IDENTIDADES 1 ENGLISH IDENTIDADES 2 ENGLISH | Page 69

his opinion about the subject of Cuban ethnicity.
Among those opinions, he “did not agree with
praising blacks for achieving social status or applauding any entity that accepted them as members, because intelligence and virtue are not concomitant with a darker skin color.” Guillén revealed his disagreement with this opinion and
stated that Ideales de una raza “was a page for
black and Cuban affirmation whose intellectuals
did not believe they were inferior, nor did they
make an effort to demonstrate a non-existent humility. Its pages openly discussed all the problems that affected blacks in Cuba because they
were trying to create a movement filled with mutual understanding among all those who made up
the group’s shared social goals regarding intellect
and education, to create a base for a “Cuban race
free of prejudices.”10
Chocolate had become a national symbol not only
because of his customary boxing wins, but also as
a result of the creation of an ever-increasingly
powerful image in the country’s media. In 1929,
Cuba garnered strength from Chocomanía. In
May of that very same year, the National Boxing
Commission proclaimed him Cuba’s featherweight champion. By early October, Chocolate
and Pincho went to Cuba and were received as
heroes. Havana’s Unión Fraternal offered a banquet in their honor, which was humorously reviewed in Ideales de una Raza by Gustavo Urrutia (“The Banquet for Chocolate”, October 13th,
1929).
Guillén contributed to the national reverie with
his poem “Brief Ode to Kid Chocolate” (December 29th, 1929). It talks about his professional
boxing triumphs and how hard it was for him to
achieve stardom. In addition, Guillén reflected on
what Chocolate meant for Cubans (mostly the
black and mulatto population) and their U.S.

brethren, like the African American Langston
Hughes, who went to see his fights in New York
and other northern cities.11
The first stanza goes:
It is with your gloves
positioned on the end of your squirrel body
and with the punch of your smile,
that you are saving us, Chocolate.12
On February 23rd, 1930, Kid Chocolate began his
third season in Havana with a ten-round fight with
Víctor “Vic” Burrote, at the La P