Raquel Cepeda
Raquel Cepeda | |
---|---|
Born | Harlem, New York, United States | June 9, 1973
Occupation | Author, Journalist, Filmmaker |
Genre | Hip-Hop, World Music, Social Justice, Popular Culture, Race and Identity |
Spouse | Sacha Jenkins |
Children | Djali and Marceau |
Website | |
djalirancher |
Raquel Cepeda (born June 9, 1973) is an American
Early life and education
Cepeda describes her early life in detail in "Bird of Paradise: How I Became Latina." She was born in Harlem to Dominican immigrants on June 9, 1973. As a young child, Cepeda herself lived in the Dominican Republic before returning to New York in 1981. There, in the Inwood/Washington Heights section of Upper Manhattan, she resided with her father, who was abusive, and her Scandinavian stepmother. Cepeda's relationship with her mother was essentially nonexistent after 1981.
As a student, Cepeda frequently found herself at odds with the authority figures at the schools she attended. This contentiousness stemmed from Cepeda's belief that the system mis-educated students about American history and their own respective ethnic histories as well. Like many other young and disenfranchised people, Cepeda found community in 1980s hip-hop culture. It was hip-hop, she says, that fueled her passion for exploring the issues of race, identity, and social justice through journalism, writing, and filmmaking.
Career
During the past 20 years, Cepeda has written about music, culture, fitness, politics, race and identity for such publications as and many other outlets.
In 2001, Cepeda was named editor-in-chief of Russell Simmons' OneWorld magazine. She was then 28 years old. The San Francisco Chronicle praised Cepeda's stewardship as follows: "Finally, there's another option for the intelligent urban mind, and much like the woman at its helm, OneWorld magazine is bold and refreshing."[9]
Cepeda left OneWorld in 2004, a few months before the publication of "And It Don't Stop: The Best American Hip-Hop Journalism." In a review for
In 2007, Cepeda co-produced, wrote and directed the feature documentary Bling: A Planet Rock. Featuring the American rappers
Cepeda's autobiography, "Bird of Paradise: How I Became Latina," was published by Atria Books in March 2013. In a review for NBC Latino, Claudio Remeseira suggested that readers should see the book as "the non-fiction, female-gender companion to Junot Díaz's 'The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao'. Both are tales of self-discovery through the many racial, ethnic, and linguistic conflicting forces that lie at the heart of U.S. Latino identity, as well as the story of a personal struggle against a supposed fukú or ancestral curse that has haunted the author's families for generations."[14]
The
Since March 2015 Cepeda has been the co-host of a podcast called "Our National Conversation About Conversations About Race." Known more briefly as "About Race," the show has been described as "a lively multiracial, interracial conversation about the ways we can't talk, don't talk, would rather not talk, but intermittently, fitfully, embarrassingly do talk about culture, identity, politics, power, and privilege in our pre-post-yet-still-very-racial America."
Personal life
Raquel Cepeda is married to Sacha Jenkins, an American television producer, writer, musician and curator. They live in New York City with Cepeda's daughter, Djali, and their son, Marceau.
References
- ^ "And it Don't Stop: The Best American Hip-Hop Journalism of the Last 25 Years," as depicted and described on amazon.com, https://www.amazon.com/Dont-Stop-American-Hip-Hop-Journalism/dp/0571211593/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1388266571&sr=1-1&keywords=and+it+don%27t+stop
- ^ Cepeda, Raquel, Bling: A Planet Rock (Documentary), Article 19 Films, Djali Rancher Productions, retrieved 2023-01-31
- ^ "Bird of Paradise: How I Became Latina," as depicted and described on amazon.com, https://www.amazon.com/Bird-Paradise-How-Became-Latina/dp/1451635869/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1388266679&sr=1-1&keywords=bird+of+paradise+how+i+became+latina
- ^ "The Next Great Wonder?" People, July 25, 2005, http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20143911,00.html
- ^ "HILL FIRE: After killing everyone softly with her song, the Fugees' Lauryn Hill goes solo," Time Out New York, June 4–11, 1998
- ^ "The N-Word is Flourishing Among Generation Hip-Hop Latinos," Village Voice, Oct. 22, 2008, http://www.villagevoice.com/2008-10-22/music/the-n-word-is-flourishing-among-generation-hip-hop-latinos/
- ^ "Commentary: 'But what's a Latino?' - CNN.com". www.cnn.com. Retrieved 2023-01-31.
- ^ "My Caribbean: 5 Vignettes," New York Times, November 7, 2013, https://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/10/travel/my-caribbean-5-vignettes.html
- ^ Sanders, Joshunda, "Raquel Cepeda, Editor and Activist…explores the maturing hip-hop nation," San Francisco Chronicle, July 21, 2002, http://www.sfgate.com/living/article/PROFILE-Raquel-Cepeda-Editor-and-Activist-2793527.php
- ^ L'Official, Peter, "And It Don't Stop edited by Raquel Cepeda," salon.com, October 13, 2004, http://www.salon.com/2004/10/13/hiphop_3/
- ^ PEN/Open Book
- ^ "Live from the Pratt - Enoch Pratt Free Library".
- ^ Clyne, Catherine, "Where the bling comes from," Satya magazine, June/July 2007, http://www.satyamag.com/jun07/cepeda.html Archived 2013-10-26 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Remeseira, Claudio I., "Latinas and the African presence in the Caribbean – 3 fascinating reads," nbclatino.com, August 5, 2013, http://nbclatino.com/2013/08/05/latinas-and-the-african-presence-in-the-caribbean-3-fascinating-reads/
- ^ Leonard, Dr. David J., "Remixing Science: Raquel Cepeda's Bird of Paradise," Huffington Post, March 5, 2013, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-david-j-leonard/remixing-science-raquel-c_b_2811090.html
- ^ "Home". showaboutrace.com.
External links
- djalirancher.com, Cepeda's official website