Nuyorican movement facts for kids

The Nuyorican movement is a special cultural and artistic movement. It includes poets, writers, musicians, and artists who are from Puerto Rico or have Puerto Rican family roots. These artists mostly live in or near New York City and are often called Nuyoricans. The movement started in the late 1960s and early 1970s in New York neighborhoods like Loisaida, East Harlem, Williamsburg, and the South Bronx. It helped Puerto Ricans in the United States, especially those who were poor or working-class, to feel proud and to share their experiences. Many faced unfair treatment and were left out, so this movement helped them find their voice.

The word "Nuyorican" was once used as an insult. But important artists like Miguel Algarín took the word back and changed its meaning to something positive. Key places that helped this movement grow include the Nuyorican Poets Café and Charas/El Bohio in the Lower East Side. Other important spots were the Puerto Rican Traveling Theater, Agüeybaná Bookstore, Mixta Gallery, Clemente Soto Vélez Cultural Center, El Museo del Barrio, and El Maestro. Newer Nuyorican cultural places include PRdream.com and Camaradas El Barrio in Spanish Harlem. Groups like the Young Lords and the ASPIRA Association also worked to support the community during this time.

Charas/El Bohio: A Community Hub

History of Charas/El Bohio

Puerto Rican history and culture are very important in New York City's Lower East Side, which many Puerto Ricans call Loisaida. For a long time, Puerto Rico was under Spanish rule. In 1898, the United States took control of the island. Because Puerto Rico mainly grew sugar cane and coffee, the U.S. government had a lot of power over its economy.

In 1917, the U.S. made Puerto Ricans U.S. citizens. This happened without asking the people of Puerto Rico. As the economy changed, many people struggled to find food and work. This led many Puerto Ricans to move to places like New York City, looking for a better life. They settled in neighborhoods like the Lower East Side, San Juan Hill, and Spanish Harlem. Here, they created new identities and cultures.

A special building, once a school called P.S. 64, became a key part of this new culture. It was renamed the Charas/El Bohio Community Center. This center opened in 1977. Its goal was to help the Loisaida neighborhood grow, encourage Latino pride, and protect the people living there. The building had been empty, but a group called Adopt-A-Building took it over and fixed it up. Much of the money for repairs came from government grants. CHARAS moved in first, followed by the El Bohio Corporation. CHARAS was a continuation of the Real Great Society, led by Chino Garcia and Armando Perez.

Chino Garcia and Armando Perez were important founders of CHARAS/El Bohio. They helped many artists in the 1960s. They turned old classrooms into art studios and rehearsal spaces. This greatly changed the Lower East Side. The original group started in 1964 to help young people use their skills in positive ways. They encouraged business and education. CHARAS also worked on urban ecology, helping create many community gardens in the Lower East Side. El Bohio focused more on art. It hosted cultural shows and gave Latino artists a place to share their work and celebrate their culture.

Charas/El Bohio Today

In 2017, Mayor de Blasio said he wanted to buy back the old P.S. 64 building. He hoped to turn it back into a community center. However, the current owner, Singer, said he had no plans to sell. Many community leaders and politicians, like Councilwoman Carlina Rivera, have worked hard to get the building back for the community. Singer had wanted to tear down the building and build a tall dorm. But his plans have been rejected because the building is a landmark. More recently, Singer proposed a slightly remodeled dorm building, but community activists are still fighting to get the building back for the community.

Literature and Poetry

The Nuyorican movement had a big impact on Puerto Rican literature. Writers explored themes like cultural identity, civil rights, and unfair treatment. The Nuyorican Poets Café, a non-profit group in Alphabet City, Manhattan, was founded by Miguel Piñero, Miguel Algarín, and Pedro Pietri. Famous poets from this movement include Giannina Braschi, Willie Perdomo, Edwin Torres (poet), Nancy Mercado, and Sandra María Esteves. Later poets include Lemon Andersen, Emanuel Xavier, Mariposa (María Teresa Fernández), and Caridad de la Luz (La Bruja). Today, groups like The Acentos Foundation publish poetry and stories by Latino writers. Capicu Cultural Showcase in Brooklyn also promotes Nuyorican culture.

Music

Nuyorican music became popular in the 1960s. Songs like Tito Puente's "Oye Como Va" and Ray Barretto's "El Watusi" became hits. These songs often used Spanglish lyrics, mixing Spanish and English.

Latin bands used to play styles like cha-cha-cha or charanga. But they started to create their own Nuyorican sound. They added instruments like flutes and violins to their orchestras. This new style was called Latin boogaloo. Musicians like Joe Cuba with "Bang Bang" and Richie Ray and Bobby Cruz with "Mr. Trumpet Man" helped create this sound. The brothers Charlie and Eddie Palmieri were also important. Later, Nuyorican music grew into Latin rap, freestyle music, Latin house, salsa, Nuyorican soul, and reggaeton.

The growth of Nuyorican music can be seen in salsa and hip hop. Musician Willie Colón showed this mix in his salsa music. He blended the trombone, popular in New York, with the cuatro, a Puerto Rican instrument. Many salsa songs talk about the connection between Puerto Rico and New York City. Sometimes, people in Puerto Rico wondered if the music from New York was truly authentic. Today, salsa music includes sounds from Africa, Cuba, and other Latin American countries, creating a "salsa fusion."

For younger Nuyorican generations, hip hop became a new important sound. Nuyorican rappers like Vico C and Big Pun made music that people in both New York and Puerto Rico could enjoy. Other Puerto Ricans who helped shape hip-hop include DJ Disco Wiz, Prince Whipper Whip, DJ Charlie Chase, Tony Touch, DJ Johnny "Juice" Rosado, Tego Calderon, Fat Joe, Jim Jones, N.O.R.E., Joell Ortiz, and Lloyd Banks. Groups like Circa '95 (PattyDukes & RephStar) continue this Nuyorican hip hop tradition. This shows how music connects the United States and Puerto Rico, just like the name Nuyorican itself.

Playwrights and Theater Companies

Puerto Rican writers who wrote in Spanish, like René Marqués, explored the immigrant experience. His famous play The Oxcart (La Carreta) tells the story of a Puerto Rican family. They move from the countryside to San Juan and then to New York. But they realize they would rather live a simple life in Puerto Rico than face unfair treatment in the United States.

Puerto Rican actress Míriam Colón started The Puerto Rican Traveling Theatre in 1967 after The Oxcart was very successful. Her company helps young actors get roles in plays. Some of their plays, like Edward Gallardo's Simpson Street, show life in New York's neighborhoods. Other theater groups include Pregones Theater, started in 1979 in the Bronx.

Playwrights who were pioneers of the Nuyorican movement include Pedro Pietri, Miguel Piñero, Giannina Braschi, Jesús Papoleto Meléndez, and Tato Laviera. Younger artists include Migdalia Cruz, Edwin Sánchez, and Lin-Manuel Miranda. Miranda is known for his musicals In the Heights and Hamilton. Piñero wrote the famous play Short Eyes, which was about life in prison. It was nominated for a Tony Award and won an Obie Award. Other writers include Candido Tirado and Carmen Rivera, who won an Obie Award for her play La Gringa. Judge Edwin Torres wrote Carlito's Way.

Today, places like B.A.A.D. (the Bronx Academy of Arts and Dance), started in 1998 by dancer Arthur Aviles and writer Charles Rice-González, provide space for Nuyorican artists to share their work. Other theater groups use the stages at the Clemente Soto Vélez Cultural Center in Loisaida.

Visual Arts

The Nuyorican movement has always had a strong visual arts side, including art education. Pioneer Raphael Montañez Ortiz started El Museo del Barrio in 1969 to promote Nuyorican art. Painters and printmakers like Rafael Tufiño, Fernando Salicrup, Marcos Dimas, and Nitza Tufiño created groups like Taller Boricua. Writers and poets like Sandra María Esteves and Nicholasa Mohr also created visual art.

Sometimes, experimental artists like Adál Maldonado (known as Adál) worked with poets like Pedro Pietri. In the 1970s and 1980s, Nuyorican artists inspired by graffiti, like Jean-Michel Basquiat, became very famous. Installation artists like Antonio Martorell and Pepon Osorio create art that mixes local styles with social and political ideas. In 1992, Nuyorican artist Soraida Martinez created Verdadism. This art style uses bold shapes, and each painting comes with a written social message. Born in Harlem in 1956, Martinez was also influenced by the social changes of the 1960s. She created a painting called “Between Two Islands, 1996,” which shows the Nuyorican experience. Since 1993, the Organization of Puerto Rican Artists (O.P. Art) has provided a space for Puerto Rican visual artists in New York, especially at the Clemente Soto Vélez Cultural Center.

More recently, painters and muralists like James De La Vega, Jorge Zeno, Miguel Luciano, Miguelangel Ruiz, and Sofia Maldonado have continued this art tradition. People who run galleries and museums, like Marvette Pérez, Yasmin Ramírez, Deborah Cullen, Susana Torruella Leval, Judith Escalona, Tanya Torres, and Chino Garcia, have helped Nuyorican art get more recognition.

Nuyorican Writers and Poets

• Miguel Algarín, co-founder of Nuyorican Poet's Cafe
• Jack Agueros
• Giannina Braschi, author of Empire of Dreams (poetry collection), Yo-Yo Boing!, and United States of Banana
• Julia de Burgos, author of "Yo misma fui mi ruta"
• Jesús Colón
• Victor Hernández Cruz
• Nelson Denis
• Sandra María Esteves
• Tato Laviera
• Felipe Luciano
• Jesús Papoleto Meléndez
• Nancy Mercado
• Nicholasa Mohr
• Richie Narvaez
• Pedro Pietri, co-founder of Nuyorican Poet's Café, known for "Puerto Rican Obituary"
• Miguel Piñero, playwright known for "Short Eyes"
• Noel Quiñones
• Bimbo Rivas
• Abraham Rodriguez
• Bonafide Rojas
• Esmeralda Santiago, author of When I Was Puerto Rican
• Piri Thomas, author of Down These Mean Streets
• Edwin Torres (judge), author of Carlito's Way
• J. L. Torres, author of The Accidental Native and Boricua Passport
• Luz María Umpierre
• Edgardo Vega Yunqué (also Ed Vega), author of The Lamentable Journey of Omaha Bigelow into the Impenetrable Loisaida Jungle

In Popular Culture

The life of Nuyorican movement poet Miguel Piñero was shown in the 2001 Hollywood movie Piñero. It was directed by Leon Ichaso and starred Benjamin Bratt as Piñero. The movie shows Piñero's journey as a poet and a person. It mixes short music and slam poetry videos with regular movie scenes to show his unique poetic style.