Twitterati – @raquelcepeda

Usual Suspect: Award winning journalist & editor Raquel Cepeda of Djali Rancher

What is your favorite 80s song?
Lately, I’ve been feeling ‘Lifetime Love’ by Joyce Sims from her Come Into My Life record because it’s emblematic of the summer and because I’m obsessed with that black and white dress she wears towards the end of the video. I wear the ’80s really well and now that the weather’s changing in New York City, I’m feeling crazy dainty. However, if you ask me the same question tomorrow, my Gemini self may answer the very same question with Jungle Brother’s “I’ll House You,” Frankie Ruiz’ “Para Darte Fuego,” De La Soul’s “Buddy,” Eddie Santiago’s “Tu Me Quemas,” Eric B. & Rakim’s “I Ain’t No Joke,” or Public Enemy’s “Bring the Noise.” Really, it depends on the moment.

How about the last dream you had?
The other night I had a dream that took place in the Eastern Congo. In it, I went to a coltan mine with RZA and Ghostface Killah in the middle of a conflict that’s displaced millions and has led to the systemic use of torture and rape of women and girls as a tool to terrorize the people. So in it, RZA goes ballistic after seeing a tumor growing out like a tail on this dude back and Ghostface says, “What the fuck am I doing here. What the fuck is coltan man. This shit is like, man, I wish I didn’t smoke that blunt before we got off the helicopter but I needed that shit ‘cuz I’m in fucking Africa man. This shit is illuminati man.” RZA is shocked. He looks at his cell phone and crushes it. 80 percent of the stuff used in cell phones, laptops and other electronic devices comes from what these dudes are mining. He runs past a group of women, women holding deformed babies, and runs into the helicopter. He trashes the makeshift studio in the heli. He throws my Mac out the door. Then he takes my hidden camera from my stupid construction and trashes it. I lose all my footage. That’s all I remember.

Which X-Men character are you?
I identify with Storm. She’s ethnically ambiguous: one of those souls, like me, that looks like she could be from any country she visits. She has a fiercely independent spirit. Her experiences, good and bad, have informed her. She sees people for who they are, and it sometimes leaves her disgusted with humanity. She’s suffered many losses but moves forward guided by what true revolutionaries embody: feelings of love.

Hands down best internet experience?
I’ve had quite a few great internet experiences. The latest just happened last month: being reunited with one of my oldest girlfriends from high school via Facebook. She was one of those rare people who really left a lasting impression on me. She really mattered.