IDENTIDADES 1 ENGLISH IDENTIDADES 9 ENGLISH | Page 11

course, racial problems,” all mixed and covered by a naïveté that allows, without respecting any rule, to stay away from clear of any convention and to follow his own truth.His art is a song to the dispossessed and misfits, to the irreverent and freethinkers. Our cover for this edition is a deserved recognition of the artist and his work. Leonardo Calvo presents, in "SARA: The spontaneity of a deep voice," a genuine Cuban artist who, in the short span of her life, captured in film images such pressing issues of our reality as the racial prejudices, discrimination, marginalization and machismo. To this end, she had to penetrate —with her searching, original and critical as a high stature creator— into the most intricate spaces of our social fabric, which were ignored in "One way or another" by many institutions of the national culture. Her posthumous masterpiece, In one way or another (1974), is a classic of the Cuban cinematography. To Sara Gómez, our highest recognition and respect. The pictorial work of another relegated artist, José Delgado Alfonso, is the topic addressed by José Clemente Garzón in "The imaginary jungle...," which shows Delgado Alfonso´s creation and discourse because of his arduous and constant research on the Palo Monte Rule through formal and conceptual proposals that make a unique style. Yusimí Rodríguez takes advantage of her space in the magazine for "Other ways of looking at Venus ..." to introduce Yanahara Mauri, a 32year photographer who focus on nudity and gender-based topics with a very particular form of creativity and expression. The section closes with "The rebirth of Islam in Cuba," by Iris Ruiz, who deals with a dynamic process in Cuba today: the Muslim communities across the country and their regional particularities. She approaches them from the perspective of their social and religious practices to conclude that there is still no exact data, but it´s evident that the Cuban Muslim community is constantly growing. People of all ages, levels of education and vocational training became familiar with Islam and then decide to practice it. In the section Interviews, Nonardo Perea uses "A bridge between Quito and Havana" for going deeper into the multiple and repeated trips by Cubans to Ecuador. He manages to capture the experiences of the interviewee during the adventure that runs from the purchase of the airline ticket, through the consular proceedings and the stay in the South American country, till the return to Cuba. And finally, from the tenets of Catholicism, Ivonne Lascaiba gives us her perspective about the crisis and problems affecting Cuba and its traditional system. Her brief article "You will know the truth and the truth will set you free" is not only a denunciation of the policies that have prevailed for decades and have deprived Cubans of their right to choose their way of life, but also a warning about the consequences of many Cubans turned away from the Holy Gospels. Dr. Juan Antonio Alvarado Ramos Editor-in-Chief 10