El Barrio

Scrolling through Instagram you see hundreds of pictures showing everyday life; some fabricated for an illusion of real life and some just documenting that person’s time/travel/experience in history. This is how I stumbled upon an amazing page and was lucky to be able to interview the founder for the podcast.

Djali has taken the timeless family activity of thumbing through family photos and fused it with 21st century social media with the creation of Nueva Yorkinos. This page is a time-capsule of stories, family secrets, and forgotten histories of nuestra gente. Djali being a New Yorker to the core has focused on the storied history of the Latino community here in the gran manzana and portrayed it on a global platform to share our community’s contribution to everyday life that is commonly forgotten.

Nueva Yorkinos has grown to a massive scale reaching close to 20k followers and she receives countless pictures submitted with stories to post on the page. She doesnt take this lightly and beautifully curates which one she posts and when but also taking into consideration that people shared this special and close picture with her. (she promises to post as many of the pictures she receives as she can). It has gained immense attention, allowing her to be featured as a special exhibit at El Museo de Barrio, here in East Harlem, NY.

She was able to tell a personal side of her history as well as how the idea to start the page was conceived. Every ounce of her beautiful soul is filled with passion and she pours this out in her endeavors. We bonded on how we have been able to cope with the current quarantine we are facing during the coronavirus pandemic and she offers her advice on how to maintain sanity.

This is not an episode you should miss and there is no doubt you will love and enjoy it. Stay blessed and my prayers go out to everyone during this time and into the future!

Ep. 6 – Jorge Ayala – Owner of El Barrio’s La Fonda Boricua & Curious Soul

Jorge Ayala

Today’s episode brings on the show Jorge Ayala who currently owns La Fonda Boricua in El Barrio. I have to admit I knew little about Jorge before agreeing to meet with him but it was a refreshing conversation and I believe an important one.

He moved from Puerto Rico in the 80’s to obtain his masters degree and continue his education but one thing never changed. That one constant was his never-ending curiosity. He loved learning how people work and function and just the different dynamics of human interactions. This lust for learning led him to work on neighborhood social programs in East Harlem eventually allowing him to take over a restaurant, La Fonda Boricua, a staple in the neighborhood.

Several decades later he has used his community involvement coupled with his quest for learning to continue the history of La Fonda. He has learned how to run a restaurant and is overly humble to admit he knows more than the average man.

The podcast closes with some solid advice that no matter what your upbringing or schooling it should never impede your quest for wisdom and knowledge. Some of the smartest minds in the world didn’t have a formal education and that shouldn’t be a barometer on how you interact with people on a day to day basis.

Listen and hopefully learn a bit about Jorge and his life. After if you are in the NYC area, maybe swing by La Fonda and check out the amazing artwork and enjoy it’s tasty Puerto Rican cuisine.

Tag: <span>El Barrio</span>

Ep. 11 – Djali Brown-Cepeda, Founder & Curator of Nueva Yorkinos