Nimisha grew up in the U.S. in an Indian immigrant family, with parents bent on protecting her from the dangers of permissive American culture. “This meant that I was seriously not popular, and didn’t get invited to much,” she recalls. So when classmates held a co-ed swim party for the entire 10th grade, she had to navigate the restrictions of her family and her lack of experience with American teen fashion and society. more >

When I was 21 years old, I was sitting in the basement of the Los Angeles federal court. I was being arrested – for the second time. I was a senior at UCLA and an undocumented immigrant. I had followed the advice of my immigration attorney and turned myself in. more >

The scrolling red digital banner wrapped around the Fox 29 building provided an apt epilogue for the First Person Arts Festival’s (FPA) Uninvited Girl: An Immigrant Story. It said our mayor wanted us to watch out for acts of bigotry, but remain calm following Donald Trump’s presidential election win.

That tension between the reality of a painful, precarious social status for many U.S. residents and the faith we place in our government institutions was a theme in writer/performer Nimisha Ladva’s one-woman show. It’s also something those frightened by the implications of Trump’s election must wrestle with. more >