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AfroCubaWeb
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Dates for the 15 City Tour Washington, DC: 3/15/03 |
The African Roots of Cuban Culture
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3/18/03 - Event in Maine
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| The Washington, DC -
Havana Sister City Project and the Kwame Ture Work-Study Institute and
Library are pleased to invite you to a video showing and discussion on
the subject of The African Roots of Cuban Poetry and Music Blackburn Center – Media Auditorium Howard UniversityWashington, DC Saturday, March 15, 20037:00 PM Admission Free! Donation Requested! The Kwame Ture Work-Study Institute and Library in conjunction with a host of campus-based and community organizations, is pleased to announce a 15-city United States tour for two Cuban women who are scholars and interpreters of African contributions to Cuban poetry, music and culture. The tour is scheduled for March 15, 2003 to April 11, 2003. The Washington, DC segment of their tour has been jointly organized by the Washington, DC-Havana, Cuba Sister City Project and the Kwame Ture Work-Study Institute and Library. Daisy Diaz Mora represents the Nicolas Guillen Foundation in Cuba, an NGO dedicated to preserving the work and legacy of Nicholas Guillen (1902-1989). Guillen was a foremost Afro-Cuban, a friend of Langston Hughes and Ernest Hemingway, first president of the Nation Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba (UNEAC), and the poet laureate of Cuba. His poems have been translated into more than 25 languages, and have been used by several generations of Cuban musicians, artists and poets as inspiration and content for their works. Daisy is a specialist in artistic, cultural and media productions, and a leading expert on Afro-Cuban culture. Gema Suarez Cabrera is a specialist of the Association of Cuban Musicians, which is part of the National Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba (UNEAC). Gema is also the personal assistant of the current president of UNEAC, Harold Gramatges, who is a composer and friend of the late Nicholas Guillen . One of the purposes of this 15-City tour of the two Cuban scholars is to introduce North American audiences, especially the African Community, to Afro-Cuban music, poetry, and cultural life in general, and Nicolas Guillen and Harold Gramatges in particular. The videos and discussion will focus on Cuba’s African Roots that have had an important influence on Cuban society and culture, and the Cuban Revolution. The majority of Cuba’s People are of African descent, and the African community in Cuba is the fifth largest community in the African Diaspora. The role of African culture in Cuban life and society has grown and evolved during more than 500 years of slavery and segregation, especially during the years after the Revolution of 1959. Afro-Cuban culture is now poised to take its rightful place on the world’s cultural stage. Africa and her 1.5 billion children, who are scattered, suffering and struggling in every corner of the world, owe a debt of gratitude to Cuba, especially the African community in Cuba, that we are obliged to pay. From Algeria to the Congo to Guinea-Bissau to Angola to Azania-South Africa to Moza mbique to Grenada, whenever Africa called, Cuba answered. As Kwame Ture has said, "From Robert Williams to Eldridge Cleaver to Huey Newton to Assata Shakur, every African in the United States who needs protection and refuge know that if they make it to Cuba, they are home safe." In this current climate of repression and war, we say "Hands Off Cuba!" Ms. Diaz Mora and Ms. Suarez Cabrera have brought with them three VHS
videos documenting in music and spoken word the life and contributions
of Nicolas Guillen and Harold Gramatges, and the origin and development
of Afro-Cuban poetry and music. Depending on time, one or two of the
videos will be shown at each event. Daisy and Gema speak Spanish and the
videos are in Spanish. Translation will be provided. They are
particularly interested in promoting supportive relationships and
cultural exchange programs between U.S. schools, universities, and
cultural organizations and artists and the Nicolas Guillen Foundation
and the National Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba (UNEAC). The
Washington DC - Havana-Cuba Sister City Project is particularly
interested in solidifying and expanding its sister relationships between
and with institutions, organizations, schools and universities,
especially cultural and educational institutions and organizations in
Washington, DC and Havana, Cuba. The Kwame Ture Work-Study Institute and
Library is particularly interested in solidifying its relationship with
and introducing the Guillen Foundation and UNEAC to its large and
extended network of supporters and friends throughout every corner of
Africa and the African Diaspora. The 15-City Afro-Cuban Poetry and Music Tour
includes the following events: For more information about the Afro-Cuban Poetry and Music Tour in
your city, please contact: |
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