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Nikki (Nic) Rodriguez-Villafañe

@_djniilo_

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followers

904

following

“They do plays and shit”
PhD Candidate, UCSD
MFA Creative Writing Rutgers Nwrk
Writer/Sound Designer/DJ/Educator
Co-editor @sanasanaanth
🇵🇷
PHL/FL

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¡Despierta california! I woke up this morning like I was the grand marshall of the Puerto Rican Day parade. Technically Newsom said it’s lowkey a new holiday 😆 Pa Que sepan 🇵🇷🍯☕️ #Benitobowl #superbowl by @_djniilo_

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8 months ago

Enthusiasm has swept across social media in response to Bad Bunny’s upcoming performance at the Super Bowl, prompting us at Colectivo Bámbula to ask: What is the role of art and the artist under rising fascism? How do the culture wars, and cultural organizing more broadly, bring us closer or distract us from material gains towards sovereignty and self-determination?

This month we’re reading Elizam Escobar, Puerto Rican artist, poet, and former political prisoner who reminds us that to create is to defy the imposed order. From a prison cell, Escobar reimagined art as a form of freedom, arguing that the true power of creation lies in its ability to help us discover liberation through imagination.

Join us Thursday, October 30th (7–8:30PM EST) as we reflect on how Escobar’s vision of art as liberation complicates contemporary fame and visibility. Together, we’ll ask, for instance, how artists like Bad Bunny navigate between resistance and recognition.

🗓 Thursday, Oct 30 | 7–8:30PM EST
💻 Virtual | Registration and reading materials via #linkinbio by @_djniilo_

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a year ago

Why are some Latinos shifting right, and what does it mean for our communities and the rising struggle against fascism?

This month, we’re diving into Defectors: The Rise of the Latino Far Right and What It Means for America by Paola Ramos. From culture wars to political trauma, Ramos unpacks how fear and traditionalism have been weaponized to radicalize Latino voters — and what we can do to push back. Understanding the forces driving this shift is key to reclaiming our people and building a resistance rooted in justice, solidarity, and true liberation.

📚 Join us as we break down the book’s key themes, examine gaps in its analysis, and strategize how we can bring our gente back into the fight.

📆 Date: Wednesday, February 26th, 2025
🕰️Time: 7:00pm - 8:30pm EST
📍 Virtual Discussion – Register Now! #linkinbio

Tag your reading crew & let’s get into it! 📖 by @_djniilo_

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2 years ago

Last Call for Vendors!

Apply via our bio link 🔗 at @themvmtbrandofficial or send us an email 📧: themvmtbrand@gmail.com

Sunday, September 13, 2026
11am-5pm

2146 Logan Avenue
San Diego, CA. 92113 taken in Por Vida Café by @_djniilo_

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2 months ago

🇵🇷Chicago, you filled us up (quite literally) in the fullest way. 2nd Kinship Retreat with @colectivobambula complete. Leaving with the kind of ánimo that is only generated when a corillo of boricuas en la diaspora gather in the ways we’ve always known how. I will definitely be back.

Thank you Humboldt Park, to bearing witness to my heart all these years of transformation @lahtere , to opening up your city, and history and spirit Awilda.

Looking forward to being back again. One of my favorite things about being a boricua in diaspora? The power to boomerang, and find each other in any place we conjure. Hope you’ll join us at the next one. ✨

Maferefun a las madres de dos aguas, mi mama oshun que siempre estas conmigo en todas partes , y mi papá Eleggua quien me dio el regalo de abrir los caminos de mi destino

-NRV, 2026 by @_djniilo_

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2 months ago

We know it’s been a while but mark your calendars bc we’re back with Cafe y Sazon! Join us Saturday August 29th for a night of dancing Salsa on vinyl and some buen cafecito by @revivo.cafe! We’ll have sets by @cesar789 @_djniilo_ & @ilanafeliu. The night will start off with a dance class lead by our good friend @carlosdeleon.dancethrumusic. This is a night for all levels of dance! This is for the salsa lovers and the coffee aficionados!! We’ll see you there!!! A bailar se dijo!!! 🕺🏽 💃🏻

📍: 972 Garnet Ave San Diego, CA 92109

Flyer Artwork by: @esepax taken in Braveheart Barbershop & Lifestyle Co. by @_djniilo_

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2 months ago

38 rotations around the sun 🦂🎂🥳🎉 . Forever a son of the sunflowers. It’s my earth day birthday

One of my best friends recently said to me “I have never been in as much need as I’ve had doing this PhD”- this rotation around the sun I’ve felt it hard. Since moving to California and doing this PhD, I didn’t anticipate the amount of sacrifice it would take, and the humbling experiences where I’ve had do reach out to friends, family and community when I’ve been in need. Thank you to every one of you, who have lended your time, ear, and presence during my time of need. I’m so grateful for all of you who have poured life into me so I can have this life and do my purpose.

It seems futile to celebrate when the world is as it is- but revolutions had dancing. So this week I’m celebrating as Oshun would have me to, all the things that make life worth living- and I want you all to celebrate with me and make the world a little more beautiful. Go vote yes on Prop 50 Cali. Vote for those you think will co create new ways. Donate to your causes. Bring food to a food bank. Buy yourself flowers today, or for a loved one. Dance to your favorite song for me, take a walk in nature, give yourself the gift of a really good meal.

May God, Oshun y Eleggua te bendigan todos los Dias.
Free Palestina, Free Puerto Rico, Free Sudan.

I love Ya’ll, thank you for loving me. ❤️‍🔥 by @_djniilo_

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a year ago

DTMF kind of Summer 2025, Isla Borikén, home. by @_djniilo_

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a year ago

During the spring of 2021 I embarked on a cross country solo trip. My first stop was in Florida, visiting Doña Carmen. It had been a decade since I had seen her and visited her home. I remember calling Mami beforehand expressing I was nervous as it had been some time and I wasn’t sure how she would react to my transistion. When I called her that I was in the neighborhood and if I could visit, without hesitation she excitedly insisted that I come to her home. When she greeted me at her door, I told her “Sé que las cosas han cambiado y que quizá me vea diferente//I know things have changed and I may look different.’’ She gentley cupped my face with her hands, and with her joyful sunrise smile said “Sigues siendo la misma hermosa persona que siempre has sido.”// I was still the same beautiful person in her eyes. That’s who Carmen was. For my family, like many in Florida she is our origin story. An adopted grandmother for my family, the center of my universe as a child- we were always there, she was always there, in her home, in her kitchen, her backyard had my favorite trees- the safest place.

That reunion was the beginning of a new chapter in my life, I’m grieving now that would be the last time I physically saw her, and more so being so far away in California. But I have carried with me the love and warmth, and belonging she made me feel. That’s who I knew Carmen to be, always loving, always smiling, always wanting the people who stepped through her doors to feel only alegría-joy and love. I know she’s in paradise, in her kitchen in heaven, smiling, dancing, watching over all of us. I intende to live my life as she did, to create a home for others as she did, to always move through the world with more honey and sweetness no matter how much time or distance has past. Gracias Carmen por todo el amor y seguridad que trajiste a nuestras vidas.

Ibae bayen tonun

For my friends, I’m hurting. If you see me and can give a hug, and a gentle reminder to eat and drink water I would greatly appreciate it. Love yall thank you for everything. by @_djniilo_

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a year ago

Ya’ll know how much I love to rant about women’s sports, sometimes mainstream media narratives around it are excruciatingly limiting. @refinery29 @r29somos gave me the blessed opportunity to put those rants into thoughts. I love that there is a surge of energy surrounding women’s sports…And I hope those who have the money and power actually invest in the long term for these athletes, especially Latina athletes.

Link to the article is in my bio, please read, share with your fellow sports lover and support the media who make sure these are the kinds of stories getting crafted about women in sports 🏀🏈⚾️🎾⚽️🥊🏐🏒 ✨🙏🏼🙏🏼 by @_djniilo_

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a year ago

Some people want Paris, I just need a week in Philly. by @_djniilo_

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a year ago