Untold Uptown is a joint collective of youth in NYC who are using their voices to empower and take on different issues prominent throughout the city. Exploring various matters, these youth have all had a hand in the stories they share, speaking upon topics in social justice, politics, entertainment, arts & culture, and more. All with an interest in writing and art, these youth raise the bar on not staying silent, sharing the knowledge that brews in them about the things they find important and relevant in the world. The following bios introduce our fellow youth, showcasing who they are and what they stand for.
Fall 2020 Editorial Team
Bonnie Chen
Bonnie Chen is a 19-year-old from New York City. She is currently a sophomore in college. Chen is heavily inspired by Asian American creative literature.
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Samantha Mesa
Writing her dreams and nightmares and turning them into stories, started a love and interest in writing, for Samantha Mesa. Samantha is a sophomore at Lehman college who doesn’t know exactly what she wants to do with her love for writing and her vast knowledge of mathematics.
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Jon Marichal
Born and raised in New York City, Jon Marichal is a 16-year-old junior in high school. Jon is inspired by the arts. He sees art as a form of self-expression and enjoys fashion, drawing, and creating film.
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Matthew Salazar
Matthew Salazar is a recent Hunter Graduate living in New York City. He is a first generation Dominican American who is interested in different forms of media, especially painting, and digital art. He enjoys discovering new ways of expression as a means to create and gain experience in creating art.
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Nizette Dugue
Nizette Dugue is a junior attending Queens College in New York City.She is a second generation Hatian-American who is interested in film photography. She is a street, and landscape photographer, but she hopes to expand her repertoire and do portrait photography.
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Travis Raeburn
Travis Raeburn is a graduate from Purchase College who strives to accomplish his artistry in acting and his goal is to inspire black kids to have their voices heard in this industry. Growing up in Brooklyn, his mom was his inspiration. With her warm hugs and affection, she motivates him to be confident and shows him an example of how to love.
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Rosie Hendricks
With her love for writing beginning in elementary school, Rosie Hendricks is an aspiring journalist and a college sophomore at Temple University. At a young age, she used journals to jot down short story ideas and poems. As time inched forward, however, these journals developed a new purpose.
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Victoria Ramsahoye
Victoria Ramsahoye is a sixteen year old from Guyana with dreams of attending Pace University, to continue her studies as a nursing student. Immigrating from the United States in 2016 she enjoys singing, writing and acting from the comfort of her bedroom.
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Summer 2020 Editorial Team
Candice Fu
Candice Fu is an 18-year-old young adult from Queens whose family originates from China. She’s currently in her second year of college and is majoring in graphic design.
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Jalyn Cameron
Jalyn Cameron is a 16-year-old student participating in an internship for the Uptown Hub. She is taking the Art & Journalism track because she is passionate about writing and wanted to explore journalism as well as other ways she can express herself.
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Christopher Rodriguez
Christopher Rodriguez is a 19-year-old Bronx native currently residing in Harlem who is fortunate enough to be his family’s first-generation college student.
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Kenneth J.
Kenneth J. is a 18-year-old Dominican photographer who immigrated to the United States three years ago. He recently graduated from Inwood Academy and is now working as a freelance photographer.
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Knaux
Born in Queens, Knaux is an 18-year-old student who attended LaGuardia Community College before the pandemic occurred. Though he is still deciding what he wants to do, he is interested in and enjoys creating art.
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Luna Knight
Luna Knight is a 20-year-old Dominicana from the Bronx, New York and a student from Lehman College who likes to use writing as a form of expression.
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Leslie Mesa
Leslie Mesa is an artist. Her medium is traditional art, but she dabbles in digital art as well. Her love for art stems from the creative outlet it provides that allows her to express her emotions.
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Miah Soto
Miah Soto is Dominican and immigrated to the United States when she was eight years old. A student of Washington Heights Expeditionary Learning school (WHEELS), she works at BioBus and at the Uptown hub.
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Nicole C.
Nicole C. is an Hispanic young adult who is 19 years old and born in Manhattan, New York. She aspires to be a writer/photographer in the near future.
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Omni Haruno
Omni Haruno is a 22-two-year-old young woman who lives in Manhattan, New York. Like many, she doesn’t know what she wants to do in life, but has a love and passion for writing.
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Niobe P.M.
Niobe P.M., an incoming junior at the Young Women’s Leadership School of the Bronx, was born and raised in he Bronx, New York. She wishes to pursue a career in film and has a dream to be a videographer while also venturing into graphic design.
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Rocheana H.
Rocheana H. identifies as a Black-Caribbean American individual. She is 17 years old and currently going into her senior year of high school.
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Rosie Hendricks
Rosie Hendricks is a sophomore in college and attends Temple University in Pennsylvania. She is of Dominican and Puerto Rican descent and has always been fascinated with art.
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Shantaal Lovera
Shantaal Lovera is a 17-year-old high school student going into her senior year at WHEELS. In the future, she wants to be involved in dentistry even though she isn’t too fond of science, so that may change.
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