Pedacito de Tierra: Music and the Puerto Rican Diaspora in Minnesota

Minnesota Unraveled: Pulling on the Threads of Minnesota History

Chicago and New York usually get the spotlight when it comes to Puerto Rican communities. But Minnesota? That might surprise you. Puerto Ricans are actually the state’s second-largest Latinx community, with more than 20,000 people calling it home. And for these Puerto Rican Minnesotans, music is a powerful way to stay connected to their heritage.

In our opening episode of season two, historian and host Dr. Chantel Rodríguez explores this link with her guests. José Antonio Zayas Cabán is a multiple Grammy®-nominated saxophonist, whose latest work interweaves the voices of Puerto Rican storytellers and music. She also speaks with Tearra Oso, a bomba artist and culture protector who teaches and enhances one of Puerto Rico’s oldest musical traditions. Together, they reflect on how Puerto Rican Minnesotans have told their history through music, cultivating ties to both Minnesota and Puerto Rico, and finding harmony in that complexity.