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Issue: August, 1994

CUBA
Cuba, From A Black, Male, Same-Gender-Loving Perspective

by Cleo Manago

Editors note: I was recently part of a delegation of 200 people from across the country who traveled to Cuba to challenge the U.S. Government on its travel policies regarding that country. While anyone can get to Cuba simply by flying there from another country, current policy makes it illegal for an American to spend one penny there and if prosecuted there is a possible sentence of 10 years in prison and a fine of $250,000. I became acquainted with Cleo Manago on the plane on our way to Cancun, Mexico. He is currently working toward his doctorate degree in Social Anthropology at New College in San Francisco and he agreed to write the following article for this issue of the Sonoma County Free Press. Petra Boardman, who regularly writes a column on Cuba for the Free Press, will be back in the October issue.

As an inheritor (by location of my birth) of Western "Civilization" and its legacy, built on human and ethical contradictions, I have been conditioned to resist dialoguing about, acknowledging or discovering the true elements of "our" histories. I have been encouraged to celebrate the "good things" that happened and repress the contemporary manifestations of a past riddled with deception, inhumane conquest and doctrine that cultivates internalized self-doubt and the reproduction of white patriarchal supremacist thought and practice. I am encouraged to "hush up" about such things while tradition tears away at my heart, integrity, estranging me from my flesh and family.

Maybe my interpretation of things are connected to my sensitive nature, my willingness to notice what's around me; like, how despite complexion many of us live on the verge of a breakdown or perpetually at risk of being traumatized by the whims of someone else; how many of us attempt to fill the void in our spiritual anemia with "ministers", "doctors" and "leaders" who suck our infected blood "In the name of the Lord" for personal prosperity; how many of us spend our waking moments repressing our internal struggles and disappointments, not to unravel our public personas, not to admit that we are hurting, that we "live" in an unfair, disjointed society; how willing many of us are to engage in half developed, reactionary and ill informed conversation, in a heartbeat finding ourselves in the midst of misdirected, abusive venting sessions, letting off steam in an immediate fashion, desperately trying to find temporary relevance determined by how well we emotionally overwhelm someone with passionate rhetoricals and the illusion of personal opinion;how despite energetic debates on current events, many feel like one life-span provides too little time to challenge and change the source of our oppression directly; how we assimilate and viciously compete for a better position in the human "American" food chain of psychic, cultural and spiritual consumption, cultivating the abhorrent nutrients necessary to fill the belly of the beast we affirm through our methodical actions, to whom we are submissive and afraid to confront. And how we "in the land of Liberty" have grown to normalize these phenomena.

Context is Everything: What does this have to do with Cuba? Nothing, until attempting to describe it through the lenses of an African American experience. Being an "American" citizen with thoughts and ponderings formulated on the residue of my "Americanized" notions, it's difficult to put into simple words my experience of the culture, social practices and expressions of Cuban life. But now that I've been to Cuba, I'm anxious to inform you about what I experienced. Cuba is nurtured by a cooperative communal culture that cherishes its youth, loves and respects its elders.

The population of Cuba is primarily people of African descent, and mulattos mixed of African and Latin background. Cuba's strong connection to Africa is celebrated and embraced. This acknowledgement seems to affirm the African people and evokes a self-knowing and comfort all too unfamiliar to "Americans". The island is tropical, surrounded by alluring light blue waters decorated by glowing sands and its stunning native people.

All Cubans, regardless of gender, complexion, sexual preference, age, etc. have free and equal access to high quality education, health care and services. A noticeable sign of the quality of health is that everyone, the young, middle aged and the old all have beautiful, healthy teeth.

While traveling through Cuba I visited a housing complex called La Guinerra. This impressive structure was built under the leadership of women, primarily "Black" women. La Guinerra is located 30 minutes outside of Havana, Cuba's capitol city. A group of women fed up with living in substandard conditions decided to initiate the building of this complex to house the families of La Guinerra. After hearing about the project the president of Cuba, Fidel Castro, came to visit the women personally. Moved by what he witnessed he supplied the women with additional equipment to do the job even better. In Cuba everyone is guaranteed housing, there are no people living in the streets of Cuba. AIDS and same-gender-loving people in Cuba.

The Cuban Revolution is less than forty years old. Much has been done in an effort to equalize the quality of life for all Cuban people. Institutionalized racism (white supremacy), patriarchy and machismo were major aspects of the former regime that preceded Castro's government. The reverberations of this period still linger in the post-Revolution culture still developing in Cuba.

Castro himself has come out more than once against homophobia, and all Cubans are protected from discrimination by law. According to the same-gender-loving people I met, there are people who don't agree with or understand homosexuality but what's called "gay" bashing in the U.S.A. is unheard of in Cuba. Cuban homosexuals are not interested in building a sexualty-based separate community. The idea of this is foreign to Cuban consciousness. Often what's called homophobia by "gays" who visit Cuba is cultural imperialism on the part of these "gays" who tend to think the white "Gay Pride" social model should be adopted by all same-gender-loving people throughout the world.

The widely reported rumors and articles on AIDS concentration camps in Cuba are out of context and pure anti-Cuba propaganda. I visited Cuba's largest AIDS sanitorium and was taken aback by the humane, considerate, intuitive and life affirming approach to care taken by this center. The sanitorium was similar to a large housing complex where all who chose to live there had 24 hour health care, the option of having family members, even a dog or a cat stay with them. Same-gender-loving and heterosexual couples living together at the complex is a common occurrence. I asked people living there about the conditions in which they live. None were happy about having HIV or AIDS but all were very appreciative of the care they received. Many who could go home if they wanted chose to stay where they were guaranteed prepared food, a comfortable home and prompt medical attention. This particular center offered ambulatory care for those with jobs or who wanted to continue with school. To my knowledge there is nothing similar in the U.S.A. The main problem people with AIDS faced was the difficulty in getting the medicines and treatments (pentamidine, bactrim, condoms, etc.) needed from other countries due to the U.S. blockade of Cuba.

The U.S.A. embargo has caused a deficiency in the most basic living items needed to simply function (gas, automobiles, medical and educational supplies, poultry, milk and other food items, toys for the children, etc.), but the most disheartening aspects of my trip was noticing the cruel impact the embargo is having on the children, women and men of Cuba. The U.S. has blocked trade to Cuba by pressuring or threatening other countries that have agreed to do business with Cuba.

Most of us have heard about the alleged Human Rights violations supposedly occuring in Cuba. From what I could see these allegations are not true. I've traveled throughout the world and living in the U.S.A. alone provides many opportunities to observe what traumatized people really look like. The people of Cuba are struggling and in some cases suffering due to the lack of ample materials needed to function to their full capacity. But this is primarily a result of the senseless U.S. blockade, not the Cuban government. Despite this dilemma the Cuban people are not traumatized. They are a tranquil people who don't have to deal with or fathom race riots, Jeffrey Dalmers, or an Olympic athlete bashing the leg of a competitor to ensure victory. This type of unprincipalled madnessis not available to demoralize the hearts and spirits of the Cuban people. People come first in Cuba, not white supremacy, not big business.

It's important to remember that the Revolution is only 33 years old and that previous to it Cuba was run by white supremacist, elitist, europeans and "Americans" and many of the "Africans" were the servants of these people. The residue of this era still reverberates in the personality of Cuba. Castro and his comrades eliminated institutional race and gender oppression as a part of the Revolution, but it's still possible to see attitudinal color biases lingering in the culture.

Another side effect of the dwindling resources resulting from reaching the 34th year of the blockade is that Cuban cultural activities such as film and other costly means of artistic expression has been all but destroyed. Consequently "American" movies are being shown in Cuba. Like most "American" movies they portray people of color and women in a negative light and glamorize the lives of Caucasian Americans. The same manipulation of "American" minds that occur through this medium is proliferating attitudinal white supremacy, though institutionally it has been dismantled. The majority of the people I saw on Cuban TV tended to be lighter skinned Cubans. There are thousands of "Black" Cuban doctors, lawyers, dentists, teachers etc. Cuba has so many trained professionals that they are able to share them with other countries such as Azania (South Africa) and Vietnam. During Mandela's inauguration Fidel Castro received the most enthusiastic welcome, second to Mandela himself, because of his active (as opposed to rhetorical) support of ending apartheid. Castro was the only leader in the world to send in troops to "South Africa" to fight against the apartheid regime.

There is A LOT we could learn from Cuba. We could learn the importance of cooperation, the importance of affirming the culture of a people, the importance of loving our children and providing an environment that doesn't traumatize and cause them to question their value. We could learn what could happen if a society is not built on the reproduction of the supremacy of one group. We could relearn the preciousness of the human heart. We could learn how to build political and social systems that affirm humanity and inspire mutual respect.

As you may know it is illegal for "Americans" to travel to Cuba. I believe that "our" government is apprehensive to let its citizens witness first hand another way of life that has higher human regard than what we experience in the land of liberty. I enjoyed and love the Cuban culture immensely. I fell in love with the myriad of smiles, good naturedness and varying experiences I had with the people of Cuba. I will be back. I stongly suggest that those of you who have never been, go for yourselves. I had the opportunity to meet with Cuban government officials. Fidel and his government simply want to do things in their own way. Their way has had some impressive results especially considering that they have been living with the boot of the U.S.A. blockade on their necks since 1959. We who believe in freedom should advocate for the lifting of this useless, racist and barbaric blockade.

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