Nuyorican Feminist Performance: From the Cafe to Hip Hop Theater

The Nuyorican Poets Cafe has for the past forty years provided a space for multicultural artistic expression and a platform for the articulation of Puerto Rican and black cultural politics. The Cafe’s performances-poetry, music, hip hop, comedy, and drama-have been studied in detail, but until now, little attention has been paid to the voices of its women artists. Through archival research and interview, Nuyorican Feminist Performance examines the contributions of 1970s and ‘80s performeras and how they challenged the Cafe’s gender politics. It also looks at recent artists who have built on that foundation with hip hop performances that speak to contemporary audiences. The book spotlights the work of foundational artists such as Sandra Maria Esteves, Martita Morales, Luz Rodriguez, and Amina Munoz, before turning to contemporary artists La Bruja, Mariposa, Aya de Leon, and Nilaja Sun, who infuse their poetry and solo pieces with both Nuyorican and hip hop aesthetics.