Drama starring Benjamin Bratt as Miguel Piñero, a leading figure in New York's art scene during the 1970s. As a founder of the influential Nuyorican Poets Cafe, Miguel's poetry soon became recognised as a forerunner to hip-hop music. Raised in an abusive family,Piñero turns to streets for solace.
Soon he is engaging in petty crime, drug dealing, and addiction. When he finds himself in Sing-Sing, he turns his experiences in prison into the play Short Eyes, which eventually garners him seven Tony awards in 1974. Uncomfortable with his new fame, he clings to his girlfriend, Sugar (Talisa Soto), and his childhood buddy, Miguel Algarin (Giancarlo Esposito), who is a literature professor and who co-founded the Nuyorican Cafe.
Though Piñero makes cameos on such shows as Kojak, his art begins to suffer as he starts to succumb to his drug addictions.
