
CIERRA CHENIER
Historian
WRITER &
Cierra Chenier is a writer, historian, and storyteller born and raised in New Orleans. Her love for her city and its people was formalized in 2017 when she created NOIR 'N NOLA, a digital platform "preserving the history, culture, and soul of Black New Orleans" in response to the gun violence and gentrification impacting New Orleans; answering the call to tell stories that reassert the value of the lives of those in her community. Since its launch, NOIR 'N NOLA has been cited in various academic journals, textbooks, books, and curricula and recognized in local, national, and international features and media.
Cierra's historical writing of Black New Orleans has expanded to platforms like Scalawag Magazine and ESSENCE Magazine–with her most recently writing the cover story for ESSENCE’s 20th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina May/June 2025 issue. Her preservation work includes authoring two Louisiana State Historical Markers for the history of Dorothy Mae Taylor and Claiborne Avenue. Through her writing, storytelling, and narrations, Cierra continues to connect New Orleans' past to its present and future with topics of freedom, enslavement, resistance, displacement, environmental injustice, and preservation.
Miesha Williams Photography
WRITING

BLACK NEW ORLEANS WILL BE

- CIERRA CHENIER
Free.

01.
COVER STORY: NEW ORLEANS LEARNED TO FLY
ESSENCE
02.
FROM KATRINA TO MAUI, DISASTER CAPITALISM CONTINUES TO EXPLOIT ACROSS MANY 'SOUTHS'
Scalawag Magazine
03.
THE BLACK NEW ORLEANS HISTORY YOU DIDN'T KNOW SHAPED AMERICA
ESSENCE
04.
WHAT'S THE VALUE OF BLACK LIFE IN THE MURDER CAPITAL?
NOIR 'N NOLA
05.
BLACK NEW ORLEANS WILL BE FREE: WHAT TODAY REQUIRES AND WHAT WE LEAVE BEHIND
New Orleans Film Society
06.
THE REAL MARDI GRAS: BLACK NEW ORLEANIANS RECLAIM THEIR SPACE THROUGH CARNIVAL TRADITIONS
ESSENCE
Lagniappe
Contact
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FREELANCE WRITING
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PUBLIC SPEAKING
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NARRATION
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HISTORICAL CONSULTING
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HISTORIC MEMORALIZATION
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FILM/MEDIA
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INTERVIEWS
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ACADEMIC PRESENTATIONS
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COPYRIGHT PERMISSIONS

I HOPE TO LEAVE A RECORD, A REFLECTION OF THE TIMES & A CLEAR INDICATION OF WHAT SIDE OF THE LINE
I stood on.

