IDENTIDADES 1 ENGLISH IDENTIDADES 7 ENGLISH | 页面 129

for so long. These constitute a powerful
limitation when it comes to defend spaces
and struggle for interests. The time to reopen
civic, intellectual and political debate is at
hand. So is the case with the beginning to
work hard in the area of education, in communities, in order to reaffirm in Cuba’s Afro-descendants knowledge of their history,
which has always been denied and hidden;
strengthen the civic abilities of this important portion of our society, so it can face
the future’s challenges able to fight for its
interests and needs, and also become a determining factor in the restructuring of our
coexistence models in a way that is soundly
based on democratic principles. For several
years now, at the Citizens’ Committee for
Racial Integration (CIR), we’ve been carrying out educational work regarding identity,
civility, and leadership, all destined to offer
the citizens who are the most disadvantaged
the intellectual and legal tools for exercising

their rights. The CIR is a civic platform
committed to full equality and integration.
Organizations and institutions in other countries, the United States, Colombia, Brazil
and Peru, for example, are helping us, given
their accumulated experience and reach. We
are convinced that if what it’s all about is
constructing a new citizenry as the basis for
a solid and viable democracy, it is essential
to sweep away profound inequalities that
oppress us. This can happen if a particular
social sector of our society is given too better self-esteem regarding its identity and
civic role, since it is demographically significant, as would its participation in an election, which would have a great impact on
our immediate future.

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