I think the most important thing that we as writers can do

is to write about the experience that we know,

because there is a good chance that other people

have had that experience, too.

So I think what the future's going

to look like is those people who've been

working so hard for so long--

getting their chance to tell their stories the way

that they want to tell them.

[MUSIC]

One of the beautiful things about the Latin X List

is that you have 10 writers who all come

from different experiences.

What drives you?

What's that push?

To me, my culture represents a north

star that I can kind of follow.

Like, I'm trying to be the artist both my parents

weren't allowed to be.

They know how complicated it is being Latinx in this country.

We've been here.

We're indigenous.

This is our home.

I feel like now, people are willing to pay attention.

[MUSIC]

Hi.

I'm Niko Gutiérrez-Kovner, and I am part of the Latinx TV List.

These are my parents, Victoria and Steve Gutiérrez-Kovner.

And we're going to have a conversation.

Do you want to get into your--

how you came here?

We left Cuba when I was 11 years old.

My step dad had to work three years in the fields

in order for us to leave.

And I was not able to wear the uniform at school--

The communists.

Yes.

They called me a traitor, and a gusana, a worm.

And so it was a very difficult three years of feeling

alienated, feeling like I had no home before I left home.

So when we left Cuba, one of the most traumatic things

that I went through at the airport

is that the guard snapped my passport

and stamped them boy and said you will

never return to Cuba again--

taking away our birthright.

And then we came to the United States.

And that was a really difficult transition.

I was embarrassed of my accent.

I had a very heavy accent.

And I was humiliated because kids would make fun of me.

You were the first in your family to become a citizen,

right?

I was the first in my family-- my mid 20s.

My parents didn't want to become citizens,

because they thought that was betraying

their Cuban citizenship.

Which is complicated.

They also did not associate themselves

with the Cubans remaining there, for the most part, because--

Well they didn't associate themselves with the regime,

but they did with the people, and their land,

and their country.

And the family who remained there--

Yeah.

I know that you felt lucky having your parents come here

to give you the opportunity to be able to go to school

and to pursue social work and--

I'm very grateful that we are here.

It's the work of your parents.

Yes.

It's impossible to deny how brave and--

the courage that I--

I don't think I have, frankly.

How was it to go and visit in 2016?

It was sad.

It was sadder than I thought it would be.

I mean, you know, you cried every day.

It was sad to like go into a hotel

and for our family to not be allowed past to lobby.

The Cuban family.

The Cuban family.

The people are so incredible.

You know, it just felt like all the family members

that I had grown up with except a country's worth.

And they were all so warm and so kind.

But, you know, you could also sense like, la lucha, you know.

It's a struggle.

La lucha.

It's-- there's a desperation.

And Cubans are the most, like, inventive people

I've ever, ever [BLEEP] seen.

Like, it's just-- it's incredibly.

Yeah, they figure it out.

And there's a humor that, that underlays all that.

Right.

They have the most positive outlook on life.

What stuck with you about our Cuban traditions?

Watching with you, like ¿Qué Pasa, USA?

[LAUGHTER]

--which is just like, it's so funny to see the difference.

And, I mean, that show was so important, obviously,

because it was in the 70s on PBS.

To depict a Cuban family at that time

was like, pretty incredible.

A lot of people, obviously, don't know about it,

but we have the box set--

we have the DVD box set.

We watched it over and over again.

It's just like, what is this?

[LAUGHTER]

It just, like, doesn't compute at all.

But, like, I see our family in that.

And I would love to be able to, like,

replicate that experience.

Because how important was that show for you?

It was so important--

To come to this country and to know that, like,

you could be on a screen--

Yes.

So going back to the idea of your, sort of,

coming into your full Latinx identity, what,

sort of, solidified it for you?

I didn't think about my heritage for a very long time.

You know, it's not that I was ashamed of it.

It's just that I wasn't particularly proud of it.

And I think after Abuela passed away, your mom, I

became very proud of it.

And I realized that the impact that her life had on my life--

that her courage had on me.

And it was because of her that we were here.

You started writing stories about diversity

and about embracing diversity.

As a writer, what inspired you to write Cuba Libre?

Yes, so being told from a very young age

that I looked like your father, who I had never met--

And so I was fascinated with him, of course.

And when I was old enough, being told

what a complex personality, to put it nicely, he was.

And then also having the backdrop

of the Cuban Revolution which is a story that--

I like to say nobody knows about it because, you know,

Cuban-Americans like me don't know about it because it's very

taboo to talk about it, because nobody wants

to talk about Fidel Castro.

And do you?

Frankly?

You wish Castro died in the pilot.

Unfortunately-- [LAUGHTER]

--that is not how it happened.

He died in 2016.

And then of course, like, Americans don't know about it

because of the embargo.

And Cubans don't know about it because of the information

repression of the regime.

And so once I learned that you went to the same school

as Fidel Castro--

it's always been really fascinating to me.

And knowing that those family stories wove in and out of such

a fascinating time period.

Do you feel a responsibility to the Latinx community

to relate this story so that people

can find themselves in them?

I do feel a sense of responsibility

for the Latinx community because, for so long,

I did feel so alone in this industry.

Like, you know, as many people as I'd met on the many shows

that I had been on--

Still you feel alone in your own career

and in building your own, sort of, work.

And the Latinx representation in media has been,

you know, stories that do not speak to the majority

of the Latinx experience-- you know,

you don't have to explain that not all Latinx

people are drug dealers.

And you don't have to explain the sort of obvious things.

And you can just talk about your personal experiences.

I think that's going to change.

I think there's no way that it's not going to.

And, you know, I'm going to be a part of that change

Niko, my love.

Thank you so much.

It's been such a blessing to be here with you.

Thank you guys for interviewing me.

Thank you for taking the time.

And thank you for all that you've done.

Love you guys.

And thank you guys so much for listening to my stories.

We're celebrating Latin Heritage Month on Hulu.