Diane Guerrero

I remember when I was younger, older folks would say to me, 'There are three things you don't talk about at a dinner party: religion, politics, and money.' But I think the truth is quite the opposite. ”

Freedom has not always meant the same for everyone in this country. ”

Anybody who lives in Colombia knows that if you don't have any money - I tell you what - you don't have many options. ”

I would have had a much different story to tell if I had been imprisoned after being separated from my family, without a warm bed and only the cold faces of ICE agents and the crinkly feeling of a Mylar blanket. ”

I think it's always been sort of difficult for people of color to celebrate the Fourth of July and really understand what that means. ”

I want to be viewed like a serious actress, and I'm afraid that people are just going to see me as the poor little girl whose parents were deported when she was 14. ”

I've experienced colorism in that way: where if you're lighter, then you'll potentially be accepted into society better than if you were darker-skinned. ”

I dreamed of being an artist. ”

As much as it's been difficult to tell my story over and over again, it has been the best thing that has ever happened to me. ”

My father, who worked as a dishwasher, was especially anxious. He did not like being here undocumented. ”