KXEP-LP Empower House Radio

Platica Y Poetics S3E4 w/ Mx. Ratiqing Rios

In my sit down with Mx. Ratiqing Rios—a poet, artist, teacher, and education advocate a
profound understanding of artistry and advocacy arose. Speaking about how their work bears
witness to the struggles of marginalized youth meanwhile affirming the power of creativity as a
tool for survival and transformation. Their poetry transforms everyday experiences into powerful
narratives of identity, resilience, and community. Our interview opened with Audre Lorde's "A
Litany for Survival," setting the tone for exploration of survival and creativity as acts of
resistance. Mx’s poetry, grounds in their lived experiences as an educator and visual storyteller,
inviting listeners to witness the intersections of socio-economic struggle, gender identity, and the
transformative power of art. We spoke of the playful yet chaotic nature of their artistic process,
emphasizing the power of imagination as both a coping mechanism and a radical act of self-
definition. Their poetry captures the resilience of marginalized communities while exploring the
vulnerabilities of gender-diverse students and the crucial role educators play in fostering safe,
affirming environments. We shared a teacher/activist commonality. Our fierce conviction on the
importance of showing up as one's full self in the classroom. Modeling what it means to advocate
for students' right to express who they are without fear. Throughout the interview, Mx returned
to the idea of play as a restorative act, in both their poetry and teaching, encouraging playfulness
as a means of fostering creativity and resilience, a frame-by-frame cartoon storyboards snapshots
of identity and survival —a testament to the multifaceted roles they embody.

The Resilience Within S3E8 w/ Dragonfly

The Resilience Within S3E7 w/ Sonya Rosario- Forgiveness as a form of Self-Care

Season 3 is about self-care, because self-care is community care. Independent filmmaker Sonya Rosario shares her powerful story of self-determination and empowerment as a daughter of Mexican -American heritage who was ready to break out of the confinements of patriarchy. She also shares one of the most important acts self-care she could give to herself: forgiveness of her father, and ultimately even of herself. 
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Sonya Rosario is an independent filmmaker, owner and CEO of Sonya Rosario Productions, founded in 2000. Sonya lived in Idaho, 1994-2023, now lived in San Antonio. An Award-winning filmmaker, dedicated to give voice to women living on reservations and in rural Idaho, so that their presence and work are not forgotten or diminished, as they leave a significant marker through activism, education and legislature.
 

The Resilience Within S3E6 w/ Vic Janitzi Estrada

The Resilience Within S3E5 w/ Violeta Garza - Los 13 Aires Cósmicos

Season 3 is about self-care, because self-care is community care. Violeta Garza sat with me in the studio and shared some of her journey from external validation to internal knowing. After a series of TBI’s (traumatic brain injuries), she realized she had no choice but to ✨slow down✨ and pay attention to her body’s needs and capacities. This stance of radical self-care has led her into a beautiful life doing what she loves with people she loves: creating art and using her voice. She also shared the medicine of “Los 13 Aires Cósmicos,” a way to work with the “icky” feelings that sometimes run through us. Violeta, thanks for the medicine! 
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Violeta Garza is an award-winning  Latinx poet. Her debut poetry chapbook Brava will be released in September 2025 by First Matter Press. You can peruse their work at violetagarza.com or on IG @violeta.poeta.

The Resilience Within S3E4 W/ Lesley Ramsey - Community Care is Self-Care

Lesley Ramsey believes that self-care is community care, and also that community care is self-care. She shares how as an activist she found herself in burnout because of the demand of urgency that didn’t allow time for personal needs, including grieving the loss of her mother. She finally took a year off and went on the road with her mom’s dog, where she realized she wanted to help others in the nonprofit world change the culture of self-neglect and burnout. She wants to spark the notion of self-care as a necessary part of the day, so she founded BeCause Yoga. Hear more about her mission here.
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Bio: Lesley currently manages the Yoga Studio and Art Gallery at MBS Fitness, and founded BeCause Yoga to bring the healing tools of yoga to artists, activists, educators and nonprofit professionals working to make our communities spaces of love, compassion, dignity, equity and respect. She writes grants for Musical Bridges Around the World and Anuja SA, the organizers of Diwali SA Festival of Lights.

Sala Artisté w/ Sarah De La Rosa - Latino Collection and Resource Center

Sala Artisté w/ Meredith Doby- The Doseum

Know Your Rights!! w/ Becca Najera and Angelita Negron

Platica Y Poetics S3E3 W/ Amber Ortega

In honoring Women’s History Month, we engaged in a profound platica with poet Amber
Ortega, exploring the intersections of embodied writing, ancestral memory, and the healing
power of the natural world. The episode opened with a tribute to influential female poets,
including Gabriela Mistral, Sylvia Plath, Gloria Anzaldúa, Audre Lorde, Idea Vilariño, Rupi
Kaur, Laura Esquivel, Isabel Allende, Alejandra Pizarnik, and Natalie Diaz—with a reading of
Diaz's evocative poem "The First Water is the Body." Throughout the interview, Amber reflected
on the intimate relationship between the body, spirit, and the written word, describing her
approach to poetry as an embodied practice, where the physical sensations, ancestral memory,
and the natural world converge. She shared how this intimate connection emerged. The
emotional texture present in her work, especially in poems like Needed to Go Grocery Shopping,
and Nest, a poem that explores the temporal landscapes highlighting how the passage of time
shapes our experiences and identities. She shared that the concept of language is a living code,
paralleling the body’s interconnectedness to ancestry and belonging. Poetry itself functions as a
nest—sacred space to hold sensations, memory, and transformation. We explored the theme of
movement and belonging, speaking to the embodiment and fluidity that mirrors the ever-
evolving relationship between the self, the land, and the stories we inherit.