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Cuba: Race & Identity in the News
Archive: 10/3 - 4/09

Race and Revolution: Cuba and Blackness  4/28/2009 Democracy Now: published in 4/200 - "KWAME DIXON: Well, we would have to put Cuba in—in terms of its attempt to deal with racism, I think that the Cuban government has made serious efforts to eradicate racism. They’ve put in tremendous amounts of money in education, health, etc. I think we know about that. I think the question is for other governments in the region. I think Afro-Cubans are in many ways—I can’t say better off, because that’s not the proper way to put it, but we can say that the Cuban government has taken race seriously, whereas the Colombians or governments in Ecuador or Peru or Brazil, Afro-Latinos are really mistreated and badly viewed in the society."

Politics of Color for Obama in Cuba  4/25/2009 CQ Politics: "But despite his reversal of Bush Administration policy toward Cuba travel, it more than likely will prove difficult to follow that with a quick end to the 47-year-old trade embargo. For one thing, Cuban leaders aren’t sure the country is ready for the embargo to be lifted. That’s why we see mixed messagescoming from the Castro brothers about opening a dialogue with the U.S. And Castro isn’t stupid. He saw what happened to the Soviet Union in the 1980s after it opened itself up to the West — its economy collapsed."

Líderes Internacionales Democráticos se Solidarizan con Activista Cubano Antúnez a 66 Días de Ayuno  4/23/2009 Directorio Democrático Cubano: "Una docena de líderes de países africanos encabezaron la lista de firmantes, entre ellos Eddie Jarwolo, director del Movimiento Nacional Juvenil para Elecciones Transparentes–Socios para el Desarrollo Democrático en Liberia; el juez Mukete Tahle Itoe de Camerún, el Secretario General de la Red Mundial para la Buena Governancia, una organización anti-corrupción; y Anyakwee Nsirimovu, Director Ejecutivo del Instituto para los Derechos Humanos y Ley Humanitaria en Nigeria, quien ha sido perseguido por su activismo en contra de la corrupción. “Le hago un llamado al gobierno cubano a sostener el concepto de la democracia multipartidista basada en la proliferación de diversos criterios políticos y alternativas comenzando por la tolerancia manifiesta a los políticos de oposición y muestras de preocupación y respeto por la dignidad de cubanos vulnerables como obligación del gobierno, ni como favor, ni como opción,” señaló Eddie Jarwolo."

Blacks ponder President Obama’s change in Cuba travel policy  4/22/2009 Westside Gazette, FL 

CARLOS MOORE: Putting context to Cuba's racial divide  4/21/2009 McClatchy: " Brought to light in 2008, the first comprehensive, officially-sanctioned document addressing the issue of race in Cuba under the Revolution, The Challenges of the Racial Problem in Cuba [2], paints a stark picture of the situation that exists even now in 2009 for the blacks. This graphic, 385-page document, supported by a bounty of hitherto unpublicized statistics, speaks of neglect, denial, and forceful resurgence of racism in Cuba under Communism. The publication shows a growing impoverishment of the population as a whole, but it emphasizes that black Cubans are disproportionately affected. The old segregationist Cuba is gone, according to this document, yet, somehow the country's leadership continues to be predominantly white (71%). A majority of the country's scientists and technicians are white (72.7%), even though both races have equal rates of education. The same whitening process affects Cuba's universities at the professorial level (80% at the University of La Habana). In the countryside, the land that is privately held is almost totally in the hands of whites (98%), and even in the State cooperatives blacks are almost nonexistent (5%). A robust percentage of able-bodied Cubans with jobs are white, whether male (66.9%) or female (63.8%). In contrast, the overall employment rate of blacks who are fit to work is startlingly low (34.2%). We are left to conclude that most able-bodied black Cubans are unemployed (65.8%)."

Cuba's Race Relations Seldom Discussed  4/15/2009 NPR: "President Barack Obama yesterday decided to loosen restrictions on travel to Cuba, and the ability of Americans to send money to family members on the island. The decision has met with widely divergent reactions. But largely unmentioned is the sometime complex racial dynamic between Cuban exiles, who are predominately white, and Cubans who remain on the island, 30 to 60 percent of which are of African decent."

What Obama's Cuba move means for blacks  4/15/2009 The Loop 

Putting Afro In Cuba Tours  4/10/2009 Race & History: by Willie Thompson, published in 12/2002

Coddling Cuba - Why do the members of Congress rushing to befriend the Castros ignore the island's pro-democracy movement?  4/9/2009 WaPo: "Mr. García, better known as "Antúnez," is a renowned advocate of human rights who has often been singled out for harsh treatment because of his color. "The authorities in my country," he has said, "have never tolerated that a black person [could dare to] oppose the regime." His wife, Iris, is a founder of the Rosa Parks Women's Civil Rights Movement, named after an American hero whom Afro-Cubans try to emulate. The couple have been on a hunger strike since Feb. 17, to demand justice for an imprisoned family member. They are part of a substantial and steadily growing civil movement advocating democratic change in Cuba -- one that U.S. advocates of detente with the Castros appear determined to ignore." [Antúnez is largely unknown in Cuba, his fame is due to the exile drumbeats.]

CBC members praise Castro  4/7/2009 Politico: "Key members of the Congressional Black Caucus are calling for an end to U.S. prohibition on travel to Cuba, just hours after a meeting with former Cuban president Fidel Castro in Havana. “The fifty-year embargo just hasn’t worked,” CBC Chairwoman Barbara Lee (D-Ca.) told reporters this evening at a Capitol press conference after returning from a congressional delegation visit to Cuba. “The bottom line is that we believe its time to open dialogue with Cuba.” Lee and others heaped praise on Castro, calling him warm and receptive during their discussion. But the lawmakers disputed Castro's later statement that members of the congressional delegation said American society is still racist."

A question about Cuba and Martin Luther King Jr.  4/6/2009 Uncommon Sense: "Cuban civil rights activists remember Martin Luther King Jr."

Racismo en Cuba, un tema controvertido  4/5/2009 Cuba Voz: "Es un choque silencioso entre las dos razas con matices gregarios, por lo general los negros prefieren asociarse entre sí aislándose de los blancos en actividades sociales comunes, en fiestas, reuniones de amigos, en el intercambio de tragos, y lo mismo se manifiesta entre los blancos. Cada uno por separado, pero sin llegar a una definida segregación al estilo de Atlanta año 1950. El racismo en Cuba no va más allá de un agudo prejuicio racial planteado en términos del "somos distintos"."

CUBA: Black Women Rap Against Discrimination  4/5/2009 IPS: published 8/07 by Dalia Acosta

Congressional delegation visiting Cuba - Congressional Black Caucus members to visit Cuba to review trade and travel  4/2/2009 AP: "Members of the Congressional Black Caucus will travel to Cuba on Friday in another sign of federal lawmakers' interest in easing a long-standing trade embargo and travel restrictions. Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Calif., said the trip is designed to demonstrate to Cubans that the American people are interested in building a new relationship with them. "Diplomacy and a new way of looking at our foreign policy just makes sense," said Lee, chairwoman of the caucus. Visits to Cuba by members of Congress are hardly new, but some lawmakers believe the election of President Barack Obama presents a new opportunity to open up trade and tourism. Business and farm groups are backing the lawmakers' efforts. On Tuesday, a bipartisan group of lawmakers in the Senate announced their support for legislation that would prevent the president from stopping travel to Cuba except in cases of war, imminent danger to public health or threats to the physical safety of U.S. travelers. An identical bill in the House has 120 co-sponsors."

Black revolution stirring in Cuba  3/29/2009 Trinidad & Tobago Express: "Nazma Muller [a Fidelista] talks to Carlos Moore."

La crise a accentué le racisme à Cuba  3/28/2009 Africulture: from 1/99 - "Entretien de Landry-Wilfrid Miampika avec Pedro Pérez Sarduy."

Cuban ambassador calls Moore an outrageous liar.  3/27/2009 Cuban Colada, Miami Herald Blog 

Black Cuban Female Blogger  3/24/2009 IPS: "Sandra Alvarez remembers. Her mother, a dressmaker, and her five siblings lived in the modest Havana neighborhood of Lawton. Her mother used to tell them, “You have to study because you’re black; your classes are twice as important for you.”

Mere propaganda, lies against Cuba  3/23/2009 Nation News, Barbados: "The publication of my letter of protest by THE NATION is much appreciated and I hope the newspaper will not publish, in the future, any more unpleasant articles like the one I am complaining about which does not correspond or identify with the traditional and magnificent relations and collaborations which exists between the Government and people of Barbados and the government and people of Cuba."

Plácido  3/22/2009 Jiribilla: Jiribilla devotes an entire issue to Gabriel de la Concepción Valdés, Plácido, at the 200th anniversary of his birth. He was executed in 1844 as a result of the so called "Ladder Conspiracy," in reality a figment of the ruling ibero-spanish elite.

On the Black Press in Cuba: A Historical Review  3/18/2009 Islas: published 5/2007

Tendencias racistas en Cuba  3/18/2009 Mestizos.Net: "En la actualidad, el desconocimiento acerca de la presencia negra en la prensa plana en Cuba es casi absoluto. Otro aspecto en la vida de la comunidad negra y mestiza cubana escamoteado por las tendencias racistas que abierta o subrepticiamente han manipulado la memoria de la vida socio cultural del país."

Open Letter to Carlos Moore from Pedro Perez Sarduy  3/18/2009 Norman Girvan: reprinted from AfroCubaWeb, but with some interesting responses.

Académicos piden debate y acciones contra el racismo en Cuba  3/7/2009 AFP 

El negro en la obra de Nicolás Guillén  3/7/2009 Cubarte: "Es muy sólida y resulta muy oportuna esta antología, fruto del estudio y la compilación de Denia, a partir de una búsqueda de las especialistas de la Fundación Nicolás Guillén para establecer todos sus textos referidos al tema. Poemas, artículos, discursos y cartas, fechados entre 1929 y 1982, nos permiten entrar en el mundo de la palabra de uno de los más grandes intelectuales que ha dado Cuba, desde una perspectiva particular que recoge el título: el negro en la obra de Guillén."

Autobiografía de esclavos: Equiano, Juan Francisco Manzano  3/5/2009 Cubarte: "Entre las muchas figuras de interés que intervienen en la trama de la película, muchas de ella históricas, me llamó la atención la del ex- esclavo negro Olaudah Equiano (¿1745?-1797), también conocido como Gustav Vassa. Según sus propias palabras, había nacido en Nigeria y muy joven fue vendido a un oficial de la Marina. Un dueño posterior, en Filadelfia, le permitió aprender a leer y escribir hasta que, con su trabajo, pudo comprar la libertad y convertirse en marino, lo que le hizo conocer lugares muy diversos. En Londres el movimiento abolicionista existente allí, al cual pertenecía Wilberforce, lo incitó a escribir su autobiografía, que tituló La interesante narrativa de la vida de Olaudah Equino o Gustavo Vass, el africano, escrita por él mismo (1789), que al ser publicada tuvo una gran repercusión. Esta obra se tiene como una de las primeras autobiografías escritas por esclavos, junto a las del “príncipe africano” J. A. Ukasaw Gronniosum (1772) y la del nativo africano residente en los Estados Unidos Ventura Smith (1798), todas publicadas también en Inglaterra."

El Maleconazo en La Habana 5 de agosto de 1994  3/4/2009 YouTube: [Video of the famous 1994 riot, said to be a race riot by Afrocubans.]

Del legado de Martí  3/2/2009 Granma: de Marta Rojas - "Sin embargo, entrañables amigos de la insurrección se prestaron a no dejar morir al Maestro. Uno de ellos, el cubano Rafael Serra Montalvo, hijo de negros libres, nacido en La Habana e inmigrante en Estados Unidos, fue de los primeros en hacer algo por la memoria de Martí. Serra había tenido la responsabilidad martiana en Nueva York de organizar La Liga, un grupo patriótico que se encargó de instruir a los emigrantes que carecían que no habían podido ilustrarse, en su mayoría cubanos "de color", para quienes Martí fue siempre El Maestro. Insuflado por el pensamiento de su amigo y jefe Serra sigue trabajando en Nueva York y el 16 de abril de 1899 aparece en La Habana el semanario político independiente "La doctrina de Martí" que él dirige, con un artículo de fondo del propio Serra titulado: " Nuestros Propósitos", de corte martiano profundo."

Analyzing pre-Castro Cuban racism through Cuban music  2/27/2009 Nelson Guirado: "Pre-revolutionary Cuban music is more reliable for this purpose because it wasn't a government propaganda tool. The songs I've assembled for this post are representative of the general themes in Cuban music in pre-Castro Cuba- not exceptions. I will use no other sources except the music, a story, and my own brain."

Presentan comisión por el bicentenario de Plácido  2/23/2009 Boletin Cubarte: "La Comisión para conmemorar el bicentenario del gran poeta cubano Gabriel de la Concepción Valdés (Plácido) fue presentada, durante el Foro Literario que se realizó en la Unión de Escritores y Artistas de Cuba (UNEAC) con motivo de la Feria del Libro. Zaida Capote, vicepresidenta de la Asociación de Escritores de la UNEAC, informó que está presidida por la doctora Graziella Pogolotti y su Comité de Honor lo integran Esteban Lazo, Armando Hart, Abel Prieto, Eusebio Leal, Roberto Fernández Retamar, Eduardo Torres Cuevas, Iroel Sánchez, Cintio Vitier, Fina García Marruz y Carilda Oliver Labra. El programa por el bicentenario incluye, entre otras acciones la celebración de un coloquio internacional y un concurso de ensayos entre los días 14 y 23 de octubre de este año. Los intelectuales Salvador Arias, Fernando Martínez Heredia, Gerardo Fullera León y Daisy Cué disertaron acerca de esta polémica personalidad, cuya vida es un mito y sobre su obra se han emitido opiniones muy injustas."

Africa en America: las secuelas de la esclavitud  2/15/2009 Afrocuba.org: publicado en 2005, de Jesús Guanche, antropólogo cubano

Secuelas de la esclavitud  2/15/2009 Caribnet: publicado en febrero, 2006, de Jesús Guanche, antropólogo cubano, profesor de la Universidad de La Habana y miembro de la Junta Directiva de la Fundación Fernando Ortiz y del Comité Cubano de la Ruta del Esclavo.

Some Quick Comments on Carlos Moore's PICHÓN by Walterio Lord Garnés and David González López  2/15/2009 Walter Lipmann: "Walterio Lord Garnés [Havana, 1948] and David González López [Havana, 1947] are collaborators attached to the Centro de Estudios de África y Medio Oriente in Havana and to the University of Havana’s Cátedra “Amílcar Cabral” de Estudios Africanos. They have written dissertations at home and abroad and published works about African and Afro-Cuban cultures in Cuban and foreign publications."

Cuban Color  2/12/2009 Progreso Weekly: By Elíades Acosta Matos, former head of the Committee on Culture of the Cuban Communist Party’s Central Committee, unfortunately repeats the falsehoods of the last census - "Nationwide, 65.2 percent of the population is white, but the number of mestizos increased by 4 points since the previous census."

Carlos Moore on the Tavis Smiley Show  2/10/2009 Tavis Smiley Show: "Dr. Carlos Moore is an ethnologist and political scientist, specializing in African, Latin American and Caribbean affairs. He researches and writes on the impact of race and ethnicity on domestic politics and inter-state affairs. Following exile from his native Cuba for opposing the Castro regime's racial policies, Moore has lived and worked in many countries, including the U.S., Senegal and, his current base, Brazil. He holds two doctorates from the University of Paris 7, France and is fluent in five languages."

Identidad y justicia social  2/7/2009 Jiribilla: por Pedro de la Hoz, Prólogo del libro África en la Revolución Cubana. Editorial Letras Cubanas, La Habana, 2008.

L’élection de M. Obama ravive le débat racial à La Havane  2/1/2009 Le Monde: Interview avec Manuel Cuesta Morua, descendant du famuex Morua de la Ley Morua, avec lequel Cuba a mis le Partido Independiente de Color hors la loi.

The Race Card: their last bastion in a lost war  1/31/2009 AfroCubaWeb: "After the strident failure of ten United States presidents to decapitate and overthrow the Cuban government through invasions, bio-terrorism, assassinations, isolation, economical warfare etc., they identified in the mid 1990’s what they labeled as their secret weapon, which consisted of a substantial demographic shift in favor of blacks in Cuba. A comprehensive destabilization project was conceived and enacted by the US State Department in which most leaders of counterrevolutionary groups in the United States should be replaced by blacks or mixed race Cubans, in order to contrast them with the Cuban government preferential treatment for those of Hispanic ancestry. Simultaneously, US-AID and front foundations who had supported salaried dissidents of Hispanic ancestry in Cuba, were suddenly sidetracked, made irrelevant or ignored, in favor of unknown blacks pulled out of nowhere, recruited and speedily turned into leaders of bogus Free Democratic institutions."

REALIDAD DE UN SUEÑO  1/15/2009 Asociación Pro Libertad de Prensa: por José Vélez, MIR - "Nos hace soñar en la certeza de que más temprano que tarde veremos a los cubanos y cubanas unidos en igualdad plena, sin fueros de privilegio por raza y color. Es un sueño pero lo haremos realidad. El Rev. Martín Luther King demostró que si es posible. Hoy Barack Obama es una realidad, el sueño de King hecho posible."

Islas: Vol 4, #11: January 2009  1/15/2009 Islas: "Silence and its Accomplices, Leonardo Calvo Cárdenas. Cuban Color: Untrustworthy Discourse, Juan Antonio Madrazo. Why are the Police Racist? Manuel Cuesta Morúa. Black is the Color of a Judge’s Robe, Camilo Loret de Mola. The Race Issue in Cuba: A Perspective, Cubabarómetro. An Epic Tragedy, José Hugo Fernández. Internalized Racism, Lourdes Chacón Núñez. Nappy Hair Searches for its Identity, Mara Michelle."

La "raza" y los silencios de la cubanidad  1/7/2009 Encuentro: Alejandro de la Fuente

CUBA: Racism - "Taboo, Complicated and Thorny" Issue  1/7/2009 IPS: "The persistence of racism in Cuba is disturbing to some of the island's thinkers, who are calling for a debate on the problem in this country, where equal rights have not guaranteed equal opportunities for all social groups. The first documentary on racial discrimination in this Caribbean island nation was filmed here in 2008, incorporating opinions from well-known artists and intellectuals that go to the heart of the controversy. "Raza" (Race), by young filmmaker Eric Corvalán, could serve as a starting-point to launch the long-delayed debate. "So far, racism has only been talked about in academia, among intellectuals. I think there should be an open, public discussion, even in parliament," the 36-year-old Corvalán told IPS."

It’s Time to Address Racism in Cuba  1/7/2009 IPS 

SOCIEDAD-CUBA: El silencio negro  1/7/2009 IPS: "La persistencia del racismo en Cuba inquieta a sectores de la intelectualidad, que piden abrir un debate sobre un problema presente en la vida cotidiana del país, donde la igualdad de derechos no ha garantizado la paridad de oportunidades para todos los grupos sociales. Este año se filmó por primera vez en esta isla caribeña un documental sobre la discriminación racial, con criterios de reconocidos artistas e intelectuales que apuntan a las zonas más polémicas del tema. "Raza", dirigido por el joven realizador Eric Corvalán, podría ser un nuevo punto de partida para iniciar la postergada discusión. "Hasta ahora se había hablado sobre el racismo desde la academia, los intelectuales, yo creo que debiera abrirse una discusión pública, incluso en el parlamento", dijo a IPS Corvalán, de 36 años."

Negros Cubanos con Acento  1/5/2009 Blog: Blog from Cuba

L'élection de M. Obama ravive le débat racial à La Havane  1/2/2009 Le Monde: "Alors que les Etats-Unis ont élu un Noir à la présidence, quarante ans après l'assassinat de Martin Luther King, qu'a fait Cuba en cinquante ans de révolution ?" demande M. Cuesta Morua. "Les Noirs américains sont une minorité, alors qu'à Cuba nous sommes majoritaires", ajoute-t-il. Les Caraïbes et le Brésil ont une population largement marquée par l'esclavage africain. Lors du recensement de 2002, 11 % des Cubains se sont déclarés noirs. Selon l'université de Miami, ils seraient plutôt 62 %."

Why are the Police Racist? By Manuel Cuesta Morúa  1/1/2009 Islas 

Carlos Moore letter to Raúl Castro  12/31/2008 Miami Herald 

Race-based clubs see revival in Cuba  12/29/2008 Miami Herald 

James Early: Carlos Moore's Outcast Vision and Dangerous Deceit  12/28/2008 CubaNews: "As I've previously mencioned, Moore and others are part of a recent trend to claim that Obama's election is some kind of threat to Cuba because Obama is Black and because, supposedly, this means that Cuban government can no longer say that the United States is racist. As I've mentioned more than once before, Cuba DOES continue to have racial problems, but they are both nothing compared to the racial problem which are widespread in the United States. Their origins and nature are quite different and it's extraordinarly disingenuous to try to conflate them as the group of people such as Carlos Moore, the Miami Herald, and others, all of whom have a long history of hostility toward the revolutionary government in Cuba, have been trying to do."

El renacer de las "sociedades de color"  12/28/2008 Nuevo Herald 

Cuba: persistencia de la problemática racial  12/22/2008 El Tiempo, Colombia: "En las instituciones formadoras de profesionales es posible reconocer el tratamiento del tema en trabajos de cursos, tesis de grados y estudios de posgrados. Ha sido precisamente la amplitud temática de la cuestión racial la que ha propiciado que sea encarada desde diferentes áreas de conocimientos, como la psicología y la historia, la sociología y la antropología. La intelectualidad cubana también ha realizado acercamientos reiterados que aportan al debate de este tema, entre los que se destaca el último congreso de la Unión de Escritores y Artistas de Cuba (UNEAC), celebrado en abril de este año. Las revistas 'Temas', 'Caminos', 'La Gaceta de Cuba', entre otras, han dedicado números enteros a tratar la racialidad en relación con sus temáticas centrales: las ciencias sociales, la religión, el arte y la literatura. Otras, muestran un trabajo consolidado en la promoción y divulgación de estudios, investigaciones y ensayos de intelectuales extranjeros y cubanos, mientras en Internet es posible hallar publicaciones como 'Cubaliteraria' o 'La Jiribilla', que abordan esta problemática de manera recurrente. El proyecto Color Cubano, de la UNEAC, ha hecho múltiples actividades cuya salida fundamental ha estado en una comunidad centrohabanera muy humilde, La California (un "solar") cuyas características (el hacinamiento, la marginación, la escasez de recursos, entre otras) podrían generar procesos de exclusión social determinados por la complejidad de las relaciones sociales y económicas que en ella se suscitan. Color Cubano ha coordinado junto a la Sociedad Cubana de Psicología talleres vivenciales destinados a la población abierta, cuyo punto de reflexión principal ha sido el complejo entramado de relaciones raciales que se suscitan en Cuba. Dicha propuesta ha encontrado una singular acogida dada su novedad metodológica."

Curso de postgrado: Legados del Pensamiento Afro–Americano de la primera mitad del siglo XX  12/22/2008 NegraCubana: FECHA DEL CURSO: del 19 al 23 de enero de 2009 LUGAR: ICIC Juan Marinello DESTINATARIOS: Graduad@s de especialidades afines con las ciencias sociales y humanas TIEMPO DE DURACIÓN: 96 horas a tiempo completo. FECHA DE MATRÍCULA: hasta el 5 de enero de 2009 En el presente curso será analizada la operatividad del Pensamiento Afro–Americano en el contexto histórico de América y el resto del Mundo. Este tipo de pensamiento es promovido generalmente en Sociedades Post–Coloniales y Post–Esclavistas que tienen rasgos comunes y diferentes a la vez. Estados Unidos, Cuba y Brasil son las naciones modélicas para analizar este pensamiento tildado de subalterno. Una de las razones fundamentales es, precisamente, las experiencias de esclavitud vividas en dichos países que tenían varios matices caracterizadores. Y, sobre todo, se diferencian en lo referente a la manera en que tal sistema de explotación fue abolido en cada país durante la segunda mitad del siglo XIX.

Negra cubana tenía que ser  12/22/2008 NegraCubana: "NEGRACUBANA, hija de esta tierra, de estas tradiciones y de la insularidad. También de mi bisabuelo chino y mi abuela africana. Soy mujer, mestiza, negra, caribeña... soy el producto de otros seres que me habitan y definen."

'Premio Tolerancia Plus 2008' para la actriz Elvira 'Tita' Cervera  12/21/2008 Encuentro: "Reconoció, asimismo, el modo en que Elvira Cervera ha conducido el debate, "evitando la politización de la lucha por la igualdad racial, sin sucumbir a las tentaciones y el manejo estrechamente político de este tema". Tita Cervera nació en Sagua la Grande, el 4 de enero de 1923. Es doctora en Pedagogía, profesora de Arte Dramático y actriz de larga trayectoria en cine, radio y televisión. Actuó en las películas Tres veces dos (2004), Santa Camila de La Habana Vieja (2002), Miel para Oshún (2001), Raíces de mi corazón (2001), Un Paraíso bajo las estrellas (2000) Operación Fangio (1999), En tres y dos (1985) y Cumbite (1964)."

Race-based clubs see revival in Cuba  12/20/2008 Miami Herald: "Known in Spanish as sociedades de color, these and similar clubs fell victim to Fidel Castro's drive, shortly after he seized power, to eliminate any aspect of Cuban society that emphasized racial exclusivity. But their spirit and mission have been enjoying a renaissance over the past decade. And the same revolutionary government that once opposed them now seems to welcome their comeback. In prerevolutionary Cuba, where blacks and poor, uneducated whites were denied access to good jobs and ritzy outings, the clubs served as centers to socialize and promote black racial progress. Many had libraries and offered night classes and sports instruction. Above all, the sociedades sought to dispel any negative stereotypes of blacks."

Why Cuba's white leaders feel threatened by Obama  12/18/2008 Carlos Moore 

Afro Cubans and Race  12/15/2008 Democracy Now: published 4/2000

‘Obama Effect’ Highlights Racism in Cuba  12/15/2008 New America Media: "Cuban authorities offered statistical analysis to bolster their view, which revealed the lengths to which Havana was prepared to deceive others even as it deceived itself. Of Cuba’s population of 11.2 million people in 2002, officials declared, 65 percent were white, 10 percent were black, and 25 percent were mulatto. This racial breakdown matched exactly the breakdown of members of Cuba’s parliament: 65 percent white and 35 percent people of color. The implication was as obvious as it was ridiculous: Cuba had achieved “perfect” racial representation between the people and their representatives. Europeans scoffed at such claims. In fact, most independent census reports of the Cuban nation puts the number of “whites” at anywhere from 20 to 35 percent; everyone else is black or mulatto."

Cuba: estadísticas y color de la piel - Esteban Morales  12/13/2008 Jiribilla 

El 'apoliticismo' de los negros cubanos por Enrique Patterson  12/12/2008 Analitica: "La posición de Sarduy --que por extraña coincidencia aparece en Miami en el momento de la presentación del libro del Dr. Moore-- pareciera congruente con los rumores que, según fuentes del movimiento negro interno en Cuba, lo relacionan con la destrucción de Walterio Carbonell."

Castro atiza un debate inexistente: la raza de Obama  12/10/2008 Encuentro 

Exponen acervo documental del Partido Independiente de Color  12/1/2008 A C N: "La muestra "Fuentes y Memoria. Partido Independiente de Color", valioso acervo documental que testimonia la historia de esa organización cubana, fue inaugurada hoy en la Biblioteca Nacional José Martí (BNJM), de esta capital. Presidieron la apertura de la exposición, Eduardo Torres Cuevas, director de la BNJM; Fernando Rojas Gutiérrez, viceministro de Cultura, y Fernando Martínez Heredia, presidente de la comisión creada en Cuba para celebrar este año el centenario del Partido Independiente de Color (PIC). El conjunto bibliográfico, perteneciente al Archivo Nacional de la República y a la Red Nacional de Archivos Históricos, ilustra varias de las etapas del Partido, como su fundación, vida legal, protesta armada y masacre."

Why Castro regime fears Obama administration  12/1/2008 Miami Herald: "...reports from inside Cuba have reinforced my suspicion that, contrary to the sentiments of the streets, the Cuban regime is experiencing great discomfort with the turn of events in the United States. Anthropologist Maria Ileana Faguagua Iglesias reports a racist outburst toward Obama by a Communist Party official and former military officer: ''He will be the worst ever American president,'' said this apparatchik, ``because he is a Negro, and they are worse than the whites!'' What is eating away at Cuba's leaders? Very little makes sense without knowledge of Cuba's demographic metamorphosis from a white to a black majority in the space of half a century. The black population was 35-45 percent of the total Cuban population when Castro triumphed 50 years ago. Four years later, the panicky flight of some 15-20 percent of the island's white population, fearing the new regime's sweeping socialist reforms, left Castro at the head of a country with a de facto black majority. For the next five decades, the darkening shade of Cubans would increase steadily and create unanticipated problems for the social reformers who launched the Revolution."

Racismo, totalitarismo y democracia  11/15/2008 Instituto de Estudios Cubanos: Enrique Patterson

Barack Obama y la última barrera  11/6/2008 Miami Herald: by Enrique Patterson

A barrier for Cuba's blacks  11/5/2008 Miami Herald: published 6/07

Disparos sin escopeta - Entrevista con Esteban Morales  10/29/2008 Alma Mater 

Devotos Yorubas reaccionan a inauguración de templo ruso  10/22/2008 Blog al Dia: "Cabe preguntarse finalmente ¿por qué no se han dado pasos para la construcción de un Templo Yoruba en Cuba, que sea el centro de peregrinación y devoción de millones de practicantes de esa religión en Cuba? Llama la atención de que en esta dirección no se adelantan proyectos que reflejen públicamente la rica y extensa diversidad de la sociedad cubana. Los practicantes de estas religiones de origen africano necesitan, y deben trabajar, por lograr este nivel de reconocimiento público."

Etnia, origen y cultura. El que no tiene de Congo…  10/17/2008 Alma Mater: «Y, ¿qué tengo que decirle a la Universidad como artículo primero, como función esencial de su vida en esta Cuba nueva? […] Que se pinte de negro, que se pinte de mulato, no solo entre los alumnos, sino también entre los profesores...» Así exhortó el Comandante Ernesto Che Guevara a las nuevas generaciones, en el discurso que pronunció en la Universidad Central Marta Abreu de Las Villas, al ser nombrado Doctor Honoris Causa en Pedagogía, el 28 de diciembre de 1959."

Reflections on the Race Problem in Cuba  9/1/2008 Islas: Cuba: Intolerance versus Nation - Economics: A Crossroads and Challenge for Cuba’s African Descendents- An Anonymous Social Fabric: Exclusion, Difference, and Integration - The United States: Not as Racist as Cuba? Agujero - Negro [Black Hole] - The Shackles of Gratitude - Recurring Racism - Blacks in Cuba

El Partido Independiente de Color  8/5/2008 Granma: by Silvio Castro

"Brote de Intoxicación Alimentaria en Fiesta de Adolescente”./ “El racismo, amenaza subyacente”./ Por el Dr. Darsi Ferrer. Director del Centro de Salud y Derechos Humanos“  8/2/2008 Cuba Democracia y Vida: scroll down for Dr. Darsi Ferrer's article on racism, which includes results of surveys - "A cien años de la fundación de la Agrupación Independiente de Color, que nació por la inconformidad de algunos veteranos de la guerra de Independencia ante la discriminación a la que estaban sometidos los negros y mestizos, el racismo sigue siendo un grave problema no resuelto, que tiene consecuencias lamentables para gran parte de la población. Los cubanos viven bajo un régimen de apartheid que excluye a todos por igual. Los nacionales no tienen derecho a la participación plena de la vida en el país. Tal es el caso de las regulaciones que les niegan el acceso a determinadas instalaciones y servicios disponibles solo para extranjeros, o las prohibiciones que impiden la creación de empresas privadas, las restricciones a las libertades de opinión, movimiento y asociación, entre otras."

El significado de un Centenario  8/2/2008 Jiribilla:  por Fernando Martínez Heredia - "En la lucha contra el racismo existen profundas diferencias entre la posición oficial de la Revolución y las ideas que manejamos nosotros, por una parte, y lo que sucede en la práctica social, por la otra. Tiene gran importancia la dimensión histórica del racismo, como uno de los elementos que participó en la construcción de Cuba como realidad específica, es decir, en el nacimiento y primeros desarrollos de la cultura nacional, y el proceso histórico de las transformaciones, las derrotas y las permanencias del racismo en la cultura cubana hasta hoy. En la actualidad es vital que no nos conformemos con formar parte de una elite consumidora de las mejores ideas, satisfecha con el nivel “superior” que posee, sino que actuemos como institución en la lucha contra el racismo, con la mayor energía y eficacia posibles. ¿Por qué los debates del VI Congreso de la UNEAC, y los innumerables eventos, divulgaciones y conocimientos adquiridos sobre este tema en los últimos años no se generalizan, y no llegan a convertirse en sentido común? ¿Por qué no resulta posible llevarlos a la escala de la sociedad? ¿Por qué no pueden llegar a ser la guía de las instituciones y de las prácticas de nuestro estado para escolarizar e instruir a la población, para divulgar, para entretener educando? Cansa repetir que nuestro inmenso sistema educacional no es un lugar de formación antirracista, y nuestro sistema de medios de comunicación, totalmente estatal, tampoco lo es."

The Puerto Rican Experience - The Puzzle of Race and Politics  6/4/2008 Counterpunch: [closely parallels Cuba] - "Governor Rossello himself made the decision to use the entire U.S. census survey instrument without any modification in tune with the social, economic and political reality of Puerto Rico. The outcome, in an island with a strong African and Taino cultural and phenotypical influence, resulted in 80.5% of the population self-identifying as white. Therefore, Puerto Rico is “whiter” than the United States. The bureaucratic decision of former Governor Rossello basically enabled a “whitening” process that was accelerated by Puerto Rico’s colonial status. Since the Spanish-American War, Puerto Rico, while it has not experienced a dramatically large black emigration (or received white immigrants to the island in large numbers) Puerto Rico’s “white” population has grown from 48.5% (1802) to 80.5% in 2000."

Hacia el centenario de la fundación del partido independiente de Color: Aproximación crítica a tres nuevas contribuciones  6/1/2008 Caribbean Studies: de Tomás Fernández Robaina - " Silvio Castro Fernández. 2002. La masacre de los Independientes de Color en 1912. La Habana: Editorial de Ciencias Sociales - María de los Ángeles Meriño Fuentes. 2006. Una vuelta necesaria a mayo de 1912: El alzamiento de los Independientes de Color. La Habana: Editorial de Ciencias Sociales (Pinos Nuevos). - Ricardo Rey Riquenes Herrera. 2007. Guantánamo en el vórtice de los Independientes de Color. Guantánamo: Editorial El Mar y la Montaña."

It's All About Vagueness - Puerto Rico, Obama and the Politics of Race  5/29/2008 Counterpunch: "Duany writes that Puerto Ricans have developed an elaborate racist vocabulary to refer to racially stereotyped characteristics. Kinky hair, for example, is referred to as “bad” (“pelo malo”). Meanwhile racial prejudice is apparent in folk humor, beauty contests, media portrayals, and political leadership. “In all these areas,” Duany says, “whites are usually depicted as more intelligent, attractive, refined, and capable than are blacks.” All of which is not to say that racism in Puerto Rico works in the same way as the United States. However, the island is hardly a “racial democracy” as some of the island’s boosters have claimed. Indeed, many Puerto Ricans deny their cultural heritage and physical characteristics and buy into an ideology of “whitening” through intermarriage with light skinned groups. Interestingly, a whopping 81% of Puerto Ricans called themselves “white” on the 2000 U.S. census."

Otra vez raza y racismo  5/26/2008 Caminos: "Con este tema, la revista Caminos del Centro Memorial Dr. Martin Luther King —recientemente presentada en la sede de esta institución, ubicada en la localidad capitalina de Pogolotti, en la capital habanera—, da continuidad no sólo a una edición anterior sobre el mismo tópico, aparecida en 2002, sino que ahora acoge nuevos acercamientos y reflexiones sobre un asunto afincado en los orígenes de la nación cubana . Ha animado también la aparición de este número de Caminos, el hecho de la creación de la Comisión para Celebrar el Centenario del Partido Independiente de Color (PIC), a la labor de cuyo presidente, Fernando Martínez Heredia, y de su secretaria, Leyda Oquendo, debe buena parte de la organización del dossier. Si bien la publicación de esta revista viene a llenar ciertos vacíos sobre raza y racismo en Cuba, el propósito de sus editores es contribuir a un debate necesario, a la vez, que dar fe -desde distintas miradas y expresiones de la sociedad cubana- de cómo se ve, se piensa y se siente el tema de la raza entre nosotros."

Raza y religión: entre República, brujería y civilización  5/26/2008 Cuba Literaria: publicado en 2005

Caminos magazine devotes its last issue to the ever controversial race question in Cuba  5/26/2008 Cuba Now: "Cuba’s Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Center has published yet another issue of Caminos magazine, perhaps the only publication in the country devoted to socio theological thinking, which has become an unavoidable point of reference to understand different edges of Cuban social thinking."

Obama says he would meet with Cuba's leaders  5/23/2008 LA Times: "Sen. Barack Obama called today for "direct diplomacy, with friend and foe alike," saying he would meet with Cuba's Communist leaders in hopes of advancing democracy on the island. In a luncheon speech to the most powerful Cuban exile group in the country, the Illinois Democrat vying for his party's presidential nomination also said he would immediately allow unlimited family travel and remittances. "It's time for more than tough talk that never yields results. It's time for a new strategy. There are no better ambassadors for freedom than Cuban Americans," he said, noting the prospects for influencing Cuba's political course by engagement and example. The annual Cuban Independence Day banquet of the Cuban American National Foundation cheered Obama's avowed commitment to fostering democracy in Cuba. But the audience showed its wariness of his talk of meeting with Cuban leaders. Mere handfuls applauded that statement from among the crowd of at least 500. Obama contrasted his plan to break nearly half a century of deadlock in U.S.-Cuba relations with the stated intentions of Republican rival Sen. John McCain. He said the Arizona senator "joined the parade of politicians who make the same empty promises year after year, decade after decade" when he promised Tuesday to maintain the status quo of refusing any dialogue with the Cuban leadership."

Los colores de la nación  5/17/2008 Jiribilla: "Con el tema "Raza y racismo", La Jiribilla, revista de cultura cubana, propone a sus lectores un acercamiento plural, polémico y multisemántico a una problemática poco tratada en nuestros medios de comunicación. Con toda intención se unen, esta vez, las revistas Caminos y La Jiribilla para dar a conocer una parte imprescindible de nuestra memoria histórica e identidad cultural, al tiempo que la inclusión de variados materiales —que van desde artículos hasta fotos, letras de canciones y documentos inéditos— abre nuevas oportunidades para contribuir desde el pensamiento y la cultura a la lucha contra las manifestaciones de racismo aún presentes en la Cuba actual."

Raza y racismo  5/17/2008 Jiribilla: [issue devoted to race and racism] - "Con toda intención se unen, esta vez, las revistas Caminos y La Jiribilla para dar a conocer una parte imprescindible de nuestra memoria histórica e identidad cultural, al tiempo que la inclusión de variados materiales —que van desde artículos hasta fotos, letras de canciones y documentos inéditos— abre nuevas oportunidades para contribuir desde el pensamiento y la cultura a la lucha contra las manifestaciones de racismo aún presentes en la Cuba actual."

Raza y racismo - Los colores de la nación  5/17/2008 Jiribilla: "Con el tema "Raza y racismo", La Jiribilla, revista de cultura cubana, propone a sus lectores un acercamiento plural, polémico y multisemántico a una problemática poco tratada en nuestros medios de comunicación. Con toda intención se unen, esta vez, las revistas Caminos y La Jiribilla para dar a conocer una parte imprescindible de nuestra memoria histórica e identidad cultural, al tiempo que la inclusión de variados materiales —que van desde artículos hasta fotos, letras de canciones y documentos inéditos— abre nuevas oportunidades para contribuir desde el pensamiento y la cultura a la lucha contra las manifestaciones de racismo aún presentes en la Cuba actual. Ha animado también la aparición de este dossier, el hecho de la creación de la Comisión para Celebrar el Centenario del Partido Independiente de Color (PIC)."

¿Guerrita de razas o masacre racial?  5/17/2008 La Jiribilla: foto de Evaristo Estenoz, "director de Previsión, el órgano de prensa del Partido Independiente de Color," y de Pedro Yvonet, "uno de los líderes del Partido Independiente de Color"

Cómo surgió la cultura nacional (capítulo 1)  5/17/2008 La Jiribilla: de Walterio Carbonell, 1961

Documentos del Partido Independiente de Color  5/17/2008 La Jiribilla 

José Martí: apuntes sobre su antirracismo militante  5/17/2008 La Jiribilla: por Leyda Oquendo

Raza y Racismo  5/17/2008 La Jiribilla: edition devoted to "Race and Racism"

Reporte de Cubanacam Press al 10 de Abril de 2008 “DETENIDO PONENTE DE TALLER CIENTÍFICO”  5/3/2008 Cubanacan: "Según José Vélez Hernández presidente del Movimiento de Integración Racial (MIR), el Taller Académico “Las Distintas Formas de Intolerancias en Cuba”, es una actividad programada para conmemorar el 40 aniversario del asesinato del Dr. Martin Luther King. Madrazo Luna en su condición de anfitrión y expositor principal, resultó conducido, en primera instancia, a la unidad de la Policía Nacional Revolucionaria (PNR) localizada en calle Zapata y C, de El Vedado y posteriormente trasladado para la sede policial del municipio Marianao. Refirió la fuente que Madrazo Luna, antes de ser liberado, fue interrogado y amenazado por un mayor del Departamento de Enfrentamiento a la Actividad Subversiva Enemiga o # 21, del Ministerio del Interior, quien dijo nombrarse Mario. Este oficial le expresó que los únicos autorizados a hablar de racismo, en Cuba, eran los revolucionarios."

PA’RRIBA LOS PELOS - Sobre el discurso racial en el rap cubano  5/1/2008 Esquife: [one of few sites in Cuba to reference AfroCubaWeb, though we hear that many people access us] - "El rap, como género musical que tiene el lenguaje como vehículo de expresión de sus ideas y que se alimenta de la realidad circundante, denuncia desde su postura social esos remanentes del racismo que otrora imperara en Cuba. Dentro del universo creativo del rap la racialidad tiene un peso importante, en tanto se erige como elemento identitario de los raperos. En sus textos se evidencia, en primer lugar, un intento por validar los derechos del negro, su lugar en la sociedad y su función en la construcción de la identidad del cubano. Las composiciones de rap están plagadas de elementos que identifican al negro y contribuyen a mantener su estereotipo. Entre ellos figuran la nariz ñata, el pelo ensortijado, los labios gruesos y la música (específicamente, la conga y la rumba). Se hace una remembranza de los tiempos de la esclavitud a partir de la alusión al palenque, el mayoral, el cimarrón o el látigo y, a menudo, se trabaja el espacio de la loma o el monte como el lugar donde el sujeto encuentra protección y tiene su hábitat natural, alejado de la sociedad en que se siente y es discriminado."

Gandhi, King, and Marti: Brothers in Thought - Conference at Florida International University  4/28/2008 Free Cuba Foundation: "The FREE CUBA Foundation (FCF) at Florida International University invited all those persons interested in non-violence and the writings of Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr., and Jose Marti to attend the conference held at the FIU campus on the 60th anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi's assassination on January 30, 2008 and now we are preparing a final conference on April 3, 2008 on the eve of the 40th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.'s assassination."

Levitar en Santa Clara  4/18/2018 Cuba Encuentro: "Torquemada (Armando Quesada) me citó a una oficina oscura con una lamparita dirigida a mi rostro —escribiría Tomás [Gonzalez]—. Me dijo que mi Hamlet era negrista porque los actores que había seleccionado eran negros. Y esta vez me alejaron del teatro, me pusieron a cantar por cabaretuchos y granjas de todo el país. Al teatro volví cuando el 'hipo' de una resaca sacó a Luis Pavón del Palacio del Segundo Cabo".

A 'Splendid' War’s Shameful Side - The finale of the Spanish-American war, rooted in misunderstanding and racism, still reverberates.  3/31/2008 Newsweek: "Thanks to Cuban insurgents, the Americans landed unopposed in Cuba and Spanish relief columns were pinned down and kept from the fight. But the Americans gave the Cubans little credit for the ultimate victory against the Spaniards. Incredibly, the American commanders barred the rebel army from attending the Spanish surrender ceremony in Santiago. Ostensibly the reason was to safeguard against reprisals, but the greater motivation, revealed by letters and diaries of the time, appears to have been the disdain with which the Americans regarded the Cubans as a mongrel army. The Spaniards (an all-white force) wanted to preserve their honor by surrendering to the Americans in Santiago. In the end most of the Spanish soldiers scattered elsewhere around Cuba, where there were no American forces, surrendered to the Cuban rebels without suffering recrimination. The vanquished Spanish soldiers were allowed to keep their arms and embark for Spain. But the Americans disbanded and disarmed the victorious Cuban army. America refused to end its occupation of Cuba until 1902, not until the American commanders were satisfied that the Cubans were sufficiently "civilized" for self-rule. (But the republic's constitution allowed Washington to send in American troops at any time.) Black officers and leaders were purged as uneducated and uncultured. Slavery had been abolished only in 1886, and blacks had not attained the social standing of whites, despite the egalitarian philosophy of rebel heroes like José Martí, who preached that there was no such thing as race, only humanity. Eager to appease the Americans (and get them out of the country), many Cubans became embarrassed and confused and lost sight of their own progressive principles. Before long, the Cuban leaders were guilty of their own racial prejudice, violently suppressing a political party formed by discarded and disenfranchised black veterans in 1908."

Afro-Cubans keep close watch on island politics  3/23/2008 LA WAVE: WAVE is a Black paper in Southern California with a circulation of 9.5 million - "On the face of it, Alberto Nelson Jones shouldn’t be one of Fidel Castro biggest fans."

Viejo periodismo  3/16/2008 Juventud Rebelde: "Fue así que se enteró del contenido de un informe del jefe de la Secreta al ministro de Gobernación en el que daba cuenta de que el millonario periodista Antonio San Miguel, el norteamericano Frank Steinhart, propietario de la empresa de los tranvías habaneros, y Juan Gualberto Gómez estaban detrás de la insurrección de los Independientes de Color, capitaneada por Estenoz e Ivonet, y habían financiado el alzamiento."

Afro Cubans and Race  3/8/2008 Democracy Now: published 4/00 - "Democracy Now! producer Maria Carrion recently spent time in Cuba and recorded a series of conversation by Afro-Cubans on race and racism."

Venezuelan activist lectures on social issues  2/29/2008 Daily Collegian: ""I'm not Chavista, I'm not Bolivarian, I'm a revolutionary," Garcia said. According to Garcia, this social movement evolves around racial and economic inequality in Venezuela. "The problem of racism [in Venezuela] is that is under the veil of racial mixture," Garcia said. Education, according to Garcia, is the solution to the country's problems. That is why the Afro-Venezuelan movement has made it a priority to implement more African elements in the school curriculum. "We went to the ministry of education to demand our participation," Garcia said. These demands were discussed with Cuban instructors that came to Venezuela to implement a new school agenda. Garcia admitted that the Cuban instructors had strategies, methods and objectives that should be included in the Venezuelan school system. However, when the question about the content that should be taught came up, disagreements arose. "The Cubans thought the issue of racism should not be included," Garcia said. After a month and a half of deliberations, Garcia said that they had won their petition. Garcia expressed that the Afro-Venezuelan contributions needs to be included because, "[Professors] are the first reproducers of racism," according to Garcia. According to Garcia, one of the mistakes made during the Cuban revolution was ignoring of the racism issue."

Desafíos de la problemática racial en Cuba  2/13/2008 Jiribilla: "La aparición del libro Desafíos de la problemática racial en Cuba (Fundación Fernando Ortiz, 2007), del economista y politólogo, Esteban Morales Domínguez, constituye de por sí un hecho trascendente dentro del campo de las Ciencias Sociales cubanas de hoy. El retraso de un estudio que, además de la perspectiva histórica, incluyera un análisis de la cuestión de la raza en la Cuba revolucionaria, ha postergado un debate que se ha realizado mayormente fuera de la Isla o hacia el interior de nuestra sociedad civil. Esta aproximación científica contribuye a legitimar la importancia de asumir el tema racial dentro de las agendas investigativas institucionales y dentro del diseño y puesta en práctica de las políticas sociales y culturales en el país."

New book focuses on racial issues in Cuba - Its author, Esteban Morales, scrutinizes the topic of race relations in the island from colonial times to present day.  2/4/2008 Cuba Now: "Economist, political scientist and essayist Esteban Morales Domínguez has repeatedly stated, in several articles and interviews, that lack of cultural knowledge and ignorance, among other factors, have played an important role in helping silencing and omitting racial issues in Cuba, rendering the topic unworthy of public debate. The publication of his book, Challenges posed by racial issues in Cuba, recently launched at Fernando Ortiz Foundation in downtown Havana, has opened one more space to fight back apathy and indifference, thus promoting awareness among those who still consider that the Negro issue does not call for assessments or scrutiny."

Resumen de actividades dentro de Cuba en conmemoración del Día Internacional de los Derechos Humanos  12/10/2007 Directorio Democrático Cubano: "La Habana. 10 de diciembre de 2007. Un grupo de activistas de derechos humanos, encabezados por el Dr. Darsi Ferrer, efectuaron una marcha pacífica a las 11 a.m. en conmemoración del Día de los Derechos Humanos en el parque situado en Calzada, entre D y E, en el Vedado frente la oficina regional de la UNESCO para América Latina y el Caribe. (Fuente: Dr. Darsi Ferrer, Centro de Salud y Derechos Humanos."

Antonio Maceo: The Bronze Titan  12/10/2007 Granma: by Fidel Castro

BUCL.org Joins Dr. Darsi Ferrer to Protest Apartheid-Like Policies in Cuba.  12/7/2007 Business Wire: "In Cuba, apartheid is not racial, but political," says Henry Gomez of BUCL. "The political system keeps foreigners and Cubans separate. For instance, many public accommodations that are open to tourists and high-level Communist bureaucrats are off limits to everyday Cubans." ...Regarding Cuba's current system, Dr. Ferrer states, "The current constitution supposedly recognizes the rights and freedoms of the Cuban people. The penal code characterizes apartheid as a felony. In practice, both are systematically violated by the established public policy." Dr. Ferrer continued, "People around the world were horrified with the ghettos of South Africa. It is time to condemn the apartheid suffered by the Cuban people."

BUCL.org Joins Dr. Darsi Ferrer to Protest Apartheid-Like Policies in Cuba.  12/7/2007 Business Wire: "Dr. Darsi Ferrer is the Director of the Juan Bruno Zayas Center for Health and Human Rights in Havana, Cuba, whose mission is to ensure the policies of international agencies that guarantee health-related rights of all persons are recognized and adhered to in Cuba. Bloggers United for Cuban Liberty is a confederation of blogs and websites that pool resources and ideas for use in campaigns to raise awareness of the Cuban reality."

Darsi Ferrer from Cuba y los Elefantes  12/7/2007 You Tube 

Attacking Tonyaa Weathersbee  12/2/2007 AfroCubaWeb: "Tonyaa Weathersbee is a columnist for the Florida Times Union out of Jacksonville. A member of the prestigious Trotter Group of African American columnists in the US, she has maintained an interest in Cuba and issues of race & identity there. In September, 2007, Tonyaa Weathersbee wrote an article about a recent trip she took to Cuba, One Race, Two Countries. A group of 4 Cuban Americans attacked her for this article in a letter to the editor, Cuba is no paradise for blacks, 11/07, citing a few myths that are common among Cuban Americans. AfroCubaWeb columnist Alberto Jones comments on this attack in A Failed Revisionist attempt To Mask Cuba’s Tragic History, 11/07."

Miami Protesters Say: Jail Killer Cops!”  12/1/2007 Socialist Action: "Rage over the deaths of four unarmed Black men by Miami cops over a 19-day period has sparked angry protests against police brutality. The rash of deaths began on Oct. 25 when a young Haitian man, Gracia "BG" Beaugris, was shot three times while walking home with his father's laundry. While Miami officials promise an investigation, the state attorney's office has not convicted a single cop involved in the death of an African American in 20 years, despite many such cases. No indictments in the recent deaths have been filed."

Cuba is no paradise for blacks  11/29/2007 Florida Times Union 

Racismo, totalitarismo y democracia  11/9/2007 Encuentro: de Enrique Patterson - "Recientemente, La Jiribilla, publicación cultural online del régimen, publicó el artículo "El tema racial y la subversión", firmado por el Dr. Esteban Morales. Más allá de las omisiones, mentiras y descalificaciones (entre ellas, la demonización de quien escribe), resulta interesante el intento de re-abordar ¡por fin! el tema racial, aunque sea desde los paradigmas de las ya desgastadas ideología y práctica "revolucionarias". El reconocimiento, leve y tangencial, de los descalabros del régimen a la hora de lidiar con la tradición racista y discriminatoria indica la dificultad del poder para seguir negando la existencia de semejante flagelo en el seno del llamado régimen "socialista"."

Seeing the people, not Cold War politics  11/5/2007 Florida Times-Union: by Tonyaa Weathersbee, a member of the Trotter Group, an association of Black US columnists. This article discusses Alberto Jones, whose columns appear on AfroCubaWeb.

Acerca del negro en Cuba: logros y quimeras  10/24/2007 LASA: PDF, published in 2000.

The Open Wound: The Scourge of Racism in Cuba from Colonialism to Communism (Perfect Paperback), Arawak publications; 1st edition (April 18, 2007), 248p by Iván César Martínez  10/17/2007 AfroCubaWeb: "The chapters of The Open Wound follow a historical sequence tracing the devastating effects produced by this ideological political system on the psyche, the habits, the cultural and aesthetic values, the patriotic and revolutionary behaviors and the material life of the Cuban people. The work aims to demonstrate how for five centuries Cuba s darker-skinned population have not achieved real freedom, and to explain why the different moments in this long period -- colonialism and slavery; abolitionist period with colonial rule; republican-subordinated independent era; anti-democratic dependent regimes; and the period of communism or totalitarian socialism -- have not been able to solve the race-color problem so entrenched in the Cuban elite ideology of White supremacy. The work is also intended to serve as a tool to eradicate this terrible scourge by demystifying the so-called color-blindness of Cuban society and showing clearly the existence of a hierarchical color-structure of power that has never changed and that keeps the majority of the population -- Cubans that have been sentenced for the crime of having been born with a darker skin color -- at the bottom of the society, permanently excluded and reined in."

Black Cubans are still faced with racism  10/15/2007 Dallas Morning News: published 9/98 - "What the two stories illustrate, say Cuban authorities, is that while Mr. Castro and his government greatly improved the lives of blacks by ending official discrimination, informal racism survives in this heavily black nation. Only now, they say, is the mostly white Cuban leadership coming to grips with that reality. A special commission is assessing the problem. "There is no official racism here anymore," said Mr. Adlum, a retired diplomat. "But there is still a culture of racism. The mistake was to think that just by having everyone integrated, racism would fade away.""

Tourism and the Negrificación of Cuban Identity  10/15/2007 Transforming Anthropology: published 10/06

Cultural Cimarronaje: Racial Politics in Cuban Art  10/9/2007 Upside Down World: Excerpted from the new book Cuba Represent!: Cuban Arts, State Power, and the Making of New Revolutionary Cultures, by Sujatha Fernandes

Entrevista con Eugène Godfried: Una llamada para el dialogo sobre la masacre de 1912  10/5/2007 AfroCubaWeb: con comentarios de Osvaldo Cárdenas, antiguo jefe del Seccion del Caribe del Departamento de las Americas del Comite Central.

Interview with Eugène Godfried: Call for dialog on the 1912 Massacre  10/5/2007 AfroCubaWeb: with comments by Osvaldo Cárdenas, former head of the Caribbean Section of the Department of the Americas of the Central Committee.

LOS RAPEROS: RAP, RACE, AND SOCIAL TRANSFORMATION IN CONTEMPORARY CUBA  10/5/2007 University of Texas: published in 2004 - "This dissertation explores the emergent movimiento de hip hop cubano (the Cuban hip hop movement) as a critical site to examine the interplay of race and social transformation in contemporary Cuba. Following Cuba’s post-1990 economic crisis know as the “special period,” the ethnographic investigation centers on the ways young Afro-Cubans are utilizing the expressive cultural space of rap music and broader hip hop “culture” to performatively fashion new kinds of transnationally engaged black identity and related race-based social critique. The author suggest that through such transnationally informed identity processes a new generation of Afro-Cuban youth are positioning themselves in strategic response to the shifting dynamics of race and class in a socialist Cuba increasingly shaped by the interpenetration of global capital and related free-market transformations. In a post-“utopian” Cuba characterized by economic dollarization, expanding tourism, rising social stratification, and – significantly – resurgent levels of racial inequality, the author’s analysis seeks to understand how these emergent subjectivities and the social critiques they invoke pose challenges to, as well as contribute to a current reconfiguring of nationally-bounded constructions of race and corresponding ideologies of national non-racialism. He additionally draws attention to the evolving negotiated relationship between Cuban hip hop as a new, potentially oppositional identity-based social phenomenon, and the Cuban state as it attempts to institutionalize hip hop within a prescriptive, socially homogenizing frame of revolutionary national culture. In turn, Cuban rap has come to occupy a unique site of racially-positioned critique within revolutionary Cuba, serving as a key actor in an evolving black public sphere predicated on the assertion of black political difference within a previously configured non-racial Cuban national imaginary. The author proposes that Cuban hip hop in this capacity represents a critical manifestation of, as well as an active social agent within the shifting transnational complexities of national racial formation in Cuba today."

Cuba: Raza y República  10/3/2007 Jiribilla 

Tourism reviving racism in Cuba  10/1/2007 Chicago Tribune: published 5/18/01, still topical!

Cuba, the Melting Pot  10/1/2007 Morning Star: "PEDRO-PEREZ Sarduy remembers the day in 1959 when Che Guevara came to the central square of his home town Santa Clara. "The square was packed," he relates. "We were all excited and avid to see and hear this hero of the revolution. At the front of the crowd were the white Cubans, behind them were the mixed race people and the blacks stood at the back. That's the way things were." "

Cuba’s Racial Democracy: What Now?  10/1/2007 New School: by Alejandro de la Fuente

Eugene Godfried Calls on Fidel Castro for Reflection and Action concerning the 1912 Massacre: YouTube Video  9/26/2007 AfroCubaWeb 

Guerra de Razas (Negros contra blancos en Cuba),  9/25/2007 AfroCubaWeb: published in 1912, this is a free PDF download - "Written during and right after the 1912 Massacre by reporters "embedded" with the Cuban Army, this piece of propaganda informs the public about the noble campaign against the "racist revolution."  The Epilog contains a list of those who partook of the Banquet celebrating the victory in Parque Central, la Habana, under the statue of Jose Marti, whose son, "Coronel Jose Martí y Zayas-Bazán," was one of the presiding Jefes."

Los Independientes de Color, Habana, 1950, de Serafin Portuondo Linares  9/25/2007 AfroCubaWeb: rare and classic text available as a free PDF download - "Linares was a member of the Communist Party and was roundly criticized by his party upon publication for not following a Marxist class analysis. Instead he analyzed the event as a racist slaughter, basing himself on primary sources. The Communist Party organ, Fundamentos, blamed the US and also the Independientes themselves whom it categorized as petty bourgeois and anarchists."

The Discourse on Racism in Anti-Castro Publications, 9/07  9/22/2007 AfroCubaWeb: "Here we track issues of race and identity in the anti-castro groups based primarily out of Miami."

Afro-Cuban Identity in Pre-Revolutionary Cuba: The Dynamic Ethnie  9/10/2007 College of William and Mary Monitor: published in 2001

El tema racial y la subversión anticubana  9/9/2007 Rebelion: "En esta tarea de manipular el tema racial en Cuba como objeto de subversión política, están vinculados individuos como Enrique Patterson, quien relaciona el tema con los asuntos de la gobernabilidad o del potencial político contestatario, que según este individuo está presente en la población no blanca en Cuba. Enrique Patterson fue profesor de Filosofía en el Dpto. de Marxismo Leninismo de la Universidad de La Habana. Abandonó el país en 1990 y reapareció poco después en el Congreso de LASA en Washington, haciéndose acompañar de dos funcionarios, al parecer, del Dpto. de Estado. No resultando difícil inferir quien pagaba sus gastos y con que propósitos lo habían llevado al Congreso. Ahora vive en Miami y se dedica a escribir sobre la problemática racial en Cuba, con una línea de pensamiento que lo vincula directamente a los propósitos del Gobierno Norteamericano. En similar tarea manipuladora se halla Ramón Colás, que lidera en Missisipi un Proyecto de Relaciones Raciales. O la Revista Islas, que hasta hace poco buscaba conexiones para lograr producciones sobre el tema racial desde dentro de la Isla."

El tema racial y la subversión anticubana  9/8/2007 Jiribilla: "Los negros de Cuba luchan todos los días en los espacios abiertos, que ya son muchos, sin dejarse engañar por aquellos, que lo primero que tendrían que hacer sería superar la republiqueta racista, modelada a imagen y semejanza de los años cincuenta en Cuba, que le han construido a los negros cubanos de Miami, la extrema derecha cubano-americana. Dejando prácticamente a la inmensa mayoría de los negros que allá viven, en el mismo lugar que ocuparon en la Cuba neorrepublicana, solo que casi 50 años después. Y ni siquiera hablar de que puedan los negros prosperar en cuanto al acceso al poder. El poder allá, es sólo para los blancos ricos, como lo fue en Cuba antes del triunfo de la revolución."

Cuba: Gender, Sexuality, and Women Rappers  9/4/2007 Upside Down World: Excerpted from the new book Cuba Represent!: Cuban Arts, State Power, and the Making of New Revolutionary Cultures, by Sujatha Fernandes - "When I first visited Cuba in 1998, women's presence in hip-hop was still negligible. At concerts I would come across male rappers with their gold medallions, Fubu gear, and mindless lyrics about women, cars, and guns, the latter two hardly a reality for most young Cuban men. Over the years, there have been important changes in gender politics within Cuba, particularly in rap music, and women within the genre feel empowered to speak of issues such as sexuality, feminism, as well as gender roles and stereotyping."

Red Against Black by Myles Kantor  8/20/2007 Front Page Magazine: "In addition to sharing heroic dissidence, Esteban Cardenas, Enrique Patterson, Jorge Luis Garcia Perez, and Oscar Elias Biscet are black Cubans. The latter commonality is significant given the recurrent myth that Fidel Castro has enhanced black Cubans’ quality of life. "[B]lacks are demonstrably better off under Castro than they were under the Batista dictatorship," Randall Robinson writes in Defending the Spirit. Economist Jude Wanniski similarly claims that "Fidel made life better for black Cubans." In addition to brutalizing these and other Afro-Cuban dissidents, Castro’s totalitarianism subjugates Afro-Cubans as a whole; there is no Afro-Cuban exemption from "illegal exit," "disrespect," "illicit association," and other repressive policies. Afro-Cubans are enslaved, muzzled, and terrorized no less than white Cubans. In fact, there is evidence that Afro-Cubans are more acutely repressed. Prohibitive emigration, for example, has applied with greater intensity to Afro-Cubans. Patterson notes, "I am certain that because of my race, I was the first member of the group [the Democratic Socialist Current] that the political police went after.""

Race in Cuba  8/17/2007 History of Cuba 

U.S. blind to true colors of Cuba's problems - by DeWayne Wickham  8/17/2007 USA Today: published 5/30/02, still highly relevant. Dwayne Wickham is dean of the Trotter Group, an association of Black columnists.

Professor West, What About Castro’s Leftwing Victims?  8/14/2007 Front Page: published 2/12/02 - "Patterson’s being a black Cuban also didn’t endear him to the regime; black dissidents refute Castro’s propaganda that the Cuban Revolution has benefited them. "I am certain that because of my race," Patterson notes, "I was the first member of the group [CSDC] that the political police went after.""

LOS RAPEROS: RAP, RACE, AND SOCIAL TRANSFORMATION IN CONTEMPORARY CUBA by Marc David Perry, B.A., M.A.  8/13/2007 University of Texas: published 12/2004, 335 pages. This is a PDF, 930kb.

Afro-Cubans in Cuban Society  8/13/2007 Wayne Smith: published 12/1999. Wayne Smith was head of the US Interest Section in Havana under President Carter.

Sociedad Abakuá es tan fuerte en Cuba como en África,dice investigador Norteamericano  8/13/2007 WDS 

`La Gaceta' Discusses Cultural Influence Of Blacks In Cuba  8/12/2007 World History Archives: published 4/99

Black skin and Cuban leadership  7/17/2007 Jamaica Gleaner: by Ramon Colas, founder of the Independent Libraries of Cuba - "To be sure, the Cuban authorities would much rather blacks stay far away from investors and joint venture companies. This, in turn, brings about a situation in which investors (largely white) absorb these same attitudes and become complicit in an evil that affects millions of non-white Cubans. In the political realm discrimination is no less pervasive. Within Cuba's power structure, few blacks share the privilege of leading. Of the National Assembly's 600 deputees, only 18 per cent are black. A similar situation exists at the provincial and local levels. The executive is worse yet. When Cuba's leaders travel abroad, they could pass off as a Northern European delegation save for the black faces carrying the luggage or guarding the entourage. Unfortunately, the military is no different. That institution's leadership is made up of white officers. The three chiefs of the army are white; so are the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the head of the police, the navy, and the air force. Similarly, the military's control over economic activities is all channelled through non-black officers. Only the low-ranking black soldiers remind us that Cuba is, after all, in the Caribbean."

Pro-Castro Columnist Compares Black Exiled Dissident to Maid  7/17/2007 Miami Herald Blogs: published 3/06 - "Andres Gomez, the leader of the pro-Castro group Antonio Maceo Brigade who lives in Miami, writes in a Cuban government publication that anti-revolutionary activity is undergoing a renaissance of sorts in the United States. He singles out for ridicule Bibliotecas Independientes, or Independent Libraries, a group that promotes literacy and the development of civil society in Cuba. Writing in cubadebate.cu, a Cuban government web site, Gomez uses the race of Ramon Colas, the group's leader, as part of his criticism. "This organization, whose only visible member includes a little Negro who travels a lot, whose style and mannerisms remind me of maids in Cuba before 1959, always dressed in their white uniforms -- seems to ignore, just like his masters, that in Cuba, for example, during the last 15 years, they celebrate annually a national book fair." Colas said it's the only time he has felt any "racism'' since he came to Miami about 5 years ago from Cuba. "He is using a series of offensive and racists words against me that you would never get away with using against African Americans," Colas said of Gomez… "It's not racist, really, it's an estimation of mine of what he is," Gomez said Wednesday. "It's not racist in the least. He is like that. And I maintain what I said. In any case, he'd be a shame to his race.""

With More Lives than a Cat: Walterio Carbonell  7/15/2007 Islas, Florida 

New attitudes on once-taboo race questions emerge in Cuba  6/26/2007 McClatchy Newspapers: "But listen to some blacks, particularly those born after 1959, and the failures of the revolution also become clear. “Everyone is not equal here,” said Ernesto, 37, as he dodged traffic on a Havana street. Tall and athletically built, he once hoped to be a star soccer player. He now gets by selling used clothing and said he’s continually hassled by police just because he’s black. In recent years, a new attitude has been emerging quietly, almost secretly, among Afro-Cubans on what it means to be black in a communist system that maintains “No hay racismo aqui”—there’s no racism here—and tends to brand those who raise the issue of race as enemies of the revolution. “The absence of the debate on the racial problem already threatens ... the revolution’s social project,” Esteban Morales Dominguez, a University of Havana professor who is black, wrote in one of his several little-known papers on race since 2005. Black filmmaker Rigoberto Lopez also broached the sensitive topic in a TV appearance in December, saying that while the revolution had brought about structural changes toward racial equality, “its results do not allow us to affirm that its goals have been achieved in all their dimensions.” Afro-Cubans familiar with the situation say black and white Cubans also have been establishing a small but growing number of civil rights-type groups. The government has not cracked down on such usually illegal activities, but neither has it officially recognized them."

LOS NEGROS, LOS OLVIDADOS EN EL ''PARAISO SOCIALISTA'' CUBANO  6/20/2007 La Nueva Cuba 

A barrier for Cuba's blacks  6/20/2007 Miami Herald: "New attitudes on once-taboo race questions emerge with a fledgling black movement"

An American in Cuba - Nationality trumps race, and color still matters. But everyone struggles together.  2/21/2007 LA Times: "Yet color does matter here; a common history of slavery assures that. Digna Castañeda, a diminutive, decidedly black woman who teaches history at the University of Havana, said both countries have the infamous one-drop rule, though it is differently applied. "In the U.S., one drop of black blood makes you black," she explained. "But here in Cuba, it's the reverse — one drop of white blood makes you white." Which is to say, people with any bit of black ancestry like to identify themselves as white or mulatto, not black. This color aversion is awfully familiar to me. But Cuba's law is that there is no institutional racism. It is officially and culturally a mestizo nation. Still, I wonder: Where do they draw the line between mulatto and black? At what point is whiteness undetectable and blackness inarguable? And who draws that line?"

Cuba to Present African religions´ Dossier  2/9/2007 PL: "A dossier on the African religions and different theological books are among some of the innovations the editorial Caminos will launched at the 16th International Book Fair, announced sources of that headquarter. Caminos is attached to the Martin Luther King Memorial Center (CMMLK) will provide the readers with new titles."

Why black cubans support the revolution  11/9/2006 Socialist Action: published 9/94

Cuba y las tinieblas del racismo  10/10/2006 BBC Mundo: "La revolución cubana mejoró su situación, según afirmó Nicolás Hernández, presidente de la Fundación Nicolás Guillén, "gracias a las políticas educativas generales y al fin del racismo institucional". Gracias a estas políticas "se gradúan por primera vez en el país de forma masiva profesionales de la raza negra" pero aclaró Hernández que "todo ésto no es suficiente, hace falta la eliminación de las desigualdades sociales". La mayoría de los camareros en el sector turismo que tienen acceso a propinas son blancos. "Hay elementos educacionales y culturales sobre los que nosotros no trabajamos lo suficiente, comenzando por nuestra propia historia, en nuestras escuelas se estudia la mitología griega pero no la africana", aseveró Hernández. Por una u otra razón lo cierto es que los negros cubanos aún se encuentran en una situación de desventaja respecto de sus compatriotas blancos, tanto a nivel social como económico e incluso educativo. Nicolás Hernández reconoce que la proporción racial de los estudiantes universitarios es desventajosa para los negros, y el disidente Manuel Cuesta Morua afirmó que éstos son apenas el 3% de los alumnos de la universidad. Algo similar ocurre en el turismo donde los negros y los mestizos ocupan apenas el 5% de los cargos dirigentes según explican investigaciones del Centro de Antropología y reciben 1,6 veces menos propinas que los blancos... La historiadora y antropóloga María Iliana Foabada cree que "lo primero que hay que hacer es enfrentar que somos una sociedad racista, que reproducimos el racismo y que lo hacemos en todos los niveles". En lo que todos los entrevistados coinciden es en segundo paso "el debate abierto y la educación teniendo claro que todos sin excepción debemos pasar por esa educación" afirmó la historiadora."

South Africa: Overt Racism Gives Cuban Ideal a Sinister Hue  9/23/2006 Business Day, South Africa: "I HAVE lived in the US on and off for the past three years and have yet to experience racial profiling, or what people of colour in America know as walking/driving/breathing while black. I spent three weeks in Cuba in 2000, and was subjected to racial profiling five times -- all in one day. I am sure, then, that the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu), the African National Congress (ANC) and the South African Communist Party (SACP) -- who swear by Cuba and all it stands for -- will understand why a leftist like me is not as enthusiastic as they are about that socialist island. I had my love of Cuba mugged out of me by racism."

Macua  8/15/2006 ArchivoCubano: "Escribir acerca de los Macua, etnia de donde proceden los últimos esclavos traídos a Cuba, es tan importante como sería hacerlo de los Yoruba, Mandinga, Arara, Ibo, Gangá, Carabalí, etc. "

Negroes with Guns: Rob Williams and Black Power  8/6/2006 PBS  

De la Africanía en Cuba 1-5 Heriberto Feraudy Espino  8/1/2006 ArchivoCubano  

Yoruba: Un acercamiento a nuestras raíces  8/1/2006 ArchivoCubano  

África y los afrodescendientes necesitan acciones concretas de solidaridad  7/22/2006 Jiribilla: "Para Cuba, para los cubanos, África es algo muy entrañable. Es uno de los nutrientes de nuestra identidad y de nuestra cultura. Más de un millón de africanos fueron llevados a Cuba por la fuerza, después de haber sido arrancados de sus tierras de origen: provenientes de diferentes etnias, yorubas, congos, carabalíes y otras, trabajaron bajo el látigo, en el infierno de los cañaverales en beneficio de los hacendados de la Isla y de la Metrópoli colonial. Cuba, como nación, surgió de la mezcla de africanos, españoles y chinos. Las sublevaciones de esclavos y el cimarronaje nutrieron nuestra vocación por la libertad. Nuestras guerras de independencia contaron con la participación masiva de afrodescendientes, que dieron además brillantes jefes a nuestro Ejército Libertador."

El afrorrealismo: una nueva dimensión de la literatura latinoamericana  7/22/2006 Jiribilla  

Miradas comunes en Bahía  7/22/2006 Jiribilla: "Las ropas y los trazos fisionómicos de los participantes en la II Conferencia de Intelectuales de África y la Diáspora exhiben convergencias de identidades africanas. En la subida de la escalera rodante, un profesor de Historia de una universidad norteamericana, nacido en África, parece un ogá concentrado. En la cola del café, dos señoras africanas ostentan túnicas que podrían aparecer en las fotos del antropólogo Pierre Verger. En las mesas de discusión, un antropólogo bahiano discute con un ponente angolano y apenas una ligera variante de la entonación separa a ambos. En el pasillo, un mozambicano intenta identificar puntos comunes con un colega de Cabo Verde. El maestro keniano asiste a todo lamentando no poder dominar el portugués. El agente de seguridad, de terno oscuro, puede ser confundido con un embajador. La bahiaza de la recepción, con su imponente vestido amarillo, pudiera ser una sacerdotisa de Benin”. Reproduzco estas líneas de la crónica final del encuentro, escrita por el colega Paulo Reis en el diario Correio da Bahía, porque de algún modo resumen sucintamente la atmósfera de un Congreso donde las miradas de uno y otro lado del Atlántico se entrecruzaron hasta hallar puntos comunes no solo en la historia trágica que insertó el perfil africano en América, sino en la necesidad de construir un mejor mundo imprescindible para todos. Cuba estuvo presente en esas jornadas. Los representantes de la mayor isla antillana encontraron en Bahía un clima muy parecido al que predomina en las Fiestas del Fuego de Santiago de Cuba."

Natalia Bolívar: África no renace, ocupa su lugar  7/22/2006 Jiribilla: "Si feliz estuvo Natalia Bolívar Aróstegui de que la llamaran para participar en la II Conferencia de Intelectuales de África y la Diáspora, muy contenta integró la delegación oficial cubana presidida por Abel Prieto, ministro de Cultura. Aún ríe satisfecha de los intercambios, incluso, antes de viajar. Como la mayor parte de lo que acontece en la vida de esta investigadora, la invitación del gobierno de Brasil para que participara en la conferencia, la tomó por sorpresa, mucho más cuando desde hace años amasa el sueño de conocer el gigante sudamericano. Se dice que en la II Conferencia de Intelectuales de África y la Diáspora se abogó por el renacimiento del continente negro. En tu opinión, ¿qué significa tal empeño? No estoy de acuerdo con usar la palabra renacimiento, porque renacer es volver a nacer. Desde que supuestamente el continente africano fue descubierto por los portugueses en el siglo XV, ha aportado a los llamados países desarrollados inmensas riquezas que van desde minas de diamante hasta toda la cultura. Europa, EE.UU.… han expoliado a África sin darle siquiera una pieza para sus museos. África no renace, África está buscando su espacio en la cultura, en la humanidad… Lo que ha influido ese inmenso continente se puede ver como uno de los miles de ejemplo en Picasso. Fue en el museo del hombre donde se inspiró en las grandes piezas, expoliado desde África por los franceses. Con esa impronta que recibió, Picasso copió las máscaras en “Las señoritas de Avignon”, obra que marca su tránsito de lo clásico a toda esa otra expresión que consiguió en sus obras posteriores. África lo que está haciendo es tomar conciencia de qué es y cuánto le deben."

Africa, Diaspora Debates in Brazil  7/13/2006 PL: "The meeting began yesterday with speeches by Presidents Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Brazil, and Abdoulaye Wade, Senegal, among others, as well as by the president of the African Union, Alpha Oumar Konare. Today´s session includes the long-awaited participation of expert Natalia Bolivar, as special guest to the round table talk "Religion and Culture in Africa and the Diaspora." "

The Center for Pan-African Development and Miami CopWatch Statement on Liberty City "Terror" Arrests  7/1/2006 Marguertite Laurent: "On the day of the Liberty City raids, the story of a former director of the right wing Cuban American National Foundation (CANF), a federally recognized not-for-profit organization based in Miami, admitting to planning terrorist acts against a sovereign state, failed either to draw national attention or merit "above the fold" coverage on the front page of Miami's newspaper of record. A sub-committee of the CANF board of directors moved beyond the "discussion stage," demonstrating their capacity to carry out terrorist plots by purchasing boats, a helicopter and caches of weapons and ammunition for the purpose of executing the plot. The admission only confirmed commonly held suspicions about the CANF's violent intentions and the government's indifference towards those intentions."

Cuban Official Gets 12-Year Prison Term  6/22/2006 AP: "It was demonstrated that Robinson Agramonte, in the open process of his ideological weakening and with abuse of his position, forgot his high responsibilities and the integrity demanded of a revolutionary cadre and used his influence to obtain benefits," Granma said. It offered no specifics on what benefits were obtained or how Robinson used his influence to get them. Cuban officials had once pointed with pride to Robinson as an example of the island's young black leadership. Robinson, now 49, is from the eastern city of Santiago — Cuba's second-largest city — and had been the party's first secretary for the Santiago Province since 1994."

Cuban leaders expel member  4/29/2006 Sun Sentinel: "Cuba's Communist Party leadership said Friday it has expelled one of its younger Politburo members for repeatedly failing to overcome "errors" such as abuse of authority and arrogance. Cuban officials had once pointed with pride to Juan Carlos Robinson as an example of the island's young black leadership. Robinson, now 49, hails from the eastern city of Santiago, Cuba's second largest city after Havana, and had been the party's first secretary for the Santiago Province since 1994. But the Communist Party's daily newspaper, Granma, said Friday that Robinson had become "a lamentable and unusual case of the inability of a political cadre to overcome his errors."

El triángulo invisible del siglo XX cubano: raza, literatura y nación  4/15/2006 Temas: PDF, 225kb, by Roberto Zurbano, Ensayista, Casa de las Américas

Mi Cubanidad  3/11/2006 Un Bohio: published 10/05, nice column - "My worldview was tinted by that dogmatic brain-washing (heavy on the bleach) until 26 March, 2000 when I had the good fortune of encountering the indomitable Dr. Alberto Jones, a generous Guantanamero, in the historic chapel of my alma mater. Dr. Jones is a fascinating man whose energy belies his actual age. A defiantly and politely proud patriot, he also takes great pride in his Jamaican ancestry. I have taken great pride in passing along quite a few of Dr. Jones' columns and essays over the years. Among the things I am grateful for about our friendship, the one thing that stands out the most is the opening of what is an ever-increasing devotion to freethinking and truth seeking. A price tag cannot ever be put on that gift and I will be ever grateful for it. The times when I have heard an African-American express any opinion about Fidel Castro, most of the time, the opinion that is expressed is one based on that individual’s perception of a certain significant level of respect he or she has for the Cuban leader. This perception of Castro is often muddied by the incessant and confusing demonizing of him and his initiatives as practiced by both this country’s corporate media and successive administrations in Washington, D.C. Thus, the question that logically follows is “what are we missing about Castro when it comes to skin color?”"

Cuba: My words speak for themselves  2/17/2006 The Royal Gazette, Bermuda: "WITH regard to Cuba, I have always made clear that there are some policies and programmes emanating from its Revolution which I agree with – and many others that I do not support. Despite the distortions some correspondents have engaged in, there remains a written record of my Commentary essays in this regard. My words speak for themselves. However, I will speak to the position of black people in Cuba to the extent that there does indeed exist a degree of political oppression in that country. But I don't believe they are singled out for oppression – from what I understand Afro-Cubans do not experience greater indignities than do any other Cuban population groupings. The long-term future of the Castro Revolution is an issue that the Cuban people themselves will have to resolve. However, it is interesting that Cuba's black population gained the most from the Revolution. Cuba, before the Revolution, had a far higher degree of racism as far as the black Cuban was concerned than exists there now. And, by the way, no matter what my detractors say about Cuba's own so-called form of "apartheid", you will never hear Nelson Mandela making critical comments about Fidel Castro because of the role his military played in the fight against South Africa when they invaded southern Angola – another conflict which I was able to follow in real time through the medium of short-wave radio. These days it is worth noting that black Cubans enjoy a demographic advantage mainly because, in the main, it is white Cubans who have fled to Florida and other jurisdictions. And I fully expect that we will see a renewal of racial conflict in Cuba if and when the exiled Cubans ever return to that country. Another interesting fact is that Central Intelligence Agency, in a study about supposed weak spots in the island nation, has concluded that the strongest support for the current Cuban government lies within Cuba's black population. This conclusion stands in marked contrast to some of the comments made recently in this paper concerning the nature of the Cuban society."

Negroes with Guns: Robert Williams and Black Power  2/7/2006 Independent Lens: "NEGROES WITH GUNS: Rob Williams and Black Power tells the dramatic story of the often-forgotten civil rights leader who urged African Americans to arm themselves against violent racists. In doing so, Williams not only challenged the Klan-dominated establishment of his hometown of Monroe, North Carolina, he alienated the mainstream Civil Rights Movement, which advocated peaceful resistance. For Williams and other African Americans who had witnessed countless acts of brutality against their communities, armed self-defense was a practical matter of survival, particularly in the violent, racist heart of the Deep South. As the leader of the Monroe chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), Williams led protests against the illegal segregation of Monroe’s public swimming pool. He also drew international attention to the harsh realities of life in the Jim Crow South. All the while, Williams and other protestors met the constant threat of violence and death with their guns close at hand."

Hablemos del racismo, y en específico el de Cuba  11/28/2005 Cuba Nuestra 

Miss Parks and Robert Williams  11/15/2005 University of Texas: "Nine years before her own passing, Rosa found her way to the small community of Monroe, North Carolina to speak at the hometown funeral of a man who unlike Rosa was often vilified by the civil rights movement as a dangerous radical who threatened to jeopardize the meager gains of the civil rights movement. She told the mourners of a close friend of Malcolm X that the work of a fiery defender of the world's oppressed should go down in history and never be forgotten."

We support Cuba because Cuba supports Blacks and Africa - Response to Chabot Cuba Conference report  11/9/2005 SF Bay View: 'The problem is, when you speak of Cuban realities - or realities in Mexico, Venezuela, Peru, Brazil etc. - who is Afro-Cuban and who is not? When I first went to Cuba in 1974, years after the first waves of gusano defections to Miami, I was informed by reliable medical authorities that so many whites had left that by then fully 80 percent of the Cuban population was susceptible to sickle cell anemia. In other words, Cuba was becoming darker by white political default. Furthermore, throughout Cuban history - and throughout the histories of all the previously mentioned former Spanish and Portuguese colonies - peoples of African descent of many gradations of color have populated most of the economic and political categories - with the general exception of the very top, of course - so that a veneer of color has enshrouded all Cuban society."

Chabot Cuba conference faces a challenged Afro-Cuba  10/19/2005 SF Bay View: "The panelists reported that the income gap between Black and white Cubans widened during the "special period" (1990s) after the fall of the Soviet Union and the tightening of the U.S. economic blockade. Remittances - money sent by Cubans in the United States to their families in Cuba - go mostly to white Cubans, 30 to 40 percent. Only 5 to 10 percent goes to Black Cubans. White families received 58.3 percent of total income in 1999, while Black families received only 4.3 percent. This income gap reproduces the race and economic stratification system of the past and is a predictor of the position of Afro-Cubans in the future. Twenty percent of the audience was African North Americans, who met with other African North Americans and Alberto Jones on Sunday to explore a remittance program for Afro-Cubans and to educate and organize African North Americans to put an end to the U.S. blockade and travel embargo against Cuba."

Katrina's Window Into Slavery's Past — and Present  9/21/2005 Village Voice: "Rebecca J. Scott's Degrees of Freedom is a fascinating and well-written piece of comparative history, but it's not exactly written for a mass audience. Its subtitle, however, says that it should be: "Louisiana and Cuba After Slavery." Scott (see photo) is a University of Michigan law and history professor who spent years trying to understand what happened after the Civil War — and after the Spanish-American War — to the hundreds of thousands of slaves working in the huge sugar-cane industries of Louisiana and Cuba. Those who are rebuilding New Orleans would do well to capitalize on what's inside Scott's suddenly extremely timely book. With the Bush regime in power, that's unlikely to happen. But here's a question posed and analyzed by Scott: After slavery, how did the African Americans fare, compared with the African Cubans? I'll be more simplistic than Scott: Since slavery officially ended, the African Americans have been treated worse, and this was apparent long before Fidel Castro was even born."

Primer graduado estadounidense de la Escuela Latinoamericana de Medicina - "Como afroamericano, aquí en Cuba me siento libre"  8/27/2005 Rebelion 

SECRET CUBAN DOCUMENTS ON HISTORY OF AFRICA INVOLVEMENT  8/4/2005 National Security Archives: originally published in 2002.

Racismo en Cuba  6/7/2005 Arrebatus:  Manifestaciones del racismo en Cuba: varias caras de un viejo mal

Manifestaciones del racismo en Cuba: varias caras de un viejo mal  6/1/2005 Consenso: Consenso is the dissident PARP party organ.

S.O.S. El Racismo que se lleva dentro  6/1/2005 Consenso: By Manuel Cuesta Morúa. Consenso is the dissident PARP party organ.

Miscelanea II of studies dedicated to Fernando Ortiz (1881-1969): an online machine-readable transcription  5/13/2005 NY Public Library: includes ON THE RELATIONS BETWEEN BLACKS AND WHITES -- Fernando Ortiz -- (1943) [English translation]

Race and Ethnicity in Cuba  5/8/2005 Indigenous People of Africa and Americas 

The complexity of some Cuban roots  5/5/2005 Progreso Weekly: "Cuban Roots/Bronx Stories is the visual autobiography of one family that confronts questions of Diaspora, class, immigration and identity. It highlights the historical journey of a black Cuban family, revealing that the Cuban-American experience is more complex, racially and ideologically, than is popularly understood."

Manifestaciones del racismo en Cuba: varias caras de un viejo mal  4/1/2005 Consenso 

IX aniversario de la Fundación Martha Jean Claude  3/27/2005 Jiribilla 

Dos momentos de la esclavitud blanca en Cuba  3/6/2005 Cubarte: "El 6 de marzo de 1854 el puerto de La Habana estaba singularmente animado con la llegada de la primera partida de colonos gallegos que, bajo la consigna de un proyecto denominado "Salvación y progreso para España y Cuba", venían contratados supuestamente para trabajar la tierra en la Isla…. La naciente empresa, fruto de la tozudez y ambición del diputado a cortes gallego Urbano Feijóo Sotomayor, bajo los sellos de legalidad y el respaldo del gobierno colonial, escondía los más crueles y bajos intereses, pues sometió a aquellos infelices al trabajo esclavo, como a los antecesores grupos de culíes chinos que habían empezado a arribar a Cuba desde 1847 y los bozales de origen africano."

CUBANS FOUGHT FOR US INDEPENDENCE  3/1/2005 Cuba Now: "The facts are almost unknown: Cuban Creole officers, NCOs and soldiers, members of the Mulatto and Black battalions, organized in Havana, fought under the Spanish flag in the War of Independence of the so-called Thirteen Colonies."

Links of Cuba and Africa highlighted at Havana launching of book by Sankara  2/28/2005 The Militant: "In this book, We Are Heirs of the World’s Revolutions, Pathfinder presents five speeches by Thomas Sankara between 1983 and 1987 in which he expresses clearly and firmly his revolutionary ideas, not only in defense of his people but of all the exploited of the world,” said Ulises Estrada in opening a meeting held here February 10 as part of the annual Havana International Book Fair. Estrada is the director of Tricontinental magazine, published by the Organization of Solidarity with the Peoples of Africa, Asia, and Latin America (OSPAAAL).Some 70 people attended the event, which presented Somos herederos de las revoluciones del mundo, the recently published Spanish-language translation of the booklet. It was one of many book launchings organized throughout the fair, which took place February 3-13. Thomas Sankara was the central leader of the 1983-87 popular revolution in the West African country of Burkina Faso."

El pueblo, en andas, despidió a Lázaro Ros  2/9/2005 AIN 

Robert F. Williams and armed self-determination  2/2/2005 SF Bay View 

You can't break the ties between us  1/15/2005 Cuba Now: An interview with Danny Glover

Presencia de la cultura africana en los pueblos americanos y caribeños  11/26/2004 Tricontinental: "La presencia de la cultura angolana y africana en América, en las manifestaciones de las artes plásticas y danzarias, en los gustos culinarios, en las tradiciones y en el lenguaje de los pueblos americanos y caribeños, quedó demostrada en la magistral conferencia ofrecida por Rogelio Martínez Furé, reconocido africanista, fundador del Conjunto Folclórico Nacional de Cuba."

Cuban Rastas gather surreptitiously  8/13/2004 Dallas Morning News: "A great many Rastas are in jail," said Eligio Flores Ruíz, 32. "The government doesn't accept us. They say we're a threat to the revolution. They're bothered by the fact that we're free thinkers." Government supporters deny that and say what bothers them is that Rastas break the law – they smoke marijuana."

Dialogue with Founding Leaders of Guantanamo’s Social Club ‘La Nueva Era’  8/6/2004 AfroCubaWeb: by Eugène Godfried

Dialogue with Juan Cruz, Past President, ‘Marianao Club Social’ - La Havana  8/6/2004 AfroCubaWeb: by Eugène Godfried

The African Cuban Diaspora’s Cultural Shelters and Their Sudden Disappearance in 1959  8/1/2004 AfroCubaWeb: by Eugène Godfried - "Thus, it is a deliberate choice to employ the method of interviews with distinguished personalities who were directly involved in the activities of those ‘Sociedades de Negros’, ‘Societies of Blacks’. Nowadays, we depend on oral history to be able to look into this past in order to comprehend the present Cuban society. It is also high time that grassroots sections among cultural workers and activists in Cuba themselves speak their mind to brothers and sisters all over the world. In so doing, a longstanding silence around this eye – catching subject will be transformed into a vibrant exchange between Cubans and friends from all around the world."

José Martí and Racism: His Visit to Curaçao  7/25/2004 AfroCubaWeb: Eugène Godfried

José Martí y el Racismo: Su Visita a Curazao  7/25/2004 AfroCubaWeb: Eugène Godfried

‘We must say No to the politicians’ An interview with Antonio Castañeda, Babalawo and president of the Yoruba Society of Cuba  7/22/2004 Progresso Weekly 

CARTAS A JUAN GUALBERTO GÓMEZ  7/15/2004 Jiribilla: incluyendo "Protesta de los cubanos de color de Key West"

EN EL FIEL DE LA PATRIA  7/15/2004 Jiribilla: "Nicolás Guillén, que compartió noches de tertulias habaneras con Juan Gualberto, destaca su don de conversador, su sentido del humor y pone de relieve "la máscula tarea de fraguar nuestra nacionalidad (…), su penetración política para fijar el verdadero papel que correspondía al negro cubano en la lucha contra España"."

GALERÍA de fotos -- Juan Gualberto Gómez  7/15/2004 Jiribilla 

JOYA DE NUESTRA HISTORIA  7/15/2004 Jiribilla: Juan Gualberto Gómez - "Votó contra la Enmienda Platt todo el tiempo, incluso, cuando se produce el chantaje por parte de Estados Unidos que amenazó la soberanía cubana, si no se aprobaba la Enmienda. Jamás se avino al chantaje, como sucedió con otros cubanos. Mantuvo su actitud patriótica, la defensa de sus ideales, de sus principios, que no eran más que los ideales y principios de José Martí."

JUAN GUALBERTO GÓMEZ Y LA RAZA DE COLOR  7/15/2004 Jiribilla: "Para la década del 40 del siglo XX había un gran nivel de frustración por el silencio que con respecto al tema negro existía. Una manera de enfrentar este silencio fue la aparición de biografías de los negros y mulatos más sobresalientes de Cuba. Por eso la editorial de Ciencias Sociales, como una manera de rendirles tributo ha decidido reeditar la biografía: Juan Gualberto Gómez: un gran inconforme."

JUAN GUALBERTO GÓMEZ, ANTIPLATISTA Y ANTIMPERIALISTA  7/15/2004 Jiribilla: "Cuando el 20 de mayo de 1902 se proclama la República de Cuba, en muchos pechos quedaba la huella más amarga, la de la Enmienda Platt. Junto al ex presidente de la República en Armas, Salvador Cisneros Betancourt y otros patriotas, Juan Gualberto Gómez encabezó la batalla de la dignidad, en nombre del pueblo de Cuba."

UN PATRIOTA ENTERO  7/15/2004 Jiribilla: "El 11 de junio de 1892 José Martí elogia en Patria la entrada de Juan Gualberto a la Sociedad Económica: “Él quiere a Cuba con aquel amor de vida y muerte (...). Él tiene el tesón del periodista, la energía del organizador y la visión distante del hombre de estado”."

Race and patriotism in Afro-Cuba  6/23/2004 SF Bay View: "Most of us met the anthropological research team called Project Orunmila in Regla, Cuba, 10 minutes from Havana. I spent the last day alone with this family-run document recovery, transcription and dissemination project that also operates a farm to provide financial support. I had earlier misunderstood the extremely important work of this group and unjustly accused them of insufficient rage at the historical and contemporary color prejudice still extant in Cuba, as though rage and alienation are the only appropriate responses. I clearly undervalued the depth and significance of their work and the African originated materials they are diffusing in Cuba and beyond. I quote from an annotation on one of their volumes, called “Awo Orunla Dice Ifa”: “This book is the widest and most complete compilation of the complex panorama of legends that once belonged to the Yoruba people of Nigeria and that are still standing in Cuba and in different areas of the Caribbean (Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, etc.), the USA and several Latin American countries (Venezuela, Mexico and Brazil). The work is organized according to the Oduns of Ifa. All writings are therefore placed in corresponding order. This leads the user to a better comprehension and understanding of the panoramic vision of the mythological world of Ifa. It relates an organized knowledge about the men’s event as individuals, the way of thinking of those men, and about the society in which they live.” Sponsorship is needed for Project Orunmila to continue publication. The project may be reached by email at proyecto@orunmila.net or adeyeri@orunmila.net; by phone at 97-0677 (the home of Elsa, a neighbor) or by writing to Camilo Cienfuegos #109 e/c Oscar Lunar Y Nico Lopez, Regla 12 C.P. 11200, Ciuidad de la Habana Cuba."

La Fundación Cultural Martha Jean-Claude en la Feria Internacional del Libro y el bicentenario de la Independencia de Haití  6/22/2004 Tricontinental 

Marginación y carnaval: la imagen del negro en la fotografía cubana  6/13/2004 Tel Aviv University: [Hay que señalar que tomaron muchos retratos de negros en el siglo XIX, y que tenemos algunos en AfroCubaWeb.]

POR EL RESCATE DE NUESTRAS RAÍCES  6/3/2004 Jiribilla: "Cada año, desde 1997, la fiesta internacional del Disco cubano ha sido dedicada a un país determinado. Esta, su VIII edición que se está celebrando desde el 23 hasta el 30 de mayo, está dirigida al Caribe al que nos unen ancestros, historias, mares, arte, cultura y en especial la música, que es la expresión más diáfana que enlaza nuestros pueblos. Por tal motivo, conversamos para La Jiribilla con Richard Mirabal Jean Claude, director de la fundación Martha Jean Claude, de la hermana República de Haití."

African-Americans Challenge US Blockade on Cuba  5/26/2004 Cuba Now: "The Virginia-based African-Awareness-Association announced that a delegation of African-Americans will organize a freedom ride (on bus and aircraft) to Cuba next July to challenge US travel restrictions."

Cuba's Desire For Equality Ignores Obvious  4/19/2004 Washington Post: "There is no doubt that many black people know they are somehow stuck at the bottom of Cuba's social and economic ladder. Still, they find the concept of cooperation over competition appealing. For many, Castro's quest for a nonracial, egalitarian society is nothing if not noble. Nevertheless, race problems cannot be solved until they are acknowledged. History is replete with examples of what happens when a nation -- in the strong embrace of an iconic, charismatic or even tyrannical leader -- attempts to gloss over ethnic and racial differences among its citizens: When the leader dies, so does the unity."

Cuba: Race Problem Cannot be Solved Until it’s Acknowledged  4/15/2004 Black America Web: "EDITOR'S NOTE: When U.S. voters go to the polls in November to pick a president, Florida — and its heavy concentration of Cuban Americans — may again play a central role in determining who wins. Nowhere will this contest be more closely watched than in Cuba, whose fate may be determined by the election's outcome. More than 90 percent of Cubans in South Florida are white; over 60 percent of the people in Cuba are black. In this series, BlackAmericaWeb.com examines the role that race plays in Cuba — and in the tug-of-war between the government of Fidel Castro and Cuban exile leaders in Florida."

Cuba's Rastas: the religious, the philosophical and those making a fashion statement  4/11/2004 Jamaica Observer: "Long dreadlocks stuffed into trademark red, black, green and yellow tams (knitted caps), which sometimes carry a symbol of an Afro-Cuban religion or even a US flag, Bob Marley t-shirts and camouflage pants - that is the typical look of Cuba's young Rastafarians, a growing urban presence. The Rastas of this socialist island nation are mainly found in Havana and tend to be young Afro-Cuban men from poor neighbourhoods, who seem to carry Reggae music in their blood. "People don't look on us kindly," Yosvany Reyes, a 27-year-old craftsman, told IPS. "In Cuba, people don't know very much about what being a Rastafarian means. They generally think we're dirty drug addicts or bums who just wander around the streets not doing anything." "

Maceo un combatiente de las ideas  1/9/2004 Tribuna de la Habana: "En un cálido elogio, publicado en Patria el 6 de octubre de 1893, Martí subrayó la valía intelectual de Antonio Maceo afirmando que este serviría a la Revolución " con el pensamiento más aún que con el valor". Con semejante frase el Maestro quiso significar la impresionante cultura del bravo general en las cuestiones de la política y la guerra."

DIVERSIDAD, IDENTIDAD Y POLÍTICA CULTURAL  12/19/2003 Jiribilla: "No se puede tratar a las culturas populares extrayéndolas de su contexto, ni imponiéndoles una folclorización banal para poderlas exhibir, que desvirtúe su esencia popular, ni tratándolas a partir de parámetros técnico-artísticos abstractos, que no funcionan en un contexto donde la creación no emana de prácticas académicas, sino de la tradición que se traslada, y se recrea, de padres a hijos."

'Black Cuban Forum'  11/10/2003 CubaNet: published in 2/00, discusses an organization which got $40,000 from NED/CIA last year. CubaNet got $64,000.

Organizaciones financiadas por la NED contra Cuba  11/10/2003 Jiribilla: published in April, relevant today! Note the "Black Cuban Forum"