Meet Zahira

award-winning sociocritic, speaker, writer, artist, mom

hailing from the bronx and puerto plata, dominican republic, zahira cabrera (kelly) aka bad dominicana pioneered black latinamerican antiracist feminist advocacy online at a time when few other voices were present and none like hers, ushering in an afrolatinx online movement.

known for one-of-a-kind uncensored incisive insight rooted in her hood and barrio upbringing, she introduced framework and accessible language to understand antiblackness & racial & gender hierarchy in latin america, that is now widely used.

she wrote an advice column for the new inquiry and her social commentary has been featured across publications such as the nytimes, bbc, rolling stone, the fader, cosmopolitan & more.

her feminist advocacy on domestic violence inspired her globally trending hashtag #maybehedoesnthityou. which lead to a spanish version in mexico #quizanotepegue, and TED talk on the topic in CDMX.

possessing a unique knowledge base has garnered her extensive experience doing keynotes, speaking events, lectures, workshops and panels across the u.s. and world at leading universities, conferences and festivals.

she hosted the 2017 afrolatino festival NYC concert, introducing renowned artists, and was a guest host on the build brunch daytime talk show.

as being in community with black activists across latin america is also crucial to her work, she produced an interview style documentary centering queer & trans afrocolombians experiences in cali, colombia. "valerie & macu (2018)" premiered at afrolatinx film nite at twitter HQ-NYC in 2019.

she frequently does cultural consulting for media companies like warnermedia/HBO and well-known latin american urbano artists.

a multidisciplinary artist (visual and audio), her art centering black latinamerican women and bicultural identity has been exhibited at institute of contemporary art-boston and pitchwise festival-sarajevo, among others.

AWARDS

Advocacy and Leadership Award, Afrolatino Festival NYC, 2017
¡Ahora! Award for commitment to organizing and demonstrating the necessity for ethnic studies as a praxis for a better future en la comunidad, Northwestern University’s Alianza and Latina and Latino Studies Program, 2016
#AfrolatinasWhoRock Award for being an Afrolatina revolutionizing the world around her, AintILatina.Com, 2015