Poets from various Chicago neighborhoods harness the power of plena, a traditional Puerto Rican musical form, as a historical tool of protest. Poetry Curated by Logan Lu, Plena by Los Pleneros de Don Segundo, a project of Segundo Ruiz Belvis Cultural Center. 

Plena is known as the “sung newspaper” because of the way it recounts history and the everyday life of the common people.  “Of Plena and Poetry” combines poets reciting lyrics about the struggles of their distinct identities with plena music from Puerto Rico. The Pleneros de Don Segundo trade verses with Wesly Frazier-Keys, Chris Aldana, Aysha Affaneh, and Logan Lu as they join poetry and plena to tell the story of their people.   

This program is funded by the National Endowment for the Arts and the Terra Foundation for American Art, and is part of Art Design Chicago, a citywide collaboration initiated by the Terra Foundation that highlights the city’s artistic heritage and creative communities.