Our Circle
of Advisors is comprised of dynamic and
passionate leaders of African descent who are award-winning
experts in their chosen field. They are passionate and dedicated
to the cultural, political, social and spiritual growth of our
communities and living embodiments of maroon warriors. To learn
more about them or their work, please see their detailed
biographies below.
 Cynthia
Carrion: Cynthia is the new director of the Youth
Channel- Cynthia joined MNN’s Youth Channel as its Outreach
Coordinator in June 2004. In that role, she has co-organized
various youth events including: "I Have a Voice" an LGBT Youth
Media Conference and Youth Voice 2004. As an advocate for youth
media, she has been involved in the NAMAC Youth Media Leadership
Institute. Prior to MNN, Cynthia was the Project Assistant for
the Caribbean Cultural Center and was formerly the Pre-teen
Coordinator for Hour Children, an advocacy organization for
children of incarcerated mothers. As co-founder of 2Tonez
Productions, she recently directed and produced "Seeking the
Soul of Freedom," a short documentary examining Haitian
Independence. Cynthia graduated from Hunter College with a BA in
Media Studies and Latin American and Caribbean Studies and is
currently working on her MA in International Relations. She
lives in Inwood, Manhattan and is of Puerto Rican and Dominican
descent.
 C.
Daniel Dawson: A multi-talented artist, Prof.
Dawson has worked as a photographer, filmmaker, curator, arts
administrator, consultant and scholar. He has served as Curator
of Photography, Film and Video at the Studio Museum in Harlem
(NYC), Director of Special Projects at the Caribbean Cultural
Center (NYC) and Curatorial Consultant and Director of Education
at the Museum for African Art (NYC). As a photographer, he has
shown in over 30 exhibitions. In addition he has curated more
than 50 exhibitions including Harlem Heyday: The Photographs of
James Van Der Zee and The Sound I Saw: The Jazz Photographs of
Roy DeCarava. Prof. Dawson has also been associated with many
prize winning films including Head and Heart by James Mannas and
Capoeiras of Brazil by Warrington Hudlin. He has worked as a
consultant for the Cooper Hewitt Museum, International Center
for Photography, Lincoln Center, Ralph Appelbaum Associates and
three different divisions of the Smithsonian Institution in
Washington, DC. As a scholar, he has lectured at the House of
World Cultures-Berlin, the Kit Tropenmuseum-Amsterdam, the
University of California-Berkeley, University of Texas-Austin,
University of Wisconsin-Madison, New School for Social Research,
Columbia University, Princeton University and the Federal
University of Bahia and Rio de Janeiro-Brazil. Prof. Dawson has
also taught seminars on African Spirituality in the Americas at
Columbia University, University of Iowa, New York University and
Yale University.
 Omar
Freilla: is an activist, poet, and musician,
raised in the South Bronx. Omar developed his interest in the
preservation of the African Culture in the Dominican Republic
and throughout the Americas as a teenager while working at the
Caribbean Cultural Center, where he hosted summer youth concerts
and assisted in the Center’s popular Carnival in New York
festival. He has performed his poetry at Morehouse College,
Miami University, Live from the Edge Theater, community demo,
and the Third United Nations Conference on racism held in
Durban, South Africa. Omar has performed in Cultural Centers,
festivals, performance spaces, and religious ceremonies, Omar is
a dedicated activist who see in Pa'lo Monte as a means of
confronting the legacy of racism. Omar is currently Director of
Green Workers Cooperative, a new organization that incubates
worker-owned and environmentally friendly businesses in the
South Bronx. He is committed to constructing alternatives to
modern capitalism through worker ownership and the creation of
strong local economies centered on principles of environmental
justice and the rights of workers. Omar is of Dominican descent.
 Oneza
Lafontant: Kongo is dedicated to promoting a
better understanding of Afro-Haitian music, culture and history
and believes that the artist’s role is to bring people together
to make positive change. The group encourages community and
social consciousness, and conducts educational workshops,
performs at a range of venues, and participates in organizing
campaigns. “Kongo—the name of an African tribe brought to
Haiti—offers a blend of a cappella interspersed with percussion
and acoustic accents, which remain true to its African roots.”
Formed in 1995, Kongo’s main purpose is education teaching
traditional Haitian rhythms, songs and dance in schools, daycare
centers, and cultural institutions. Programs allow participants
to explore the music of Haitian culture, learn basic history
behind the instruments and their uses dating back to pre-slavery
times. Kongo teaches that the drums work together to communicate
and encourages collective efforts among young people to achieve
their dreams.
Kongo also supports social change campaigns through performances
and participation in protests and fundraisers. Members work
side-by-side with community organizations to disseminate
information about social issues in a cultural and artistic way
as well as directly in organizing campaigns. Other activities
include visits to Haitian detainees in New Jersey and
Pennsylvania. Oneza is of Haitian descent.
Loira Limbal:
Loira
Limbal aka DJ LAYLO
Loira Limbal is a filmmaker, DJ, and activist. Since 2001, she
has been producing and directing a documentary entitled Estilo
Hip Hop, which chronicles the revolutionary Hip Hop movements of
Brasil, Chile, Mexico, and Cuba. She has worked at various
community-based organizations including The Point CDC, The
Dominican Women's Development Center, and Sista II Sista. In
2006, she founded The Reel X Project, which is a social justice
and creative filmmaking space for young women of color in the
Southwest Bronx. Limbal received a B.A. in History from Brown
University and is a graduate of the Third World Newsreel's Film
and Video Production Training Program. She has received awards
from the Bronx Council on the Arts, Open Society Institute,
Royce Fellows Society, and the Lisa Sullivan Fund for her work
combining arts and activism.
As DJ Laylo she is a pleasant surprise in any music scene. Her
unrelenting commitment to good music and rocking the crowd has
earned her a reputation for being able to give any venue a house
party vibe. Born in Puerto Rico to Dominican parents, her
musical selection reflects her upbringing in New York City. DJ
Laylo effortlessly blends Hip Hop, Soul, Salsa, House, Merengue,
Reggae, and Afrobeat to the delight of partygoers everywhere.
She is the co-founder and resident DJ at Liberation Lounge NYC.
Her love of music and turntables, has led her to branch out to
turntablism and DJing for hip hop groups. She is one half of hip
hop duo Eli Efi and DJ Laylo which blends banging beats,
politics, and a global perspective. Eli Efi is a well-known hip
hop pioneer from São Paulo, Brasil. In 1988, he founded the
politically charged rap group DMN and went on to record five
albums receiving praise from the hip hop community and music
industry alike. The group was nominated for best video and best
rap group at the MTV Brazil Video Music Awards, best rap song of
the year at the Hutus Hip Hop Awards Festival, and won best
music video at the São Paulo Shorts Film Festival. In 2004, he
left DMN and now continues his musical career alongside DJ Laylo.
Together, they bring hip hop back to a place where MCs rocked
alongside DJs to move the crowd but with an international flavor
with LF rhyming in Portuguese and Laylo always finding a way to
blend some Samba or Salsa into the brew. They have performed
throughout the United States, Brasil, Mexico, Colombia, and
Chile and have shared the stage with U.S. based artists such as
Styles P, Dead Prez, Talib Kweli, Jean Grae, Jeru da Damaja,
Immortal Technique, Ras Kass, Lord Finesse, CL Smooth, Welfare
Poets, Hurricane G, David Banner, among many others. Websites:
www.myspace.com/djlaylo &
www.myspace.com/liberationlounge
 Wanda
Salaman:
is the Executive
Director of Mothers on the Move (MOM) in the Bronx, New
York. MOM is a community-based organization initially formed in
1992 to organize parents to address the failure of the public
school system to adequately educate the children of the South
Bronx. MOM’s commitment has evolved beyond education issues to
a multi-issue organization working to improve the quality of
life in the community. Wanda supervises MOM’s Housing,
Education, Youth, and Environmental organizing campaigns. Born
in Puerto Rico, she has lived in New York City for 31 years.
She originally got involved in social change as a young person
when she joined the youth organizing project of the North West
Bronx Community & Clergy Coalition (NWBCCC) and became a
leader. She then came on staff as their office manager for one
year and a community organizer for eight years. As a Senior
Organizer at NWBCCC, Wanda supervised and trained organizers
through the Training In Community Organizing program, staffed
the Safe Streets Committee, and organized for the neighborhood
association Crotona Community Coalition. She is currently a
National Organizer’s Alliance Pension Trustee and Steering
Committee Member. Wanda is of Puerto Rican descent.
 Melody
Capote: Melody is the Director of External
Affairs at the Franklin H. Williams Caribbean Cultural Center,
and she currently focuses on fundraising/development although
she also provides informal mentorship, training and support to
all staff. Melody is a graduate of the City College of New York
and has studied at the New School University and Queens College
having also completed the Certificate Program for Not-for-Profit
Management at Columbia University. Melody is of Puerto Rican
descent. Born in El Barrio, Melody grew up in the Bronx
surrounded by strong women who kept her connected to her
culture. She started her career in 1980 as the development
officer for the Association of Hispanic Arts, seeking funding
and job opportunities for Hispanic arts organizations and
individual artists. In 1984 she joined the Caribbean Cultural
Center to assist with their development efforts but focused on
establishing relationships with the corporate sector. In 1996,
Melody was asked to transition into the position of executive
director for the organization, where she implemented the first
earned income plan for the organization recognizing that
self-sufficiency is the most important tool for institutions of
color to sustain themselves in these most difficult of funding
times. Melody is a firm believer in developing young people as
future leaders in community and cultural work. As a result she
has been responsible for the internship and mentorship programs
at the Center working primarily with alternative public school
students. Melody serves on the Board of Directors of the Side
Street Kids Academy, Parkchester Little League and the Network
of Cultural Centers of Color and is an advisor to the Lincoln
Center Out of Doors programs and the Battery Park City
Authority/Latin Music Series. She is married to her husband,
Heri, and is the proud mother of Jovan and Kailani. She is also
honored to have been involved in raising Heri’s daughter,
Erienne.
 Juan
Usera:
Director of La Tribu, is
a veteran of the Bomba y Plena scene. He has performed with Los
Pleneros de la 21 and he has been the instructor of their Bomba
y Plena children’s workshop for the past seven years. Juan is
featured in the film “Bomba, Dancing the Drum” and the Banco
Popular documentary “Raices.” He produced and directed “Sabor a
Rumba,” a film about Rumba in Puerto Rico. In addition to his
performing experience, Usera has a Master’s Degree from New York
University in Dance Education and a bachelor’s degree in Dance
Education and History from The University of Puerto Rico. Juan
is of Puerto Rican descent.
Jesus
Gonzalez: Jesus Gonzalez is an exceptional
Puerto Rican young man that has been voicing the concerns and
fighting for justice in his community in a very unique way.
He has been a member and organizer of Make the Road by Walking
in Brooklyn since 1998 are being a part of the Steering
Committee of the Justice for Youth Coalition. He has helped
organize the community to stop the expansion of Cross Roads
Juvenile Detention Center; organized students to help save
Bushwick Outreach Center from closing down and successful in
keeping it open; and was involved in the planning of two new
schools in the Bushwick section of Brooklyn, the Bushwick School
for Social Justice, and the Bushwick Community High School. Both
schools opened in September 2004. Mr. Gonzalez is the
founder of “The Elements,” a group that meets weekly to evaluate
commercial Hip Hop as well as teaches the history of Hip Hop and
Hip Hop dance techniques. He continues to use Hip Hop to
motivate youth to move toward positive change for the community;
and produces free Hip Hop events for the neighborhood;
therefore, the community can understand that Hip Hop is a
culture of resistance. The Elements is now one of the many after
school programs Make the Road by Walking provides. He has also
helped produced “Ghetto Talents,” which has featured artist
like Rappers: U-Krime; Poets: Lemon, Willie Perdomo, Bomba y
Plena: Alma Moyo, and many other artists from all over the city.
Mr. Gonzalez also meets with foundations for more funding to
operate organizational projects and programs. He speaks publicly
at activist events to audiences of all ages, including the
Republican National Convention Still We Rise protest to about
10,000 people (2004). He also taught dance the basics in
Modern Jazz, Hip Hop, and Latin Dance one day a week at Bushwick
School for Social Justice from 2004 – 2005.
As a member of Urban Youth
Collaborative, a citywide effort dedicated to positive and
necessary High School reform, he helped coordinate Youth Power
Project’s city wide youth conference called Life Beat where 250
attendees from around the city. They learned about
gentrification in Bushwick, High School reform, student
organizing, and attended many cultural workshops (summer of
2006).
He has also appeared as a guest on
reports and shows on 1010 Wins Radio; UPN 9 News; Fox 5 News;
NBC news; CNN; NY1; National Public Radio’s Market Place and All
Things Considered; WBAI; The Village Voice; Daily News; El
Diario; Noticias Del Mundo, News 12 and other independent news
papers.
He is the host of Radio Rookies a
youth radio program since 2000 on WNYC Radio in New York. He
received the David S. Barr Award (February 2001) at the
Newspaper Guild Banquet in Washington D.C. for his radio story,
“How Easy It Is to Get Guns In My Neighborhood.” He interviewed
a gun dealer, the Brooklyn District Attorney, and other
community members. He has also won the Robert F. Kennedy Award
for domestic radio in 2002, presented by the Kennedy family.
Mr. Gonzalez has developed
intriguing and heartfelt radio pieces which have aired on
important national and local radio stations including:
“Guns in Bushwick” which aired on National Public Radio’s Market
Pace as well as “Commentary for Latino USA: September 11th,
first year anniversary special in 2002. He was also a member of
the Steering Committee of the National Federation of Community
Broadcasters (NFCB) for conferences in San Francisco (’01),
Virginia (’02), and San Francisco (’03). Panelist at the Museum
of Television and Radio’s 2002 Radio Festival.Other radio
segments include: Message to Bloomberg, Audio Commentary,
responded by, Russell Simmons and Mark Green; Hip Hopnomics: The
Social Impact of Hip Hop, which aired this Spring.
He was also on the AOL Time Warner
Foundation Advisory Board from 2003 – 2005. Mr. Gonzalez was
featured in the following Documentaries: “Teach us Don’t Cuff
Us,” “Whose Streets? Our Streets!,” “This is What Democracy
Looks Like).” On top of all that he does, Mr.Gonzalez was into
Laughing River Jiu Jitsu (2002-2003). He is also a boxer since
2003, an Advanced Reiki Practitioner since 2001, a poet which
has performed at various venues including the internationally
respected, “Nuyorican Poets Café,” and an actor with credits
like: “The F-Word” along with Sean Gullette and Josh Hamilton;
Directed by Jed Weintrob (On_Line), he is also an artist who
helps design community murals. Jesus Gonzalez has attended the
failing Bushwick High School before its improvement, El Puente
High School: Academy for Peace and Justice; and graduated from
Bushwick Outreach Center. Mr. Gonzalez is currently attending
Hofstra University. He is the winner of the New Opportunities at
Hofstra University (NOAH) Writing Scholarship Award. He has
engaged in getting the Latino community organized on campus by
being an active member of the HOLA: Hofstra’s Organization of
Latin Americans (2005- present). He recently was awarded the
Comite Noviembre’s “Lo Mejor De Nuestra Communidad” Award as
well as was the first to receive the Richie Perez Scholarship
Award.
Manuela
Arciniegas is a community organizer, cultural
worker, activist, and mother who is interested in advancing
communities of color and the cultures of the African Diaspora.
Currently she is the recipient of the Social Justice Fellowship
of the Wagner School of Public Leadership, where she is
spearheading The Legacy Circle, a project for cultural arts
teachers and youth of African descent. She was the former
Director of Education at the Franklin H. Williams Caribbean
Cultural Center, Outreach Coordinator at Sustainable South
Bronx, and the arts project manager with "We got Issues!" Young
women's arts and empowerment project. She is also a singer and
musician with Yaya, an All-Women's Afro-Caribbean Musical Group
and Alma Moyo Afro-Puerto Rican Bomba Music Troupe.
 Rocio
Silverio: is an Africana/Puerto Rican Studies
major at Hunter College , City University of New York. She was
born and raised within a hard-working Dominican family in the
South Bronx . For many reasons, both cruel and beautiful, Rocio
identified with her African heritage at an early age. Her path
has been guided by souls dedicated to empowering Africans in the
Diaspora and she has been evolving as an African Nationalist
since adolescence. She was first introduced to social activism
on an international level; joining a NYC youth envoy to Habitat
II, a 1996 UN Sustainable Development gathering in Istanbul ,
Turkey . Her participation resulted in an action booklet on NYC
homelessness with the youth organization, Global Kids, Inc. She
has facilitated workshops on xenophobia and diversity in Denmark
, worked with an indigenous family in Oaxaca , Mexico and most
recently has conducted leadership development circles with
middle-school youth in the South Bronx with the help of
Directions for Our Youth, Inc. All of her experiences has
allowed her to see bureaucratic and grass-roots organizing; with
grass-roots being most appealing. Recognizing the need for
strong and protective institutions; Rocio aspires to contribute
to the integration of peoples of African ancestry with
themselves via popular education and self-esteem building.
If
you would like to volunteer with us, please call or email
Manuela at 212-307-7420 ext. 3012 or
Manuela@thelegacycircle.org
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