Afro-Cubans Push Back (2010)

Dear brother Marvin: I applaud your decision to initiate a sober, objective and dispassionate discussion regarding the plight of the black majority in Cuba. decades, as you know, I have dedicated myself to bringing awareness on this serious issue to black progressives all over the world. Now, at last, a section of the Black Left has began to take a much more critical view of events in Cuba, and that can only help to consolidate a real pan-african vision that includes us all. Again, dear brother, thank you for being objective voice appealing to reason rather than passion, facts rather than ideological credo. Warm fraternal regards to you and all of the brothers and sisters who are helping you in that noble endeavor. Carlos MOORE carlosmoore2000@gmail.com Prominent Black Americans Condemn Cuba on A group of prominent black Americans has for the first time publicly condemned Cuba's rights record, demanding Havana stop its callous disregard for black Cubans and declaring that in Cuba... must be confronted. We know first-hand the experiences and consequences of denying civil freedoms on the basis of race, the group said in a statement Monday. For that reason, we are even more obligated to voice our opinion on what is happening to our Cuban brethren. Among the 60 signers were Princeton professor Cornel West, actress Ruby Dee Davis, film director Melvin Van Peebles, former South Florida congresswoman Carrie Meek and Dr. Jeremiah Wright, former pastor of President Barack Obama's church in Chicago. African-American group challenges Cuba on race Why the delayed outcry? All that is needed for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing. Edmund Burke A group of 60 African-American leaders, influenced by Brazil's Abdias Nascimiento, a self-proclaimed admirer of Fidel Castro, condemned racism in Cuba. Congratulations. Claim of Cuban Rejected Pro-government Cuban writers and artists Friday rejected allegations by African-Americans of racism and repression on the island, calling the charges delusional and part of an anti-Cuban campaign. The reply came as four Afro-Cuban dissidents thanked the Americans for their support, and four prominent academics from the English-speaking Caribbean condemned Cuba's continued racial prejudice. The allegations issued Monday by 60 African-Americans touched a raw nerve because it was the first time that U.S. blacks, historically supportive of the Castro government, criticized the island's civil rights record and supported Afro-Cuban dissidents. In a landmark Statement of Conscience by African Americans, 60 prominent black American scholars, artists and professionals have condemned the Cuban regime's apparent crackdown on the country's budding civil-rights movement. Racism in Cuba, and anywhere else in the world, is unacceptable and must be confronted, said the document, which also called for the immediate release of Dr. Darsi Ferrer, a black civil-rights leader imprisoned in July. The U.S. State Department estimates Afro-Cubans make up 62 percent of the Cuban population, with many informed observers saying the figure is closer to 70 percent. Traditionally, African Americans have sided with the Castro regime and unilaterally condemned the United States, which, in the past, explicitly sought to topple the Cuban government. But this public rebuke of Castro's racial policies may well indicate a tide change and a more-balanced attitude. Representing a wide spectrum of political opinion, the document was signed by Cornel West, Princeton University scholar; Ruby Dee, famed actress; Susan Taylor, former Essence magazine editor and current president of the National CARES Mentoring Movement; Julianne Malveaux, Bennett College president; Claudia Mitchell-Kernan, UCLA vice chancellor; the Rev. …