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of Marthadela Tamayo about how an
open conversation on discrimination is
postponed. On a journey of reflection
against discrimination conducted by the
Citizens Committee for Racial Integration (CIR), it was clearly demonstrated
that even the recent congress of the
Communist Party sidestepped the need
for a national action plan against racism, as the CIR has been demanding
along with other citizen platforms, such
as the Brotherhood of Negritude and
The Racial Unity Alliance. In view of
the obvious manifestations and racist
attitudes of the ruling class, as well as
of the manifestations of institutional
racism in certain spaces and the discriminatory bias against people of
African descent in some regions of the
country, the historian and political
scientist Leonardo Calvo proposes that
overcoming them should be a "commitment of all for the good of all." This
is the title of his piece intending to
emphasize that, as demonstrated by the
independent anti-racist movement,
bringing together the citizens from all
social backgrounds is crucial for pursuing equality and both the historical and
social justice. It should be an effort by
both the whites and the blacks committed to the ideal of a fully integrated
nation, free of privileges and exclusions." In such an effort, the LGBTI
community of African descent has a
role to play. From it has emerged the
organization AfroMás, regarded by the
writer and journalist José Hugo Fernandez as "the voice" of that community,
because it is certainly a non-exclusive
organization, but it focused on empowering the LGBTI community of African
descendants. AfroMás facilitates the
defense of their rights and tries to encourage the rest of the society to leave
behind the intolerance and the discrimination, because it is necessary not only
to advance as individuals, but also to
develop the country. The road ahead is
neither short nor smooth, and the jour-

ney won´t be a cakewalk for AfroMás,
as the author asserts, but the organization has consolidated its position in
Cuba and has just carried its message
about the role race, poverty and social
class beyond the national boundaries,
since some of its members recently took
part in a multidisciplinary workshop on
medical care of AIDS, under the sponsorship of the Platform for Cuban Integration, along with representatives of
the Institute Blacks AIDS (Los Angeles,
California ), the Health Department of
Broward County (Florida) and other US
institutions. Given that the problems of
race and class are global, we has included the special section "The look of the
Other" for allowing people from another
socio-geographic contexts to share with
us their experiences related to common
issues. Thusly we have the deep reflection by the Vice President for Public
Participation Public Agenda, Matt
Leighninger, on social learning (and
unlearning) about race. Starting from
the 1990´s race riots in major the US
cities, Leighninger runs through the
historic trail of how the Americans
learned to discuss issues of race and
became able to move from words to
action in social conflicts. Instead of just
setting an arena where everyone would
be equally treated by teachers, judges,
directors, officials, and so on, the communities began to build public arenas
where the social actors openly
acknowledge their differences and agree
to continuously cooperate on an equal
footing. The lesson drawn by Leighninger is one of paramount importance
for democratic governance worldwide:
improving the citizen´s participation in
public debates and increasing the intercultural understanding are complementary tasks. In the unfinished business of
the debate about race, the public participation presupposes recognizing the
differences and appreciating all cultures
so that the various experiences with
discrimination and prejudice can be

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