IDENTIDADES 1 ENGLISH IDENTIDADES 2 ENGLISH | Page 39

their reversal. They are using the intelligence, forbearance and abilities they’ve always had, that in
addition complement their solidarity as a group
and the virtue they developed over centuries of
marginalization. This last element is the foundation of their greatest strength.
The skeptics may not agree with this unproven
but plausible hypothesis; the always prejudiced
will say that if this economic improvement were
true, it would not have come from personal effort
or any kind of work at all, but from illegal activities. Naturally, in considering the two points of
view, the first one deserves much more of our attention, since it is abundantly clear that it is not
poor Cubans, but rather the political, economic
(and mostly white) leaders and administrators
who currently prosper from illegal activity and
corruption. To the poor go the fruits that the black
market and other legally marginal strategies left
to them so they can eat badly. Despite the fact that
survival of this sort is hard to come by without
engaging in some sort of daily illegality, I am referring to people whose lot has improved by dint
of their work, creativity and other individual resources.
The likely sources
A number of different self-employment opportunities have been increasing the kinds of jobs that
blacks and mestizos are determinedly taking up in
Havana, something that the inattentive may have
missed or not seen. Some of these jobs are becoming quite noteworthy and impactful.
Such is the case with passenger transport (taxis),
businesses, cooking and other public services.
These are just a few examples of occupations that
have come about due to the ability to have small,
private businesses. The ability to do nothing other
than basic labor, almost always relying upon
one’s physical strength, e.g., in construction,

dock work or as a bodyguard, is becoming a thing
of the past.
It isn’t that they aren’t doing this particular sort
of work, anyway, which is not demeaning, in and
of itself. What seems significant to me is that they
have expanded their work possibilities at the
same time they are leaving less remunerative jobs
with the State. This is precisely what has begun to
improve their situation.
Just like any other Cubans during this critical period, blacks, too, see themselves driven to abandon their professions and take up less qualified
but better paying employment. In their case, specifically, this may imply having to abandon the
fruits of their academic studies, something they
accomplished by dint of great sacrifice, given
their families’ impoverished situations.
Common among them are stories of parents who
worked extremely hard so that their children
could finish university-level educations (because
despite the fact they don’t have to pay tuition,
there are many other significant costs). Once the
Special Period started, many of them had to set
aside their medical and engineering degrees and
work as bodyguards for the nouveau riche. They
were driven by urgently needing to support themselves and their families.
It might be useful to clarify that the bodyguards
in Havana are not just thugs or bruisers, but rather
more like mediators of the positive energy between danger and their patrons. They are there,
with their bosses, representing a warnin