Art and Identity
Discrimination and Censorship Against a Hip Hop Exponent in Manzanillo
Rudisel Batista Solano Independent Journalist Coordinator of The Progressive Arch Party in Granma Province Manzanillo, Granma, Cuba
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n the contemporary Cuban culture, there is a new impulse by the youth. Wonderful talents turn to the intellectual content on diverse forms of making urban or street music. Over here this movement encompasses several genres, such as reggaeton, underground rap and hip hop, which are not entirely accepted by the authorities. Punishment and discrimination are a threat to anyone who opposes the official ideals or tries to defend other principles in collision with these ideals. The lyrics are loaded with strong content coming from the crude Cuban reality, which is saturated with social problems. Immersed in a never-ending sea, the severe social criticism is the fundamental flow that fuels this movement of protest. The latter is joined by more and more young people every day. They are the present and the future of the Cuban civil society, which is in transit towards a new Cuba for all and for the good of all. Sometimes these young people are branded as counterrevolutionaries, the most unpleasant adjective for those who lyrically express what they are feeling and living daily in this society under arbitrary doctrines imposed since their childhood. Such doctrines cannot be transgressed because the powers that be punish the cultural discourses that simply say what people really thought and manifest what they are feeling: the need of change. Freedom is an inalienable right of the human being and it must be respected. Nobody should attempt to silence criteria or thoughts. The ideas must be heard no matter what means are used. Those who want to express their feelings, whether we agree or not, must be allowed to do so, because we all are free to choose. In Manzanillo, this movement has a young figure as leading exponent of hip hop. He is very popular in chats and performances. His name is Yorvanis Ramírez Ponce, but he is artistically known as " The Old Mambí ". He was born on October 19, 1989, and has become a leader because of his impressive courage. He faces those who censure his artistic way of expressing what he doesn’ t like about the totalitarian system, which specialized in subjugating the people.
I found him shirtless in the living room of his humble house at 22 San Silvestre, between May 1st and Sariol streets. Of his several tattoos, one encouraged me to comment: the military rank of Commander in Chief impregnated in his skin at shoulder level. He told me it is a kind of protest against the dictator, because " I am also a commander of the youths and the streets."
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