Carmen Bardeguez-Brown

Carmen Bardeguez-Brown is a poet and educator from Puerto Rico, She migrated to the United States in 1981 courtesy of American Airlines and the colonial quid pro quo status. A poet since she can remember, she became a member of the spoken word/poetry scene in the early 1990s at the Nuyorican Poets Ca- fé. She was a member of Steve Cannon and Bob Holman’s “Stoop Writing” workshop. She recently retired as Principal for the School of Excellence, one of the four schools that are part of the Morris High School campus on Boston Road (this school has an incredible artistic legacy as its alumni include doo-wop era sensations, The Chords, r&B singer Valerie Simpson and members of the bachata group, Aventura). Tonight is the CD-release party for her new book of poetry, Dreaming Rhythms, despertando silencios, where she “awakens us to the beauty of Newyorican language; the altercation, color and juxtaposition of two cultures emerged in a new rhythmic use of words and expressions” (Miguel Lopez Lemus).