Child of Immigrants Turned Celebrity: The Room Where it Happened

By Hollie Robinson and Kimberley Rodriguez, Eighth Graders

     How does a New Yorker born of Puerto Rican parents grow up to be an award winning musical playwright genius? Even if you haven’t heard his name, you’ve probably heard about his Tony Award winning Broadway musical, Hamilton! As a matter of fact, there are hardly any awards he hasn’t won. He’s won an Emmy, Grammy, Tony, Pulitzer, Oliver, Obie and more.

Early Life
     Lin-Manuel Miranda was born to Puerto Rican parents and grew up with Puerto Rican heritage. At the age of seven, Lin-Manuel Miranda saw his first Broadway musical, and it changed him forever. He attended Hunter College High School for gifted students most of his early life. He was also heavily involved in music such as: piano classes, musicals, and hip-hop classes.

Lin-Manuel Miranda Accomplishments/Works
    “In the Heights” was Miranda’s first massive hit. This musical is influenced by his hispanic Caribbean background and is based on 3 days in the life of Washington Heights, a neighborhood dominated by immigrants of Dominican heritage. He took this musical on tour to Puerto Rico back in 2010, to the delight of audiences there.
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    Miranda recently created a campaign to help reconstruct Puerto Rico in the aftermath of hurricane Maria. It was the worst hurricane to hit Puerto Rico in 85 years. With massive winds of 150 mph, Hurricane Maria left 1 million people without power. Accessing clean water and food has become a huge difficulty. Puerto Rico was, and still is, in utter devastation.

     Miranda created the Tee-Rico with a goal to help pay for the estimated $90 billion dollars worth of damage done by Hurricane Maria. “The goal wasn’t just artistic satisfaction, but how can we leave Puerto Rico a little better than we found it,” declared Miranda, according to AP News. Miranda hopes to raise $15 million dollars from this charity and help in any way he can. He also produced a song called, “Almost Like Praying”, this song was quickly produced as a response for Hurricane Relief. “Almost Like Praying” features 22 hispanic artists including Jennifer Lopez, Camila Cabello, Gloria Estefan, and Marc Anthony; all the song’s profits went to Puerto Rico.

    If you would like to be a part of this campaign, go to www.teerico.com/collections/puerto-rico-relief-collection where you can find more information about this charity and help raise money to help Puerto Rico.

References:
https://www.biography.com/people/lin-manuel-miranda-041416
https://www.broadway.com/shows/in-the-heights/
www.teerico.com/collections/puerto-rico-relief-collection