Identidades in English No 4, December 2014 | Page 9

rebellious conversation about self-discovery, protest and challenge, all characteristic of rap.” For
his part, José Clemente Gascón, offers us his second examination of the presence of blackness in
Cuban visual art in “He Who Doesn’t Have Some
Congo Has Some Carabalí,” and reviews the new
expressive directions this art has followed in recent decades.
African-American journalist Bonita Lee Penn examines many of these subjects as they pertain to
the current situation in Cuba in her interesting and
committed article “Looking at Cuba from the
United States.” In her view of Cuba, she explores
the impact that events like AfricAméricas I and
II, and her relations with Cuban activists and artists, have had on her. “Upon examining so many
contrasting and incompatible images, finding the
true Cuba has been a process of continuous discovery…. One of the most interesting things for
me was how Cuban civil society deals with its
own social problems and racism. Perhaps we African Americans here can learn something from
them,” she remarks.
The section on AfricAméricas II closes with visual and poetic reflections by and of participants
of the September 2014 event in Pittsburgh: an illustrative piece by David D Omni, “The True
Kingdom,” and a “Photographic Essay” which offers evidence of the events of that week - including how the city’s citizens embraced it. These are
folks who also have to deal with their own problems, as is evidenced in the attempt to deprive
them of the August Wilson Center, and their success in defending it.
“The Value of Memories” section includes the
second installment of “The Silent Grind,” by Boris González, and with “The Cuban Chapter of the
Spanish Black Legend,” by Robert Castell. The
first takes up once again the story of the dismantling of the primary agro-industrial structure in all

of Cuba’s history, and the economic and social
consequences of the government’s decision to do
so without consulting the people. The author begins by expounding upon another subject with
profound economic and cultural implications: ignorance and the deconstruction of traditions and
customs to impose new identities which lack historical context, content, and legitimacy in Cuban
agricultural culture -- the disastrous consequences of which are already visible. For his part,
Castell studies the effects of propaganda, brainwashing education, and the use of any means possible and available to promote ideas and facts that
are often far from historical truth, which has a distorting effect.
The opening and closing of this issue are very
closely related. In anticipation of the announcement of the reestablishment of diplomatic relations between Cuba and the United States,
Mitchel Ovalle, in his article “Colombia and
Cuba on the ‘Tropical Peace’ Scene,” contextualized Cuba’s ties with Latin America and the rest
of the world. He specifically explores how this
has played out with Colombia, to the point that
Havana became the site of the dialogue between
the Colombian government and the FARC. The
paradox is evident: international successes are in
no way indicative of the functioning of the Cuban
legal system and the Cuban government’s arbitrary actions, human rights violations, and frequent disregard for international, democratic
legislation.
Dr. Juan Antonio Alvarado Ramos
Editor-in-Chief

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