Actress, author, activist

Actress and author Diane Guerrero will speak at 7:30 p.m.  Thursday in the Texas Southmost College Arts Center in Brownsville, where she will share her story of a forced separation from her family and achieving career success.

Guerrero stars as Maritza Ramos on the Netflix series, “Orange Is the New Black,” and Lina on “Jane the Virgin,” as well as several other films and TV shows.

She has also written a book titled, “In the Country We Love,” a story of a woman’s extraordinary resilience in the face of the nightmarish struggle of undocumented residents in this country, according to inthecountrywelove.com.

In addition, Guerrero has worked with the nonprofit Immigrant Legal Resource Center and Mi Familia Vota, an organization that promotes civic involvement. She was named a White House Ambassador for Citizenship and Naturalization as well.

“We are very excited to be welcoming her to our university next week,” said Cindy Mata-Vasquez, director of Student Activities. “… You know this is one of the speakers that, we feel like is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to get someone like her. Coming down to speak on, you know, the issues that have affected her personally and maybe that may be affecting some of our students.”

Psychology sophomore Narda Ayala is aware of the plight of Guerrero’s family.

“I know that she comes out in ‘Orange Is the New Black,’ and she’s Latina … and her parents are immigrants so … she was separated [from] her parents,” Ayala said.

Guerrero is part of UTRGV’s Distinguished Speaker Series, which presented Julian Castro last fall.

On Sept. 27, Castro, a former U.S. secretary of Housing and Urban Development, was the first speaker of this year’s series.

On March 7, Daymond John, an entrepreneur and a co-star in ABC’s business show, “Shark Tank,” will be the next guest for the Distinguished Speaker Series.

Admission is free.

For more information, call 664-2660 in Edinburg or 882-5111 in Brownsville.