Afro-Cuban identity.4 ever

[AfroCuban]

Comrades;

i am going to share with you my private story

A case for Afro-Cuban identity. For two hundred years, Cuban nationalists of all stripes have pushed and led their compatriots towards the image of an island unified in experience and ideology. Afro-Cubans have always been active in this struggle. They have been soldiers and commanders, poets and senators for the cause of an independent Cuba. Yet, Afro-Cubans never equally received by their brethren, have continued to pass on a separate cultural identity quite outside the Cuban norm. How did this identity come into existence? How have political struggles affected the role and representation of Afro-Cubans in Cuban society? How has the issue of separate identities been resolved at the national level?





What follows is a two-part paper addressing Afro-Cuban identity. In the first part we will focus on Cuba prior to the 1959 Revolution, providing a brief historical overview of the period between the arrival of the first African slaves and the neo-colonial/independence era of the early twentieth century. This will help us understand how Afro-Cuban identity was formed in that time, what shape it took, and how it fit in the national context. The second part of the paper will focus on the post-revolutionary dialogue concerning race relations and national unity/disunity.

Origins of African Cuba and the Beginnings of a New Identity

The first African slaves arrived in Cuba in 1510 or 1511 with Diego Valezquez. Africans were at first considered supplements to the slave labor of captured “Indians� native to the island. But Spanish diseases and massacres quickly decimated the Indian population, and the Cuban colony soon “had� to rely entirely upon captured individuals imported from Africa.



The slaves that came to Cuba represented a myriad of cultural identities, yet nearly all belonged to one of three basic language groups: Niger-Congo (of West Africa), Songhzi (the south and northwestern Sudan) and Hamito-Semitic (North-West Africa and the central and western Sudan). This larger relation between small cultural units was to be the basis for forging a new cultural identity of shared origin and struggle in Cuba. By referring to these language groups as “culture clusters.� My term specifically denotes a set of cultures whom, though separate, interact, share certain cultural traits (religion, family structure) and who aim to maintain cooperation throughout the cluster. In other words, these language families are made up of independent groups who, having shared geographic space, have developed close diplomatic relations with the other groups. Minor differences between cultural units could be overlooked, since they seemed quite familiar in comparison to Europeans and other populations, and especially since the need for communication must have been so great.

This is not to say it was an easy process: historical documentation shows that there was great contestation over status and cultural identity within African slave groups. But perhaps immediately, perhaps over several generations, Afro-Cubans began to realign themselves into the emerging patterns of distinct Afro-Cuban cultures. As one writer proposes a perceived common history and sense of place (sub-Saharan Africa) helped to unite the ethnie, even though or especially because Africa has become a vision, a dream in opposition to the current reality. “An ethnie need not be in physical possession of ‘its’ territory; what matters is that it has a symbolic geographical center, a sacred habitat, a ‘homeland’, to which it may symbolically return...ethnicity is a matter of myths, memories, values and symbols...�



These myths and symbols Afro-Cubans definitely had. There was a unity of certain spiritual beliefs among African populations: a supreme being who created the universe exists. This being is distant from humans. There also exist less powerful deities, sometimes ancestors, who can affect the physical world. The concept of power is key: all the world is dynamic agency, and humans must interact in this sphere through divination, spirit possession, sacrifice, libation and humility in order to retain a favorable position in the spiritual-physical order. Perhaps also important were ways of knowing: intuitive and participatory as opposed to the analytical and dissective methods of Europeans.

But this apparent Pan-Africanism was not as neat nor as complete as portrayed in the movies!!. Afro-Cubans came to identify with units more specific than the Afro-Cuban population at large. There existed several major ethnic groups: the Lucumi (Yoruba), Congo, and Carabali. Much of the future shape of Afro-Cuban culture would take place around these three dominant ethnic histories.

Cabildos: Mutual Aid Societies

The essential organization for perpetuating African culture in Cuba became the cabildo, societies of mutual aid. These were extensions of a similar institution widespread in Africa which was permitted in the Americas and Spain by Spanish law to all free persons. They were formed in Cuba by freed slaves and their descendants to pursue justice and deal with specific incidents of maltreatment. They were also centers of religion and worship. For example, the Ekoi brought from Cameroon and Nigeria their “Cabildos Secreta de Abakua,� an all-male ensemble which met to venerate their patron spirit, the leopard, and to discuss values of nobility and government.



It was in part through these cabildos, along with other secret societies, that distinct Afro-Cuban religions took shape. These religions tended to fuse aspects of African spirituality and Spanish Catholicism. For example, Santeria includes the worship of Christian saints as well as African deities such as Olofin, a Yoruba god, and infuses each with African conceptions of mysticism, power, and earthly influence. Afro Cuban, Anthropologist Carlos Echeveria suggests that this was possible due to an established African pattern of adopting the religious aspects of neighboring populations. Many African societies view alternate religions as complimentary to their own rather than competing with it. Moreover, this fusion acted as a way to protect African spirituality and knowledge: Afro-Cubans would attend Christian church and then return home to praise their own god and spirits. Afro-Cuban religion appeared to many whites to be Christianity, perhaps only slightly tainted by the what whites called * our savagery
Afro-Cuban dance originated in the cabildos as well, originally serving a religious function, as it still does. But over time, and through connections with the white and creole populations, many popular forms also arose ( i will discus later). Finally, the cabildo served a critical political function, and it is to this topic we turn next.

Political Struggles

“There was a moment in Cuba’s history, during the early half of the nineteenth century, when the historical possibility of two Cuban cultures existed, as the white creole culture and the black culture of resistance were developing in separate ways. But the second half of the century and the black role in achieving Cuban independence changed the historical course -

The development of Afro-Cuban culture was by no means an internal process alone. Afro-Cubans were very active in politics, from early slave revolts through the independence movement and after US intervention. They fought at times alongside white Cubans, at times against the whites, and at times against themselves. Not only did Afro-Cuban society change the character of Cuban politics, but political struggle and repression changed the character of Afro-Cuban society.



As early as 1812, Cabildos were centers of plots to overthrow the colonial government (the Yoruba Cabildo Shango Tedum). Afro-Cubans organized and fought in early revolutionary efforts, in the Ten Years War (a failed mid-nineteenth century fight against the colonial government) and in the War for Independence at the end of the nineteenth century. Many Afro-Cubans became known for their efforts politically and on the battlefield. The greatest symbol among them became the mulatto Antonio Maceo, “the Bronze Titan,�who began his career organizing intellectual circles in Santiago in 1864. He worked his way up to second in command of the independence army, and survived numerous injuries in battle. He came to “symbolize the revolution itself,� and his eventual death fighting the Spanish in 1896 caused a great loss of morale within the Cuban independence forces . Maceo had led both blacks and whites in battle, and was admired (seemingly) by all but the colonists. The colonial forces instead issued publications stating that Maceo’s intent was to create a black political regime, and advising Cubans to “Remember Haiti.� Yet the idea of Maceo remains to this day in Cuba a powerful symbol, (and a direct ancestor) that of a charismatic leader who could act as the physical embodiment of a century of political struggle.



Many whites also joined the struggle for black emancipation and justice. In 1880, Jose Marti (still the national hero of Cuba) said, “There is in Cuba a considerable mass of black people who are as high minded and intellectually able as whites....the black race is noble of spirit and soul.� Yet the efforts of Antonio Maceo and thousands like him remained unreciprocated. Even with the arrival of Cuban independence, blacks were excluded from the political realm, a result of both U.S. interventionist policies and Cuban white discrimination. Seeking a way to participate in governance, many joined the Partido Independiente de Color. This too was officially banned in 1910. At every turn, blacks attempts to join in Cuban society were met with resistance. Should it be surprising, then, that they formed such strong cultural identities within the Afro-Cuban population? Watching patterns of historical exclusion, it becomes clear that a distinct and resistant Afro-Cuban identity was formed in part by white resistance to integration. All the same, the Afro-Cuban sacrifices for the “national cause� helped lay the social foundation for change to come.



The nineteenth century in Cuba saw repeated wars for independence and the abolishment of slavery (1886). Yet none of these dated events are particularly representative of the Cuban reality. Each law passed regarding the relation of blacks to Cuban society was routinely broken. The “independence� of Cuba was marked by the occupation of Cuba by the United States, and neo-colonial relationships thereafter. These dates and laws are better interpreted as markers of points where official rhetoric began to change due to considerable social pressure, or where political realities changed. But such political change does not necessarily spell social change. In practice, historical shifts are nearly always blurred. Therefore, it is more accurate to talk about the process of changing race relations in Cuba in social terms rather than in terms of events and dates.



In the early twentieth century Cuba became an independent state, but Afro-Cubans in Cuba still found themselves living an “invisible life.� The “Social Question,� as it was known in political language, was most often best left ignored. After four centuries of living separately from whites, unique religions and rituals were deeply entrenched in the lives of Afro-Cubans. Politics failed to link the diverging cultures of Cuba into one national people. But education and the arts would not.. In a 1911 speech, Cuban intellectual Fernando Ortiz told the Havana public schools that music should be taught in primary schools. This would create a national space of level playing ground where racial animosity would give way to greater curiosities and powers of the human spirit. It was this sort of practice and attitude that over time helped change the national character of Cuba. From the poems of Nicolas Guillen to the messages of the martyred Jose Marti, ideas of the richness of Afro-Cuban culture slowly seeped into the greater national consciousness.

With the breakthrough of jazz in the 1920's and other black-based arts, African traditions ceased to be backward and became fashionable. After centuries of slow progress on the island, Afro-Cuban artists and authors rocketed to not only national but international prominence, joining North American stars such as Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker at the top of their fields. Not only did this help give visibility to Afro-Cuban culture, but it soon helped define the national image of Cuba as a whole. Afro-Cuban based dances such as the rumba, music such as son, and Afro-Cuban drumming became synonymous with the island. The Afro-Cuban identity of art, woven into every level of Afro-Cuban culture for centuries, became widely admired for its ingenuity and difference.

In 1940 the Constituent Assembly made “illegal and punishable any discrimination based on sex, race, color or class, and any other discrimination that would hurt human dignity.� Even though the decision was prompted by changing public opinion in Cuba, there still existed a cultural stigma centuries old that claimed lighter skin is closer to God, thinks more clearly, is better. This is where race relations in Cuba and Afro-Cuban identity stood at mid-century, on the eve of the revolution.





Octavia Echelon characterized the ethnie as fundamentally defensive. In light of this study, I think we also must consider the ethnie’s capability to be fundamentally pro-active. While Afro-Cuban identity was forged from a shared vision of a homeland, a shared enemy and shared trials, it has also shown itself to be remarkably flexible. In contrast to Smith’s definition of an ethnie seeking to return to an idealized past, Afro-Cuban cultures have adopted and transformed the knowledge of other groups (Catholic saints) to create a fusion of greater knowledge. They have also made various attempts to be a part of a shared Cuban national identity, to the point that Afro-Cuban music is probably the most common international representation of what Cuba is. ****Yet throughout this process, Afro-Cuban cultures have not for a moment ceased to emphasize their essential difference from the world around them***. Although the nation of Cuba would like to claim African traditions for itself, these traditions have always existed very much outside of the state. That has, in fact, been their function: to provide a home for a marginalized group pushed outside of the state structure. In addition to retaining culture for its own sake, establishing strong links across “culture clusters� became a very real, needed and rational technique for protecting Afro-Cuban individuals and communities against exploitation.

For this reason, contemporary attempts to fully integrate Afro-Cubans into greater Cuban society meet with frustration. Loyalties have been formed, and in a sense, Cuban society missed its chance to form fully equal links long ago. By the time Cuban national sentiments were ready to welcome Afro-Cuban participation, the roots of Afro-Cubanism had grown too deep: a separate identity had been formed.

i place this here so that u understand that we as Afro-Cubans chose to live or die in our own birth nation and that perhaps since this is not our nation we simply chose to live in it..for now There is not one..not one of my compadres who does not want to return to Cuba 4 ever one day....i am one of them.





Cultura Afrocubana 1: El Negro en Cuba 1492-1844. (Miami: Ediciones Universal, 1988), 19.




Leopold Sedar Senghor. “On African Socialism.� Coursepack, 1-2.


Roberto Nodal. “The Black Man in Cuban Society: From Colonial Times to the Revolution�


Aline Helg. Our Rightful Share: The Afro-Cuban Struggle for Equality, 1886-1912

Antonio Benitez-Rojo. “The Role of Music in the Emergence of Afro-Cuban Culture�

[ Jose Canton Navarro. History of Cuba: the Challenge of the Yoke and the Star.