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Immigrant Stories 2025: resistance, liberation, and joy
Join us on October 28th at 6 PM in the University Union Building on the campus of Sacramento State for our 4th annual Immigrant Stories, an event amplifying the lived experiences of our immigrant community members. Five storytellers will take the stage to share their true personal stories on the theme of this year: Resistance, Liberation, and Joy. This event is hosted in partnership with the Dreamer Resource Center of Sacramento State. It is sponsored by SMUD and funded by grants from the California Arts Council and California Humanities for All.
This year we are hosting the event both in-person and online. The event is free but please note: Attendees must get tickets (for both in-person and online).
We have space for 220 attendees in our auditorium at Sacramento State and we would love for you join us there. If you are not able to join us in person, join us online (via Zoom). For both in-person and virtual tickets, click the button below. You’ll be directed to our Eventbrite page where you should click “Get Tickets” and then you can choose whether you’d like to order “in-person” or “virtual” tickets.
For security purposes, we are sharing the location information and our virtual link with only our ticket holders. Once you get your tickets, you will receive information a few days before the event about the auditorium location and/or a link to join us virtually! If you have questions, email us at info@capitalstorytelling.com. Join us in solidarity to witness and uplift our immigrant community’s stories.
**Admission is FREE but you must order tickets beforehand.
Date: October 28th
Time: 6:00 – 8:00 PM PT
Location: Â University Union Building on the campus of Sacramento State AND VIRTUAL. To receive the exact room location OR to get a link to the virtual event, you must order a ticket and enter an email address. Information will be sent to ticket holders’ email addresses.
ASL Interpretation will be provided. AI generated captioning will be provided (and available to view on your handheld device or phone!) The venue is wheelchair accessible. If you need accommodations or have questions, please contact Lisa Cantrell at lisa@capitalstorytelling.com so that we can work with you to make this event as accessible as possible.
Captioning will be available in English, Spanish, Arabic, Mandarin, Tagalog (Filipino), Hmong, Korean, Russian, and Vietnamese. Audio dubbing will be available in Spanish, Arabic, Mandarin, and Vietnamese. If you’d like to view the captions, be sure to bring your phone so you can scan our QR code to get access. You’ll be able to read the captions on your own phone. If you want to LISTEN to audio dubbing/translation, be sure to bring your own headphones so that you can listen through your phone!Â
Masks will be provided and encouraged for our community.
The event will be held on the first floor of the University Union on the campus of Sac State, 6000 J Street, Sacramento. See map and info below for details on location and parking (and click the map to enlarge it). The University Union is highlighted in Yellow on the map. Parking is in purple. If you have questions, email us at info@capitalstorytelling.com or call the Dreamer Resource Center at (916) 278-7734. You may also call Capital Storytelling at 1-(209)-425-2951.
Meet the Storytellers
Coralia Alvarado Lopez (she/her/ella)
Storyteller
Coralia is a Salvadoran born raised in the San Franciso Bay Area, poet, and storyteller whose work uplifts and celebrates the immigrant experience. She is the creator of Stories de Mi Gente, a bilingual storytelling project dedicated to reclaiming the narratives of Latino and immigrant communities with honor, pride, y corazón! Her calling as a storyteller began after a deep meditation revealed a truth she had carried for years, she had never been empowered to own her immigrant story. In that moment, Coralia understood the power of voice: how silence can wound, and how storytelling can heal.
Trần Mai Xanh (he/they)
Storyteller
Trần Mai Xanh (he/they) is a second-generation Queer, Trans, and Non-binary Vietnamese-American who wears multiple hats as a multimedia artist, focusing on storytelling through photography, DJing, filmmaking, and stand-up comedy. He is from San José, CA, and currently resides in Sacramento, where he is known as Compost King, a facilitator of composting, gardening, and a sustainability group called Compost Kin.
Zai (she/her)
Storyteller
Zai is a writer, teacher, and filmmaker based in Sacramento, California. After teaching in three different countries and earning a PhD in French literature, she turned toward the creative pursuits closest to her heart: filmmaking, writing, and storytelling. She discovered the art of live storytelling during the final year of her PhD and immediately felt at home on stage. Since then, she has performed regularly at platforms such as DoTell at Capital Storytelling and The Moth. Her work seeks to create spaces where people from all walks of life feel empowered to share their stories—spaces where, beyond social and political divides, genuine human connection takes center stage.
Jenni Hernandez (she/her/ella)
Storyteller
Jenni is currently a graduate student at Sacramento State studying Higher Education Leadership and Policy. Her work at the Dreamer Resource Center has helped her find her "why" and it deeply motivates her to change higher education institutions to be more equitable for undocumented students. As a Mexican immigrant brought to the United States at the age of one, she considered herself a bridge between many different cultures and is rooted in her community.
Diana Cazandra Rangel (she/her/ella)
Storyteller
Diana Cazandra Rangel is a first-generation Chicana from South Sacramento and the daughter of a single immigrant mother. As the firstborn and a U.S. citizen, she embraced every opportunity her status provided, driven by her family’s consejos y ganas. Diana earned her B.A. in Ethnic Studies from Sacramento State and is now pursuing her M.A. in Chicana/o Latina/o Studies at Cal State LA, where she focuses on women in politics, joterÃa theory, and filmmaking. She currently works for the Secretary of State in Downtown Los Angeles. Through her academic and professional work and many firsts, Diana strives to pave the way for future generations.
Questions and Answers!
Do I have to get tickets for the event beforehand? Yes. This year for security reasons we are requiring all guests to order their ticket before the event (both in-person and virtual attendees). The event is FREE but you should go to our Eventbrite page (by clicking on the button above) to get a ticket.
How do I attend virtually? If you’d like to attend virtually, click the button above to go to our Eventbrite page. You can then click “Get Tickets” and then you will have the option to order virtual tickets. You will then receive an email with the link to get into our virtually streamed Zoom event to watch the event online.
I want to attend in person. Can I just show up on the night of the event? The short answer is “not really.” We will be sending the exact auditorium location only to those who are ticket holders (so you’ll need to order a free ticket before hand and enter your email address so that we can send you an email to tell you know where to go for the event!). If you show up to the University Union on the night of the event you will likely see where the event is (we’ll have sign up to direct you), BUT if you do not have a ticket, we will still ask that you go to our Eventbrite page and get a ticket before you enter the auditorium. We are doing this so that we can maintain security of the event given the current political climate. We recommend getting that ticket before you arrive so that you can enter the auditorium easily and quickly and also so that you can be sure that we have a seat for you! We have limited space in the auditorium (220 seats).
Where is the event located? The event will be in one of the auditoriums inside of the the University Union on the campus of Sac State (Sacramento State University is located at 6000 J Street, Sacramento CA). We will share details about the exact room a few days prior to the event with those who have ordered a ticket for the in-person event. To see where the University Union is, you can check out the campus map below! The University Union is highlighted in yellow on the map. You can also put “University Union” into your phone’s GPS application and your phone should also direct you to the building!
Where do I park? There is a parking structure right next to the University Union (see map for purple highlighted parking structures). We suggest that you park in Parking Structure 2. You will need to pay for parking. You can do that by paying at one of the kiosks in the parking structure OR by using the QR code on the campus map to pay by phone. If you are using the QR code and your smart phone to pay, use the parking code 5115. (You will be prompted for this code when paying with your phone.)
Thank you to our partners and our sponsors for this event.
