In its 52-year history of using art as a tool to promote cross-cultural understanding, SRBCC was the first organization to bring Afro-Puerto Rican music and dance (Bomba and Plena) to Chicago. In the late 1980s, SRBCC opened the first ever Chicago-based Bomba Workshop, and by the mid 90’s the organization redoubled efforts by constantly developing youth initiatives to teach the new generations of Puerto Ricans about their African ancestry. Grupo Yubá, Chicago’s first professional Bomba group, was born in 1989 at SRBCC. Today Bomba remains an essential part of the fabric of the Puerto Rican community of Chicago. All current local Afro-Puerto Rican music projects have their origins in talent developed at Segundo Ruiz Belvis Cultural Center. Today the center has expanded its focus to include more artistic disciplines and partnerships with other communities while remaining true to its origins in Afro-Boricua music and dance.
SRBCC keeps a dynamic performance schedule where young people and professional artists of color engage in the business of musical performance, leveraging their talents and exposure alongside Latin music legends on stages like the Chicago Jazz Festival, Chicago World Music Festival, Fiesta Boricua, Summer Dance, Millennium Park and Fiestas de la Calle San Sebastián in San Juan (among many others). Our program philosophy is based on multi-disciplinary arts initiatives, including performing and visual arts, that highlight the presence of African cultures in Puerto Rico, the Caribbean and Latin America.
SRBCC’s vision for the future and plans to cement its legacy to BIPOC communities are based on constantly building and nurturing strategic partnerships that support the expansion of programs directly benefiting professional artists of color, creative youth, their families and their communities. This manifests itself through a model of regular residencies, subsidized performances, free rehearsal space, and recording opportunities that highlight original work by local professional artists from the community. SRBCC’s leadership believes in preserving a space where creative youth regularly rub elbows with professional artists willing to invest time in them, at the same time that they work on their craft and receive assistance and resources to advance their careers. After seeing internationally-recognized musicians leave Chicago to other cities in the last five decades, keeping talented artists living productive lives in our neighborhoods will always be one of the main objectives of SRBCC’s work.
Roy McGrath is a tenor saxophonist, composer, bandleader and sideman living in Chicago, IL. He graduated with a master’s degree in Music from Northwestern University, where he studied under Victor Goines (saxophonist for Jazz at Lincoln Center and Director of Jazz Studies at Northwestern University).
Held every last Friday of the month, Barrio Bugalú is not just a dance party; it’s a celebration of history, a tribute to the pioneers of Latin music, and a testament to the timeless power of Afro-Caribbean rhythms to bring people together.
