IDENTIDADES 1 ENGLISH IDENTIDADES 5 ENGLISH | Page 104

Cuban Hip-Hop: The
Critical Voice and
Conscience of a Shaken
Society
Leonardo Calvo Cárdenas.
Historiador y politólogo
Historian and political scientist
National Vice-Coordinator, Citizens’ Committee for Racial Integration (CIR)

A

nd one bad day the revolution
triumphed and generated enthusiasm and hope; the great
leader assured that it was a revolution of
the humble, by the humble, and for the
humble. The charismatic messiah said
he’d turn Cuba into an Eden of bread
and freedom, and promised elections in
18 months. Yet, the reality was quite
different. That betrayed revolution, together with consecrated intolerance,
crime, the destruction of families and
values, turned culture into an ideology
and an instrument for manipulating
masses.

long saga of censorship, prohibitions,
purposeful ignoring, injustices, discrimination, and repressions that have
marked the cultural life of the nation for
various decades. It is a nation in which
freedom of creation and artistic expression is no more than a permanently unfulfilled dream. Many world-known,
Cuban artists have been denied
acknowledgement and respect simply
because they do not agree with the regime or for establishing themselves in
another country.

This new way caused talent and artistic
quality to be indefinitely subordinated
to political alignment and, above all,
political fidelity. For Cuba’s governing
elite, one must be unconditional and
also explicitly demonstrate this.

Unfortunately, we suffered due to the
imposition of socialist realism for various decades. We saw so many famous
writers condemned to ostracism, young
singers censored by intolerant commissioners, pop music demonized at art
schools, jazz and rock prosecuted as
though were like medieval heresy.

With the imposition of the “within the
revolution, anything; outside the revolution, nothing” fascist scheme began a

In 1971, homophobic intolerance became legislated and many Cubans were
expelled from stages, galleries, and

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