Worldwide music tour schedules: Hear samples, buy CDs. Visit our Arts section -- most artists have a photo gallery.

Cuban and Nigerian Abakuá to perform together in Paris, 12/07

Afro - Cuban - Haitian Dance Workshops with José Carrión of Ballet Folklórico Cutumba de Santiago de Cuba, 11/07

Spotted in Paris: Cuban and Nigerian Abakwa to perform, 12/07

La Cuestión tabú, el pensamiento negro cubano de 1840 a 1959, Selección y presentación por María Poumier. L'apparition de la culture cubaine. Traduction par María Poumier de "Cómo se forjó la cultura nacional", por Walterio Carbonell, la Habana, 1961. 12/17/07

Cuban Americans write letters to the Florida Times Union editor attacking African American columnist  Tonyaa Weathersbee because of her articles on Cuba. Alberto Jones comments. 11/07 This and other stories on our News page.

Johannes García y la Compañía JJ: arte de inspiración popular, 10/11/07 Fotos: Homenaje a JJ, 10/5/07 

Interview with Eugène Godfried: Call for dialog on the 1912 Massacre, 10/5/07.  Accompanied by commentary from the former head of the Caribbean Section of the Department of the Americas of the Central Committee, Osvaldo Cárdenas.  Entrevista con Eugène Godfried: una llamada para el dialogo sobre la masacre de 1912, 5/10/07.  Acompañado por comentarios del antiguo jefe de la Seccion del Caribe del Departamento de las Americas del Comite Central, Osvaldo Cárdenas.

New Abakuá  website up: Enyenison Enkama, Africa Speaks, with Angel Guerrero, Roman Diaz, and Pedro Martinez.

Eugene Godfried Calls on Fidel Castro for Reflection and Action concerning the 1912 Massacre: YouTube Video, 9/07 Eugene Godfried Ruega a Fidel Castro Reflexion y Accion sobre 1912: Video en YouTube, 9/07

Works by José Millet, formerly of the Casa del Caribe, Santiago, and now Director of the Centro de Investigaciones Socioculturales del Instituto de Cultura del Estado Falcón in Coro, Venezuela:
La iniciación de un omo-alaña, 1/2004
La Casa del Caribe y Haití, 12/2003

Cuba: Algunos Desafios del Color, 1/07 de Esteban Morales Domínguez: interesting list of issues from an AfroCuban at Havana University who ran their Center for US Studies.

Rogelio Martinez Fure recibe un homenaje por su 70 aniversario. 8/28/07 Photogallery.

Abakuá: continuation of the response to the statement by Iyamba, 5/4/07, by Roman Díaz

Abakuá: la respuesta a esta frase de Iyamba continua, 4/5/07, de Roman Díaz

See www.cultydes.cult.cu for Havana conference on cultural diversity, 6/07 

Conferencia sobre la Diaspora Africana, IX Taller de Africania en el Caribe “Ortiz – Lachatañere”  12 – 16 de Marzo, 2007 Santiago De Cuba.

Abakuá member Angel Guerrero interviewed, 7/07

Rare images from the Conjunto Folklórico Nacional's inaugural show in 1963 via Esquina Rumbera, 7/07

Religious Symbolism in Cuban Political Performance, 2000 by Ivor Miller. Photos of Fidel in white.

Painter Roberto Diago launches his web site, 6/07

‘A father and son embrace’: the significance of the encounter between Abakuá and Ekpe.  By Angel Guerrero, the Aberiñán title-holder of the Itiá Mukandá Efól lodge of Havana. 3/07    ‘Se abrazaran un padre con su hijo’: el signifcado del encuentro entre los Abakuá y Ekpe.  Por Angel Guerrero, el Aberiñán de la potencia Itiá Mukandá Efó de La Habana. 3/07

Eugène Godfried in Dialogue with Ricardo Riquenes Herrera on the Partido Independiente de Color & the 1912 Massacre of Blacks in Guantánamo, Cuba, 2/07  Eugène Godfried Dialogando con Ricardo Riquenes Herrera sobre el Partido Independiente De Color y la Masacre de 1912 en Guantánamo, Cuba, 7/07

2003 Encounter in Michigan: Cuban Abakuá and the Obong of Calabar, 11/06 Angel Guerrero and Roman Diaz present Cuban Abakuá to the paramount ruler of the Efiks in Calabar, Nigeria.

Just out: "Cuba Represent!: Cuban Arts, State Power, and the Making of New Revolutionary Cultures" by Sujatha Fernandes, 11/06

Eugene Godfried has arrived in Lansing Michigan as a Research Scholar at Michigan State University, African Atlantic Research Team. His 2006-2007 US Tour is taking shape with presentations in Washington, DC, San Francisco, Cleveland, Boston, and Philadelphia - dates are available, 9/06.  See also Words of thanks on the occasion of my illness, 9/06

Check out Seattle's Academy of Cuban Folklore & Dance with José Alfredo Carrión, Cutumba's former principal dancer

Gloria Rolando and Imagines del Caribe present historic first film dealing with the Independents of Color who were massacred in 1912: Raices de Mi Corazon/Roots of my Heart. Available through this web site, 9/06

Eugene Godfried: The Massacre of 1812: José Aponte y Ubarra - Longstanding Racial Problems In Cuba.      La Masacre De 1812: José Aponte Y Ubarra - El Viejo Problema Racial En Cuba

Carlos Manuel Piar And Pedro Luis Brion: Curaçaoans Struggling Together With Simon Antonio Bolivar Y Palacios For Liberation From Colonialism And Racism, 9/06  by Eugene Godfried.  Carlos Manuel Piar, Pedro Luis Brión Yunanan Di Kòrsou Huntu Ku Simón Bolĺvar Y Palacios Den Lucha Kontra Kolonismo I Rasismo, 9/06

Abolition & Liberation in Curaçao, 7/06 by Eugene Godffried. Abolishon i Liberashon na Korsou, 7/06 ( Papiamentu)

Guillermo Davis: new dance classes in Salsa and AfroCuban, London, fall '06

Check out some great video clips at esquinarumbera.blogspot.com, includes Los Muñequitos, Celeste Mendoza, Afro-Cuba de Matanzas, others.

CARLOTA: Lukumí/Yoruba Woman Fighter for Liberation, Massacred in Matanzas, Cuba, in 1844, by Eugene Godfried, 7/06 CARLOTA: luchadora lukumí/yoruba para la liberación, masacrada en Matanzas, Cuba, en 1844, 7/06

Yesenia Selier gives dance classes in New York: AfroCuban, Salsa, Rueda, Samba, line dancing, 8/06

Proyecto Orunmila, based in Cuba, deploys outstanding web site on Lucumi/Yoruba issues, 6/06

AfroCubaWeb reaches 197,166 visits for the month of May, 2006

New CV for Tomas Fernández Robaina arrived just before his house caught fire and left him without his PC. Help is being organized. 4/06

Singer Merida Castillo, from Havana but living in Boston for many years, passed away. Services were held Sunday morning, March 12, 2006. She will be remembered by many for her constant efforts spanning decades to keep Cuban culture alive in Boston.

Jesús Pérez and the transculturation of the Cuban batá drum.” Dialago. n. 7. Center for Latino Research. DePaul University. Spring, 2003, by Ivor Miller (14MB pdf file download).

The Investiture of Lady Elizabeth Ayo Eremie into the Ekoretonko Lodge, Calabar, Nigeria, 9/05

Etubom Asuquo Etim: Maskmaker, musician, producer from the Ekoretonko Lodge, Calabar, 1/06

Esperando a Júbilo, script fragment, 6/05 by Tomás Gonzalez Pérez. See also an extensive gallery of his paintings.

EL VIAJE RITUAL, poem, 1998, by Tomás Gonzalez Pérez

La Visión Imponderable de Marta, la Doméstica, 9/ 2005 Tomás Gonzalez Pérez reviews Pedro Perez Sarduy's novel "Las Criadas de la Habana"

Viaje a la tierra africana en busca de los origenes - Recorrido de Manuel Mendive por Africa 2005, 9/05 Michael Popoola Oluwaseun, un bailarin de Osogbo, Nigeria, pintado por Mendive, galeria de fotos, 2005

Pedro Perez-Sarduy reviews Ned Sublette's book, Cuba and its Music: From the First Drums to the Mambo. Scroll down to reviews.

AFROCUBA: Works on Paper, 1968-2003 by Dr. Judith Bettleheim, San Francisco State. Features a number of our favorite artists.

Una criada en La Habana, de Pedro Perez - Sarduy, en La Jiribilla, 6/22/05 

"Iré Habana," in Yoruba, stands for "blessing to Havana." It is also the name of a film/CD, 5/05

Cuban Abakuá delegation visits Calabar, Cross River State, Nigeria in December '04, 4/05. Many photos tell the story.

Afro-Cuban Religiosity, Revolution, And National Identity by Christine Ayorinde, released 3/05.

Robin Moore reviews Afro-Cuban Voices: On Race and Identity in Contemporary Cuba, 3/05.

Lazaro Ros, Cuba's greatest Yoruba singer, dies on 2/8/05.

International Ekpe Festival, Calabar & Uyo, Nigeria: 12/13/04 - 12/18/04: Cuban Abakuá attended, great set of photos showing relationships between Calabar & Cuba.

"In the Vortex of the Cyclone": Selected Poems by Excilia Saldaña: A Bilingual Edition out with foreword by Nancy Morejón, 9/04

Support the artists: get  Pello's sheet music for bata, Flor Amalia's script, and Gloria Rolando's films. This is legal trade that benefits these artists.

AfroCubaWeb reaches 144,000 visits /month in February '05, according to our site statistics. 

… social, intelectuar y chic ... Choco, Diago y Mendive en La Cita de Biarritz por Pedro Pérez Sarduy  11/2/03

ENTREVISTA CON EL PINTOR ROBERTO DIAGO en Biarritz, Francia  9/30/03  por Pedro Pérez Sarduy

Recorrido de Manuel Mendive por países de Africa, 9/9/03 Photo gallery added 9/26 and 10/5.

We feature critiques of author and journalist Marta Rojas' two novels.

Extracts from Pedro Pérez Sarduy's novel Las Criadas de La Habana and other works, 10/02. See also In Living Memory - he remembers his great grandmother Sabue born in Africa.

Nicolás Guillén y el Modernismo Hispanoamericano by Keith Ellis, 10/02

El Tratamiento del Tema Negro en el Rap, Tomás Fernández Robaina, 8/02

Recent Trotter Group coverage of Gloria Rolando and her film on 1912, 6/02

Nancy Morejón wins Cuba's 2001 National Prize for Litterature, 2/02. We have her PALABRAS POR EL PREMIO NACIONAL DE LITERATURA

Susana Arenas Pedroso, a Matancera formerly with Raices Profunda, is giving dance classes in the Bay Area.  
Expert Afrocuba de Matanzas percussionist Ramon "Sandy" Garcia has moved to the Bay Area and is also giving classes.

Centro de Investigación y Desarrollo de la Música (CIDMUC) has a great atlas of Cuban music: Atlas de los Instrumentos Folklórico-Popular de Cuba. See also Olavo Alen's History of the Congas.

Numerous dancers and percussionists from Cuba are teaching in the US and Europe, listed under Workshops.

Conjunto Folklórico Nacional  plays every Saturday in Havana.  We have their  3 page spread in Cuba Internacional, 10/02. See also a report on their presentation at the Biennal de Dance, Lyon, France 9/02.

More Than Black: Afro-Cubans in Tampa by Susan Greenbaum: the story of Sociedad La Union Martí - Maceo.

Judith Bettelheim's CUBAN FESTIVALS: A Century of Afro-Cuban Culture now out, with translation of Ortiz's "The Afro-Cuban Festival Day of the Kings"

The Missing Cuban Musicians, a 34 page report on Bush's Cuban music ban, by Ned Sublette and immigration attorney Bill Martinez, Cuba Research & Analysis Group, 6/24/04

Cuba and Its Music: From the First Drums to the Mambo, 6/04: Ned Sublette's powerful new book on the history of Cuban music to 1952, now published.

Images of the Caribbean in Havana premiers a new film directed by Gloria Rolando, "Nosotros y el Jazz" - Havana youths in the 40's make friends around US jazz culture, 2/12/04

Bata y Bembe de Matanzas I: La presentación de un Iyawo de Chango: new CD from 6/8 Media.

Marcus Mosiah Garvey and Cuba by Eugène Godfried, 6/04

Los Muñequitos' Ricardo Cané obituary - obituario, 6/10/03

Teresa de la Caridad Doval Page and her books, "A Girl Like Che" and Las Posesas de la Havana, 9/04

AfroCubaWeb Home Page Archive: 2006

AfroCubaWeb Home Page Archive: 2005

AfroCubaWeb Home Page Archive: 2004

AfroCubaWeb Home Page Archive: 2003

AfroCubaWeb Home Page Archive: 2002

AfroCubaWeb Home Page Archive: 1999-2001

Our News page has Cuba News,  Cuban Cultural News, and  Cuba: Race & Identity in the News  

National Commission announced for the Commemoration of the founding of the Independents of Color. Se oficializo una Comision Nacional por la conmemoracion de la fundacion de los Independientes de Color. 12/26/07 Photos/Fotos

Film maker Gloria Rolando on panels at Latin American Studies Association, Montreal, 9/6/2007 She will  present My Footsteps in Baraguá,  a film about West Indians in Cuba, during a visit to Toronto, 9/11/07

VIII Workshop of Rumba and Conga “Alfonso Iyaé” CubAché, Bejucal, Havana, 12/2007

Cuba's #1 rumba band Los Muñequitos de Matanzas tours Canada, 7/07-8/07. Must see.

11th annual Humboldt State Explorations in AfroCuban Dance & Drum, 7/21/07-7/28/07

VIII Workshop of Rumba and Conga “Alfonso Iyaé” CubAché, Bejucal, Havana, 12/2007

Cuba's #1 rumba band Los Muñequitos de Matanzas tours Canada, 7/07. Must see.

Painter Roberto Diago launches his web site, 6/07

‘A father and son embrace’: the significance of the encounter between Abakuá and Ekpe.  By Angel Guerrero, the Aberiñán title-holder of the Itiá Mukandá Efól lodge of Havana. 3/07    ‘Se abrazaran un padre con su hijo’: el signifcado del encuentro entre los Abakuá y Ekpe.  Por Angel Guerrero, el Aberiñán de la potencia Itiá Mukandá Efó de La Habana. 3/07

Eugène Godfried in Dialogue with Ricardo Riquenes Herrera on the Partido Independiente de Color & the 1912 Massacre of Blacks in Guantánamo, Cuba, 2/07

Radio Eugene Godfried International:  Numerous shows now available, 2/07, including via streaming audio and video.

Roman Diaz plays at NY Folklore Society and Harlem Stage events; new poem: Oriki. 9/07

Noted poet Jesús Cos Causse passes on, 8/07, Santiago de Cuba. Poems and commentaries.

Nancy Morejón sobre Las Criadas de Pedro Perez Sarduy, 8/07 Remarks by Nancy Morejón on the novel Las criadas de La Habana by Pedro Pérez Sarduy 2/02 Remarques de Nancy Morejon a propos de "Les Bonnes de La Havana.", 2/02

Sociedad Abakuá es tan fuerte en Cuba como en África,dice investigador Norteamericano, WDS,  8/13/07

Voice of the Leopard: Ivor Miller Talks to Ned Sublette, 8/9/07, Afropop Worldwide - the roots of Abakuá and its influence in Cuba

Seeing the people, not Cold War politics, Florida Times-Union, 2/07. By Tonyaa Weathersbee, a member of the Trotter Group, this article is about Alberto Jones, who writes a column on this site.

Cuban Abakuá chants: examining new evidence for the African  Diaspora. by Ivor Miller, African Studies Review, 10/06 [PDF, 2MB]

Extensive Liner Notes for Tambor Lukumi/Notas para Tambor Lukumi featuring an interview with the late Andres Chacon, 10/06 by Ivor Miller. Living spiritual traditions with direct links to Africa

Gilberto Martinez has moved to the US. He was Gloria Rolando/Imagines del Caribe's producer, cameraman, and special effects person. He  has copies of his work including a copy of the not yet commercially released Jazz in US and is available for presentations to universities and cultural centers.

La Visión Imponderable de Marta, la Doméstica por Tomás González Pérez, 7/27/05 review of Las Criadas de La Habana de Pedro Pérez Sarduy

Gordillo page featuring Kongo Cruzado: Cuban Lukumi and Kongo Identities in the Art of Francisco "Gordillo" Arredondo  by Ivor Miller, 9/16/2006. AfroCubaWeb is holding 11 of his paintings for sale, see his Gallery.

Arsenio Rodríguez and the Transnational Flows of Latin Popular Music, new book by David F. García, 9/06

Felipe Garcia Villamil and family playing bata, video on Google, 9/06

Las Criadas de La Habana by Pedro Perez-Sarduy, reviewed by Dina De Luca, Neumann College, in Afro-Hispanic Review, 3/06

Alberto Romero Díaz, singer for Los Muñequitos, 1948-2006. They won the Grammy with him. Hear one of his songs, also  hear Los Muñequitos live on RapidShare, from their 1998 tour, 8/11/06

Percussionist Miguel Angá Diaz dies at 45 in Spain, 8/9/06

The band Cubanos en la Red at cubanosenlared.org has a well developed site with great music videos, 8/06

Etubom Bassey Ekpo Bassey on Ekpe and Cuban Culture, in English y en español, Calabar, Nigeria, 8/06 Also has response from Cubans in English y en Español.

VII Workshop of Rumba and Conga “Alfonso Iyaé” CubAché, Bejucal, Havana, 8th – 10th December 2006

Two publications from Ivor Miller: “The Formation of African Identities in the Americas: Spiritual ‘ethnicity’.” Contours: A Journal of the African Diaspora, dedicated to Rogelio Martinez Fure, 2004.  And “Introduction.” Special Issue. Contours: A Journal of the African Diaspora, based on a conference with Roman Diaz' group Omi Odara, 2003

New CV for ethnologist  Rogelio Martinez Furé, 3/06

Wemilere, CD by Roman Diaz, 1/06

José Martí i Rasismo - su Bishita na Kórzou, Eugene Godfried. Papiamentu version of José Martí and Racism: His Visit to Curaçao, 11/05

Artist Elio Rodriguez has a new exhibit opening at Havana's Galeria 23 y 12 on 11/22/05 lasting to Jan '06

Musicologist and historian Eugene Godfried on Africa Kabisa Radio, Boston,  live & on the Internet, 4 shows in Oct 05, Internet archive.

José Leonardo Chirino - Josef Caridad Gonzales, African Venezuelan Fighters of the 1795 Revolution, by Eugène Godfried, 10/05

José Leonardo Chirino y Josef Caridad Gonzales, Luchadores africanos venezuelanos de la gran revolucion de 1795, por Eugène Godfried, 10/05  José Leonardo Chirino Et Josef Caridad Gonzales, Chefs africains venezuelens de la revolution libertaire de 1795, de Eugène Godfried, 10/05  

Gloria Rolando entrevisada por Yesenia Fernandez Selier, 3/05

Gabriel de la Concepción Valdés – Plácido 9/05 by Eugène Godfried (in English)

El Caribeño: Volumen 1, Nº 1, 9/2005, Boletin Digital de la Casa del Caribe

IX International Conference on African and AfroAmerican Culture," Santiago De Cuba,  4/10/06 - 4/15/06

Nancy Morejon and Nicolas Guillen have pages at the Biblioteca Virtual Miguel de Cervantes

Under the Radar - A Survey of Afro-Cuban Music  premiered at the Chicago Latino Film Festival, 4/05, now out on DVD, 9/05

V Coloquio y Festival Internacional de Música y Poesía "Nicolás Guillén" 7/06 Havana

Hub hops to Cuban beats of Paredes, 6/3/05

Guillermón Moncada and the Defeat of ‘Rancheador’- Slavehunter - Miguel Pérez Céspedes of Guantánamo by Eugène Godfried, 5/05 Guillermón Moncada: Vencedor del Rancheador Miguel Pérez Céspedes de Guantánamo, 5/05

Percussionist and dancer, Ramon Marquez and Adrian Limonta, members of Ballet Folklorico Cutumba, to give workshops in Montreal, 7/92 to 8/3/05

La Masacre De 1812: José Aponte Y Ubarra - El Viejo Problema Racial En Cuba, 5/05,   The Massacre of 1812: José Aponte y Ubarra - Longstanding Racial Problems In Cuba by Eugène Godfried:

Miscelanea II of studies dedicated to Fernando Ortiz (1881-1969): an online transcription, includes "On The Relations Between Blacks And Whites" (1943, English).

Dialogue with Magdalena Cantillo Frometa: on Mariana Grajales Coello, “Mother of the Cuban Nation,” 4/15/05 by Eugène Godfried.

Dialogo Con Magdalena Cantillo Frometa Sobre Mariana Grajales Coello “Madre De La Patría Cubana,” 4/15/05 by Eugène Godfried.

Efiks of Cuba Write Obong of Calabar: We're coming home, Chronicle of Calabar, 2/05.

Domino Sugar workers against the Fanjuls, 2/05.

Carlos Aldama, past director of the Conjunto Folklorico Nacional and Omo Aña, gives lessons in Bay Area

Ysidro Valor teaches song, percussion in Portland, OR. 

Dialogue In Santiago De Cuba With Joel Mourlot Mercaderes On Antonio Maceo Y Grajales “Freedom Worker” by Eugène Godfried, 11/04

Dialogo En Santiago De Cuba Con Joel Mourlot Mercaderes: Antonio Maceo y Grajales, de Eugène Godfried, 11/04

La Maya y la Masacre de 1912: Eugène Godfried En Dialogo Con Maritza Elias, 11/04 

Cuban Popular Music: Renewal Efforts From Above, by Eugène Godfried, 9/04

The African Cuban Diaspora’s Cultural Shelters and Their Sudden Disappearance in 1959, by Eugène Godfried, 8/04

Dialogue with Juan Cruz, Past President, ‘Marianao Club Social’ - La Havana, by Eugène Godfried, 8/6/04

Dialogue with Founding Leaders of Guantanamo’s Social Club ‘La Nueva Era’ by Eugène Godfried, 8/6/04

La Protesta de Baragua: Culture and Popular Music Have the Last Word -- They Say What the Official Culture Can’t, 8/3/04, by Eugène Godfried

Alto Songo -  Son in popular culture and history: resistance and liberation, by Eugène Godfried, 7/04

José Martí y el Racismo: Su Visita a Curazao, by Eugène Godfried, 7/04. English version at José Martí and Racism: His Visit to Curaçao.

Radio Havana's Eugene Godfried questions Fidel advisors' role on racial issues: Reflections On Race And The Status Of People Of African Descent In Revolutionary Cuba, 2/01

Maroons and Palenques in Guantanamo Province - Eugène Godfried interviews Diego Bosch Ferrer, historian and Director of Cultural Patrimony, Guantánamo Province, 7/04

El Alacrán: a comparsa in the Havana carnaval, $12 DVD or VHS. English subtitles. Photo gallery.

Oggun: An Eternal Presence celebrates the life of Lazaro Ros, Yoruba singer, $25, DVD or VHS. English subtitles. Photo gallery. 

My Footsteps in Baragua: English speaking West Indian communities in Cuba.  $25, DVD or VHS. In English. Photo gallery.

Pello's sheet music for bata, Matanzas style, $10

Flor Amalia's script for a play on racism: Donde esta Dios? $15

Gordillo Arredondo paintings re-vision the presence of Africa in Cuba. AfroCubaWeb holds 11 paintings for sale, see his Gallery.

These products from Cuba are legal in the US under the Berman Amendment. The artists get their share of the proceeds.

Amazon.com

You can help support our work by buying from Amazon via any of their links on this site. For delivery in the US only -- soon we will deliver in Europe.  If you see any Amazon links for a given item, you can place your cursor over it and you will get the current new and used price if this is not already showing.

See also our Amazon Highlights.  Note that you can buy books, CDs, and DVDs from many of our authors' and musicians' pages.

Here we feature Kabiosile, with CDs and DVDs direct from Matanzas: