Percussionist Juan Cartagena and dancer Nanette Hernández, a husband/wife duo, combine their passion for social justice with the practice of Puerto Rican Bomba y Plena. Early in their marriage the two searched for ways to preserve and celebrate their Puerto Rican heritage. The organization they founded in Jersey City, Segunda Quimbamba, does just that. Segunda Quimbamba performs traditional Puerto Rican music and dance throughout New Jersey and the Tri-State region, they teach their traditions to hundreds of kids and adults, and have toured in Spain and Puerto Rico. For Juan, a civil rights attorney and law professor by trade, the music and dance of Puerto Rican Bomba y Plena serve as perfect ways to celebrate diversity and inclusion and all that he strives to accomplish as a civil right activist. In 2024, Juan and Nanette, and Segunda Quimbamba were honored in the National Puerto Rican Day Parade in New York City and State of the Arts joined them on the CNN float to film the festivities. In 2024, they received a New Jersey Heritage Fellowship from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts.
Produced by Eric Schultz for State of the Arts. Director of Photography Joe Conlon, narrated by Nemuna Ceesay. Special thanks to NimbusArts Center and Staff, Wanda Silva, Wilson Nazario, and the National Puerto Rican Day Parade.