IDENTIDADES 1 ENGLISH IDENTIDADES 8 ENGLISH | Page 38

Children´s activity
In such a sense it´s a magnificent indication that the bulk of its activities
focuses in the poorest suburbs and
urban areas. It´s not a coincidence that
they are inhabited mainly by blacks and
mestizos. The children seem to be a
particular zone of attention, as we can
appreciate through Afro-Más´ activities
in the peripheral community La Perla
and in the Fraternity shelter in the remote municipality of Arroyo Naranjo,
but also in the downtown area of Old
Havana. At the same time, Afro-Más
has been organizing workshops and
forums for the benefit of the LGBTI
people, not only of African descent, but
with special emphasis on the drama they
are suffering because of a triple discrimination: on grounds of their sexual
preferences, on grounds of the pigmentation of their skin, and on grounds of
belonging to the social strata with fewer
resources and greater disadvantages. All
this causes that some other people,

including many LGBTI whites, are
always looking over their shoulders,
raising suspicions, and even fearing the
LGBTI people of African descent. AfroMás is managing itself with a firm hand
as an organization capable of entering in
alliances not only with diverse LGBTI
communities, but also with bodies of
the civil society. In such a task stands
out the forum "The Cuban LGBTI
people with their own voice". At this
event were present leaders and activists
from Havana and from the inland provinces of Pinar del Rio, Cienfuegos, Villa
Clara, and Matanzas. Thus, Afro-Más´
sphere of influence became national,
despite its few months of difficult task.
The renewing force of its activism has
earned the recognition by outstanding
peaceful fighters for the rights of Afrodescendants and for the ideas progress
and democracy, as the historian, political scientist, and essayist Manuel Cuesta Morúa, spokesman for the political

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