGNU. The series provides space for BIPOC artists, storytellers and community leaders to share their experiences in their own words.

On this month’s edition of Storytellers of Color, host Rossana Longo Better sits down with Maye Cordero, Senior Director of Events & Programs at the Boulder Chamber, for a conversation about leadership, identity, entrepreneurship, and the power of bringing people together.

Originally from Puerto Rico, Cordero reflects on her journey from professional dancer to community leader, sharing how mentorship, service, and her Caribbean roots have shaped her approach to leadership. “The way for me to give back to the community is by being that liaison between the resources that are available and our Latino community,” Cordero says.

The conversation also explores Wanderlamb Travel Collective, Cordero’s new travel business, inspired by her belief that travel can create empathy, confidence, and stronger human connections. “It’s not just about traveling. It’s really about helping people connect, learn from different cultures, and build empathy.”

Throughout the interview, Cordero encourages aspiring entrepreneurs not to wait for the perfect moment. “You don’t need to have everything figured out to start. You just need to begin.”

The discussion highlights the importance of mentorship, collaboration, and the Latino tradition of building community through shared experiences. Cordero also shares resources available through the Boulder Chamber, including programs that support entrepreneurs, women-owned businesses, and underrepresented communities.

Storytellers of Color is a monthly series airing every second Monday as part of A Public Affair on KGNU. Inspired by Journos of Color and the Latinx Voices Group, the program creates space for artists, educators, scientists, journalists, entrepreneurs, and community leaders to share the personal stories behind their work and explore how identity, equity, and belonging shape their lives and leadership.

On today’s episode of Storytellers of Color, KGNU’s Rossana Longo-Better speaks with journalist Jaisal Noor.

They discuss solutions journalism, immigrant voices, language access and why the future of media depends on serving communities where they are.

This story aired on A Public Affair, KGNU’s weekday morning show featuring in-depth discussions on local news issues. Click here to listen to other episodes of A Public Affair.

On this month’s Storytellers of Color, KGNU’s Rossana Longo Better speaks with Tania Hogan, executive director of CU Boulder’s BUENO Center for Multicultural Education, about language justice, bilingual education and what it means for students and families to be seen through their full identities.

Hogan was born in Acapulco, Mexico, and moved to the United States when she was 5 years old. Spanish was the language of her home, but school became a place where language was misunderstood.

“My teachers wanted me tested for special education because I wasn’t responding to my name,” Hogan said, explaining that teachers called her “Tania” instead of the name she knew at home. She did not learn English until around fourth grade and said those early experiences shaped her path as an educator.

“I wanted to provide all that I didn’t get in that space in school,” Hogan said.

Hogan later became a bilingual teacher and spent 18 years in K-12 education before moving into higher education. At the BUENO Center, her work focuses on preparing educators to better support multilingual learners and recognize the cultural and linguistic knowledge students bring into the classroom.

For Hogan, language justice is not simply translation.

“It’s allowing you to be who you are within the space you are,” she said.

She described translanguaging — moving between languages naturally — as “el corrido,” or the flow of language. Rather than seeing bilingual students as deficient, Hogan said schools should recognize that bilingual brains work differently and that moving between languages can be strategic, expressive and powerful.

The conversation also touched on funding cuts affecting programs that support Latino, immigrant, first-generation and multilingual students. Hogan said the BUENO Center recently lost major grants that helped provide access to education through scholarships and tuition support.

“What we’re losing is being able to give scholarships and being able to fully pay for the tuition for our students,” Hogan said.

Still, she said the center remains committed to its mission of creating educational pathways, supporting teachers and honoring students’ language, culture and identity.

The interview also explored the importance of community wisdom, including the role of abuelas and caregivers in Latino communities, and the need for more Spanish-language and truly bilingual media in Colorado.

“Absolutely, yes, we need more,” Hogan said. “When I see Latinos being represented in different spaces, me da orgullo.”

Hogan said representation matters not only in media, but also in schools, universities and the workforce. She pointed to the importance of recognizing bilingualism as an asset, including through efforts to strengthen Colorado’s Seal of Biliteracy and create more recognition for heritage speakers.

For young bilingual and bicultural students, Hogan said their stories are part of collective power.

“Sharing their stories and their experiences is what will give power to our shared collective community,” she said.

Storytellers of Color airs on KGNU’s A Public Affair every second Monday of the month.

The Colorado River is entering another dangerous season. After a dry winter and weak snowpack, the seven basin states still have not reached an agreement on how to use less water, raising the chances of federal intervention as the river continues to shrink. The stakes are especially high for tribes, whose water rights and histories have too often been treated as secondary in the negotiations.

On a recent episode of Storytellers of Color on KGNU, Rossana Longo Better spoke with Donald Whyte, a Ute Mountain Ute elder and retired chief ranger with the National Park Service, after a University of Colorado Boulder presentation that used theater to explore the Colorado River.

For Whyte, water is not simply a policy issue or a resource to divide. It is history, identity and relationship.

“We know that water is life,” Whyte said. “We have a strong relationship to it.”

Whyte described a map he created of Ute homelands, tracing waterways across what is now Colorado, Utah and beyond. The map reflects a perspective that predates state lines and political boundaries.

“I had to change my perspective and come up with a different set of words,” he said. “We are the people of the headwaters of the southern Rocky Mountains.”

That perspective matters now, he said, because the modern Colorado River crisis is unfolding on Indigenous homelands. Yet tribal voices, he warned, still do not carry equal weight.

“Tribal voices sit secondary,” Whyte said. “And I think that is not where we belong.”

He spoke of the long history of water promises made to tribes and not fulfilled. On the Ute Mountain Ute Reservation, he said, water scarcity is not abstract. It is immediate and personal.

“My own family members came to me and said, ‘Don, you know this land, where do we have a place where we can have a water source?’” Whyte said. “And I said, ‘It’s not within our reach.’”

That reality comes as climate pressures intensify. Across the West, drought and heat are worsening water shortages, and forecasters have warned that low snowpack this year could put added pressure on reservoirs, agriculture and downstream communities.

Whyte said he has watched those changes unfold over decades, from his fire work in the 1980s to today.

“These intense fires are not the normal fires that I grew up and was aware of in the early ’80s,” he said.

Even so, he returned to the need for cooperation, humility and respect.

“It’s gonna have to be one of community cooperation,” Whyte said. “It’s not just people, it’s plants, it’s animals. You need to make sure that we don’t take more than our fair share.”

And on a deeply personal level, he said hope begins with paying attention to water itself, not as something endless, but as something finite and sacred.

“I have to, in my own way, always try and protect that water,” Whyte said, “because it’s so finite.”

In this month’s episode of Storytellers of Color, KGNU’s Rossana Longo Better sat down with Stephanie Abdalla, a Brazilian researcher,  journalist and human rights activist. Her work concentrates on alternative human rights discourses, feminist media practices and traditional identities.

“ I wanted to pursue and cover the stories I was interested about. And those were always stories that had a racial component to it, that had a gender component to it. I soon realized that maybe I should start naming these stories how I felt like they should be named,” Abdalla said. “I came across the whole conception of human rights, which wasn’t introduced to me initially in a very legalistic, traditional way. In fact, I got a hold of this idea through a very social perspective, and that’s what led me to then specialize in human rights and eventually pursue my master’s in gender and communication in Spain.”

She is pursuing her PhD in media studies at CU Boulder and working as a research fellow at the Media Economies and Design Lab, where she’s developing a new project called “Encuentros,” a digital and podcast-based space to connect Latin American media activists and reflect on how they practice. They work to define human rights through media.

This story aired on A Public Affair, KGNU’s weekday morning show featuring in-depth discussions on local news issues. Click here to listen to other episodes of A Public Affair.

In this edition of Storytellers of Color, we hear from choreographer Nate Weng, an artist whose work explores identity, migration, and the body as a living archive.

Through movement, and through his work with The Hair Collective, he brings together personal history, cultural memory, and contemporary dance to ask what it means to belong—on stage and in the world. In different ways, they both weave creativity in the body and in the soul.

Through dance, Nate weaves together personal history, cultural memory, and contemporary performance to ask a simple but powerful question: What does it mean to belong?

In our conversation, we discussed his creative process, the role of cultural identity in choreography, and how art can open spaces for dialogue among communities navigating change and uncertainty.

On this episode of Storytellers of Color, host Rossana Longo-Better is in conversation with Leticia Abajo Torrijos, founder of Deshaciendo Nudos, an educator, interpreter, life coach, and longtime community connector who has worked alongside Spanish-speaking and immigrant families in Boulder County since the late 1990s.

At the heart of this conversation is a simple but powerful idea: listening — truly listening — is an act of care.

“For me, listening is not about responding,” Leticia says. “It’s about understanding.”

Drawing from her own journey as an immigrant and decades of community-based work, Leticia reflects on the role of language in shaping dignity, trust, and belonging, especially in moments of transition, stress, and decision-making. She explains why interpretation is not just about words, but about context, culture, and humanity.

“When people speak in their own language, you hear the nuance, the tone, the history, the lineage,” she says. “That’s where empathy begins.”

Throughout the episode, Leticia shares how immigrant families have long carried deep intelligence, even when formal education was out of reach and how today’s younger generations are stepping into leadership, civic life, and political spaces with clarity and confidence.

“We don’t all need to be on the same page,” she says. “There can be many pages in one book.”

The conversation also touches on identity, accent, and the power of bilingualism. Leticia reminds us that having an accent is not a weakness; it’s evidence of another language, another world, another way of knowing.

Looking ahead to the new year, Leticia discusses her current work through talleres de escritura terapeútica, creating intentional spaces for reflection, communication, and personal clarity. This helps people loosen the knots they carry and move forward with purpose.

“You don’t change the world without starting with yourself,” she says.

This episode is a reminder that language is power, listening builds bridges, and community resilience is rooted in dignity and connection.

On this episode of Storytellers of Color, host Rossana Longo-Better speaks with climber, author, and community leader Felipe Proaño Iturralde about mountains, migration, identity, and representation in the outdoors.

Felipe began climbing in Ecuador in 2003, expanding across the Andes before taking on iconic routes in the United States, including El Capitan in Yosemite. Now based in Boulder, he serves as the Bilingual Senior Coordinator for the Junior Rangers Program and is the founder of the Andean Access Foundation, which works to create more inclusive pathways into outdoor spaces.

In this conversation, Felipe reflects on immigration, authorship, mentorship, and what it means to belong in a place where climbing is not just a sport but a way of life.

This story aired on A Public Affair, KGNU’s weekday morning show featuring in-depth discussions on local news issues. Click here to listen to other episodes of A Public Affair.