Miguel Piñero
| Miguel Piñero | |
|---|---|
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| Born | Miguel Antonio Gómez Piñero December 19, 1946 Gurabo, Puerto Rico |
| Died | June 16, 1988 (aged 41) New York City, New York |
| Occupation | Playwright, actor |
| Nationality | Puerto Rican |
| Literary movement | Nuyorican Poets Café |
| Notable works | Short Eyes |
| Notable awards | New York Critics Circle Award, Obie Award, Drama Desk Award |
| Spouse | Juanita Lovette Ramirez (1977-1979) |
| Partner | Martin Wong |
| Children | Ismael Castro (adopted) |
 You may listen to Miguel Piñero's "Lower east side" on YouTube. |
Miguel Piñero (December 19, 1946 – June 16, 1988) was a playwright, actor and co-founder of the Nuyorican Poets Café. He was a leading member of the Nuyorican literary movement.
Piñero was born on December 19, 1946, in Gurabo, Puerto Rico, to Miguel Angel Gómez Ramos and Adelina Piñero. In 1950, when Miguel was four, he moved with his parents and sister Elizabeth to Loisaida (or Lower East Side) in New York City. His father abandoned the family in 1954 when his mother was pregnant with their fifth child. His mother then moved into a basement and began receiving welfare. He attended four different schools, three public and one parochial. He would steal food for his family to eat. His first of many criminal convictions came at the age of eleven, for theft. He was sent to the Juvenile Detention Center in the Bronx, and to Otisville State Training School for Boys. He joined a street gang called "The Dragons" when he was 13; when he was 14, he was hustling in the streets.
He moved to Brooklyn, where he and three other friends committed robberies (according to Piñero, more than 100), until they were caught at a jewelry store. He was sent to Rikers Island in 1964. After this, he joined the Job Corps, and was sent to Camp Kilmer for training. It turned out the opportunity was, as Piñero put it, "Dope City, Skag Town." He returned to New York City and became affiliated with the Young Lords, a group similar to the Black Panthers. He was back in Rikers for drug possession not long after, and spent time at Phoenix House. After his second stint at Rikers, his mother sent him to Manhattan State Hospital, where he would receive his high-school equivalency diploma.
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