Not Tonight but Tomorrow by Miguel Algarin

Описание: This one goes out to one of my mentors, Cacique Miguel Algarin, who died earlier this week. For those that don't know, he founded the Nuyorican Poets Cafe, one of the most important New York literary and arts institutions of the last century. It literally changed the landscape of the literary scene - creating a space for writers of color and working class artists, providing visibility and agency for those who were aggressively kept out of the racist spaces of white centered arts institutions.

I was very fortunate to have been able to study with Miguel at Rutgers University in the 90's. I took every class he taught. He introduced me to so many incredible poets and artists and thinkers. He was not only an incredible poet and orator, he was also a distinguished Shakespeare scholar, and those of that know him also know he could really sing! As I stated in an earlier post, Miguel was a Queer Afro-Latino poet in a country that is literally at war with Queer people, Black people, Latinx people, and poets. To have survived - and shined - under those circumstances took some real deal Nuyo Brujo magic, and it must be honored.

So many of us are grateful for the path he carved out for us. I hope my reading of his work here invokes his spirit just a little bit.

Mil gracias, Miguel! I hope you're having a good time with Pinero and Pietri and company in that great Nuyorican Pachanga in the sky!