DJALI BROWN-CEPEDA

ABOUT THE FOUNDER

Djali Brown-Cepeda is a Cultural Preservationist, Archivist, and Award-winning filmmaker from Lenapehoking (New York City), working within archival, film, and television spaces to preserve Black and Brown stories. An Afro-Indigenous, Caribbean Olorisa Yemayá (initiated priestess of the Lucumí tradition), her work is rooted in remembrance, reclamation, and rematriation, centering oral tradition and lived experiences as pathways toward cultural restoration.

She is the founder of NuevaYorkinos, a multimedia, digital project dedicated to documenting and preserving New York City’s Latino and Caribbean culture and history through family photographs, videos, and stories. A counter-archive empowering participants to tell their own stories as radical acts of self-determination and liberation, NuevaYorkinos has amassed over 1,000 stories and 2,500 visual media since its inception in 2019, have exhibited in countless spaces, from El Museo del Barrio to MoMA PS1. Her work has been featured in publications like The New Yorker, Dazed Digital, The New York Times, Latina Magazine, and has led her to speak at various institutions, including Columbia University, the MET, and TIME Magazine.  

A writer, she shares her work on Sweet Earth Flying, a self-published blog.

A filmmaker, her credits are below.

CONTACT: DJALI@NUEVAYORKINOS.COM

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Press

Convos with Sazón / Preserving Culture, One Story at a Time with Djali Brown-Cepeda

The Art of It All Podcast / A Love Letter to The Ancestors with Djali Brown-Cepeda 

Ladies Who Bronché Podcast / Djali Brown-Cepeda: Ladies Who Archive

The Woo Podcast / Back to the Basics ft. Djali Brown-Cepeda

Growing Up Latina Podcast / Rooted in Love & Joy: The Story Behind NuevaYorkinos and its Founder Djali Brown-Cepeda

All Things Considered on NPR / 100 years ago, social clubs were everything. Now young Latinos carry them forward

PopSugar / How Nostalgic Beauty Trends From the Barrios Became Mainstream

Byline Byline / How Djali Brown-Cepeda Does Both

Off the Cuff Podcast / Djali Brown-Cepeda, Founder of Nuevayorkinos on Community and Leaving A Legacy

All of It Podcast, WNYC / A Digital Archive of Latinx and Caribbean Culture on 'Nuevayorkinos'

Viva La Mujer / Latinas Que Inspiran: ​​​​Djali Brown-Cepeda, Founder of Nuevayorkinos

Saks Fifth Avenue / 3 Inspiring Leaders on Celebrating Their Cultures

h00dzine / Borinquen Edition

NPR / Black and Latinx New Yorkers reframe their experiences through archival photos

The New Yorker / How Does New York City’s Latinx Community See Itself?

Latina Without Borders Podcast / A Love Letter to NYC ft. NuevaYorkinos Founder, Djali Brown-Cepeda

Identity at Play Podcast / Preserving Your History Through Storytelling with NuevaYorkinos Creator Djali Brown-Cepeda

Latina Magazine / Digital Archive Project ‘Nuevayorkinos’ Is Redefining NYC’s Latine History

TIME Magazine / Preserving New York’s Latino History, One Photo at a Time

Studio Museum in Harlem Magazine / Records of Relation

GQ / The Very Fly History of Gold Teeth

The Cut by The New Yorker / Djali Brown-Cepeda Wants Us To Remember the Good Times 

NYC Go / Rising Star: Djali Brown-Cepeda

Hip Latina / Meet Djali Brown-Cepeda, the Afro-Latina Preserving Latinx & Black New York

FILA USA / Black History Month Spotlight

The Latinx Project at NYU / Archiving NYC’s Diverse Diasporic Communities

Somos Refinery29 / Somos Class of 2020

The New School Free Press / 2020 NuevaYorkinos Back to School Drive

The New York Times / How Latinos Can Win the Culture War

1010 Wins / Digital archive ‘Nuevayorkinos’ celebrates NYC life by Latinx community

Univision / Real Talk: Celebrating Afro-Latinx Authors & Artists

Vice / Americanos on GoUSA TV

Nike NYC / You Can’t Stop Sport

Architectural Digest / This Must-Follow Instagram Account Is a Visual Archive of Old Latinx New York

NY1 Noticias / Recupera la historia del Nueva York latino con fotografías digitalizadas

The New York Times / Preserving Latinx History Through Vintage Photos

Dazed Digital / The visual archive dedicated to the memories of NYC’s Latinx community

Remezcla / This New Instagram Account Is a Tribute to Old School Latinx New York