Marta Caminero-Santangelo
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- September 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780813030838
- eISBN:
- 9780813039213
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University Press of Florida
- DOI:
- 10.5744/florida/9780813030838.003.0005
- Subject:
- Literature, World Literature
This chapter discusses the dominant Cuban exile narrative of cubanidad or Cubanness. The U.S. Latino/Latina literature has very recently begun to address directly, and challenge, the element of ...
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This chapter discusses the dominant Cuban exile narrative of cubanidad or Cubanness. The U.S. Latino/Latina literature has very recently begun to address directly, and challenge, the element of surprise associated with the discovery of Chinese Cubans. The discussion examines two Cuban American novels, Monkey Hunting and Days of Awe, by Cristina Garcia and Achy Obejas respectively, against the backdrop of Cuban exile narratives that have posited a singular, white, and Catholic national identity for Cuba.Less
This chapter discusses the dominant Cuban exile narrative of cubanidad or Cubanness. The U.S. Latino/Latina literature has very recently begun to address directly, and challenge, the element of surprise associated with the discovery of Chinese Cubans. The discussion examines two Cuban American novels, Monkey Hunting and Days of Awe, by Cristina Garcia and Achy Obejas respectively, against the backdrop of Cuban exile narratives that have posited a singular, white, and Catholic national identity for Cuba.
Devyn Spence Benson
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- September 2016
- ISBN:
- 9781469626727
- eISBN:
- 9781469626741
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of North Carolina Press
- DOI:
- 10.5149/northcarolina/9781469626727.003.0004
- Subject:
- History, Latin American History
In the 1960s Cubans moved back and forth between Cuba and the United States, but even when they did not, the flow of ideas, histories, and debates about race shaped how Cubans, Cuban Americans, and ...
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In the 1960s Cubans moved back and forth between Cuba and the United States, but even when they did not, the flow of ideas, histories, and debates about race shaped how Cubans, Cuban Americans, and African Americans understood race and revolution. Chapter 3 explores three parallel forces that defined the role race played in the Cuban diaspora: 1) the influences the campaign to eliminate racial discrimination had on Cuban decisions to go to the United States; 2) the movement of racial rhetoric between Cuba and southern Florida; and 3) the similar but divergent ways that Afro-Cubans experienced exile. Importantly, this chapter uses oral histories to examine how Afro-Cuban exiles struggled to create a safe space for their families in Cuba or southern Florida—a situation that led many of them to relocate to northern U.S. cities instead of Miami.Less
In the 1960s Cubans moved back and forth between Cuba and the United States, but even when they did not, the flow of ideas, histories, and debates about race shaped how Cubans, Cuban Americans, and African Americans understood race and revolution. Chapter 3 explores three parallel forces that defined the role race played in the Cuban diaspora: 1) the influences the campaign to eliminate racial discrimination had on Cuban decisions to go to the United States; 2) the movement of racial rhetoric between Cuba and southern Florida; and 3) the similar but divergent ways that Afro-Cubans experienced exile. Importantly, this chapter uses oral histories to examine how Afro-Cuban exiles struggled to create a safe space for their families in Cuba or southern Florida—a situation that led many of them to relocate to northern U.S. cities instead of Miami.
Lynette M. F. Bosch
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- May 2020
- ISBN:
- 9781683400905
- eISBN:
- 9781683401193
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University Press of Florida
- DOI:
- 10.5744/florida/9781683400905.003.0013
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Latin American Studies
Art historian Lynette M. F. Bosch concentrates on the first generation of postrevolutionary exile artists, which she calls the “Cuban-American Exile Vanguardia,” who arrived in the United States ...
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Art historian Lynette M. F. Bosch concentrates on the first generation of postrevolutionary exile artists, which she calls the “Cuban-American Exile Vanguardia,” who arrived in the United States between 1959 and 1980. Bosch emphasizes that many members of this diasporic generation explore “identity, hybridity, transnationalism, and the emotional and experiential territory of exile.” She also argues that these artists recast traditional notions of lo cubano (Cubanness) as lo cubanoamericano (Cuban-Americanness) through visual representations of “life on the hyphen,” that is, the blending of Cuban and American cultural practices. Examples of these hybrid exile artists include Humberto Calzada, Jake Fernandez, and Arturo Rodríguez.Less
Art historian Lynette M. F. Bosch concentrates on the first generation of postrevolutionary exile artists, which she calls the “Cuban-American Exile Vanguardia,” who arrived in the United States between 1959 and 1980. Bosch emphasizes that many members of this diasporic generation explore “identity, hybridity, transnationalism, and the emotional and experiential territory of exile.” She also argues that these artists recast traditional notions of lo cubano (Cubanness) as lo cubanoamericano (Cuban-Americanness) through visual representations of “life on the hyphen,” that is, the blending of Cuban and American cultural practices. Examples of these hybrid exile artists include Humberto Calzada, Jake Fernandez, and Arturo Rodríguez.
Teishan A. Latner
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- September 2018
- ISBN:
- 9781469635460
- eISBN:
- 9781469635484
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of North Carolina Press
- DOI:
- 10.5149/northcarolina/9781469635460.003.0005
- Subject:
- History, African-American History
Chapter Four explores the origins of the Antonio Maceo Brigade, an organization composed of Cuban American students and intellectuals who broke with the anticommunism of their parent’s generation to ...
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Chapter Four explores the origins of the Antonio Maceo Brigade, an organization composed of Cuban American students and intellectuals who broke with the anticommunism of their parent’s generation to seek reconciliation with the Cuban government, the reunification of the Cuban diaspora, and the normalization of U.S.-Cuba relations. Shaped by experiences in the Civil Rights and anti–Vietnam War movements, these émigré youth rejected the anti-Castro rhetoric of Cuban exile communities, provoking a campaign of intimidation and terrorism by rightwing Cuban American hardliners. Members of the Brigade traveled to Cuba to reunite with family, learn about the Cuban Revolution’s social achievements, and perform volunteer labor. In the brief warming of diplomatic relations encouraged by the Jimmy Carter administration, visits to Cuba by progressive Cuban Americans helped catalyze a shift in the Cuban government’s relations with the Cuban diaspora, initiating an unprecedented space for Cuban American leftwing politics.Less
Chapter Four explores the origins of the Antonio Maceo Brigade, an organization composed of Cuban American students and intellectuals who broke with the anticommunism of their parent’s generation to seek reconciliation with the Cuban government, the reunification of the Cuban diaspora, and the normalization of U.S.-Cuba relations. Shaped by experiences in the Civil Rights and anti–Vietnam War movements, these émigré youth rejected the anti-Castro rhetoric of Cuban exile communities, provoking a campaign of intimidation and terrorism by rightwing Cuban American hardliners. Members of the Brigade traveled to Cuba to reunite with family, learn about the Cuban Revolution’s social achievements, and perform volunteer labor. In the brief warming of diplomatic relations encouraged by the Jimmy Carter administration, visits to Cuba by progressive Cuban Americans helped catalyze a shift in the Cuban government’s relations with the Cuban diaspora, initiating an unprecedented space for Cuban American leftwing politics.
Monika Gosin
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- January 2020
- ISBN:
- 9781501738234
- eISBN:
- 9781501738258
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Cornell University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7591/cornell/9781501738234.003.0003
- Subject:
- History, Cultural History
Chapter two analyzes the coverage of the 1980 Mariel boatlift in the Spanish language El Miami Herald newspaper. Stigmatized as criminals in the mainstream press, the Marielitos were younger, poorer, ...
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Chapter two analyzes the coverage of the 1980 Mariel boatlift in the Spanish language El Miami Herald newspaper. Stigmatized as criminals in the mainstream press, the Marielitos were younger, poorer, and “blacker” than were Cubans from previous immigration waves. Examining the dilemmas faced by established Cuban exiles, who during the Cold War desired to both support their new compatriots and escape the Marielito stigma, the chapter argues that white dominant tropes about laziness, dependency, and criminality were utilized by Cuban voices to set themselves apart from black or “unworthy” migrants. Juxtaposing the newspaper discourse and Afro-Cuban testimonials, the chapter illustrates how racist attitudes from Cuba and the United States intersected to impact their acceptance by the local (white) Cuban community. The chapter underscores the crucial role blackness played in the Mariel stigma, and illustrates the continued utility of anti-black racializing discourses in current notions of “worthy citizenship.”Less
Chapter two analyzes the coverage of the 1980 Mariel boatlift in the Spanish language El Miami Herald newspaper. Stigmatized as criminals in the mainstream press, the Marielitos were younger, poorer, and “blacker” than were Cubans from previous immigration waves. Examining the dilemmas faced by established Cuban exiles, who during the Cold War desired to both support their new compatriots and escape the Marielito stigma, the chapter argues that white dominant tropes about laziness, dependency, and criminality were utilized by Cuban voices to set themselves apart from black or “unworthy” migrants. Juxtaposing the newspaper discourse and Afro-Cuban testimonials, the chapter illustrates how racist attitudes from Cuba and the United States intersected to impact their acceptance by the local (white) Cuban community. The chapter underscores the crucial role blackness played in the Mariel stigma, and illustrates the continued utility of anti-black racializing discourses in current notions of “worthy citizenship.”
Christina D. Abreu
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- January 2016
- ISBN:
- 9781469620848
- eISBN:
- 9781469620862
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of North Carolina Press
- DOI:
- 10.5149/northcarolina/9781469620848.003.0006
- Subject:
- History, Latin American History
This chapter turns to Miami and discusses the role of Cubans and Cuban popular culture in the city. It examines the social clubs Círculo Cubano and Juventud Cubana, and the nightclubs Tropicana and ...
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This chapter turns to Miami and discusses the role of Cubans and Cuban popular culture in the city. It examines the social clubs Círculo Cubano and Juventud Cubana, and the nightclubs Tropicana and Barra Guys and Dolls, whose events and activities illustrate the early emergence of “Cuban Miami” in the context of the ideology and racialized practices of Pan-Americanism, and against the backdrop of the Cuban Revolution. Through the Spanish-language press, the Cuban groups in the city also demonstrated an early instance of pan-Lantino/a unity in the struggle for social justice. During their stay in Miami, many black Cuban artists found themselves in a Jim Crow city that was protective of its black-white model of racial classification but inconsistent in its treatment and categorization of Cubans and Latino/as of color.Less
This chapter turns to Miami and discusses the role of Cubans and Cuban popular culture in the city. It examines the social clubs Círculo Cubano and Juventud Cubana, and the nightclubs Tropicana and Barra Guys and Dolls, whose events and activities illustrate the early emergence of “Cuban Miami” in the context of the ideology and racialized practices of Pan-Americanism, and against the backdrop of the Cuban Revolution. Through the Spanish-language press, the Cuban groups in the city also demonstrated an early instance of pan-Lantino/a unity in the struggle for social justice. During their stay in Miami, many black Cuban artists found themselves in a Jim Crow city that was protective of its black-white model of racial classification but inconsistent in its treatment and categorization of Cubans and Latino/as of color.
Melanie M. Ziegler
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- September 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780813030876
- eISBN:
- 9780813039701
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University Press of Florida
- DOI:
- 10.5744/florida/9780813030876.003.0003
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Latin American Studies
This chapter traces the U.S.-Cuban cooperative efforts which paved the way for the 1994–1995 migration agreements that radically changed and redefined the U.S. immigration policy towards Cuban ...
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This chapter traces the U.S.-Cuban cooperative efforts which paved the way for the 1994–1995 migration agreements that radically changed and redefined the U.S. immigration policy towards Cuban exiles. This chapter discusses the four major waves of postrevolutionary migrations from Cuba to the United States. It also includes an analysis of the political and economic factors that gave rise to the migration of Cubans to the U.S. In this chapter, the focus is on the evolution of the 1994–95 U.S.-Cuban migration agreements and examines why the U.S. and Cuba exhibited cooperation and mutual interests in curbing illegal migration despite having a history of hostility towards each other. The chapter also includes an update on how the George W. Bush administration faced the issues of U.S-Cuban migration agreements.Less
This chapter traces the U.S.-Cuban cooperative efforts which paved the way for the 1994–1995 migration agreements that radically changed and redefined the U.S. immigration policy towards Cuban exiles. This chapter discusses the four major waves of postrevolutionary migrations from Cuba to the United States. It also includes an analysis of the political and economic factors that gave rise to the migration of Cubans to the U.S. In this chapter, the focus is on the evolution of the 1994–95 U.S.-Cuban migration agreements and examines why the U.S. and Cuba exhibited cooperation and mutual interests in curbing illegal migration despite having a history of hostility towards each other. The chapter also includes an update on how the George W. Bush administration faced the issues of U.S-Cuban migration agreements.
Luis Martínez-Fernández
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- January 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780813049953
- eISBN:
- 9780813050416
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University Press of Florida
- DOI:
- 10.5744/florida/9780813049953.001.0001
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Latin American Studies
This book is a comprehensive, interpretative history of the Cuban Revolution, from the time of Batista’s 1952 coup to the present. The book offers a balanced perspective on the revolution by ...
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This book is a comprehensive, interpretative history of the Cuban Revolution, from the time of Batista’s 1952 coup to the present. The book offers a balanced perspective on the revolution by recognizing its accomplishments, pointing out its shortcomings, and denouncing its excesses. The book is arranged chronologically in eight chapters, which trace the rebellion against Batista, the rise to power of the Fidelistas, the return to a sugar-focused economy, the Sovietization of the Cuban economy and semi-institutionalization of the structures of power, the rectification process of the late 1980s, the profound crisis of the Special Period, and Cuba’s survival ever since. The book applies seven threads to navigate the revolutionary labyrinth: “many Cubas”; “an island on horseback”; “the longest ninety miles”; “the pendular revolution”; “the art of triangulation”; “the revolution’s third man”; and “the persistent plantation.”Less
This book is a comprehensive, interpretative history of the Cuban Revolution, from the time of Batista’s 1952 coup to the present. The book offers a balanced perspective on the revolution by recognizing its accomplishments, pointing out its shortcomings, and denouncing its excesses. The book is arranged chronologically in eight chapters, which trace the rebellion against Batista, the rise to power of the Fidelistas, the return to a sugar-focused economy, the Sovietization of the Cuban economy and semi-institutionalization of the structures of power, the rectification process of the late 1980s, the profound crisis of the Special Period, and Cuba’s survival ever since. The book applies seven threads to navigate the revolutionary labyrinth: “many Cubas”; “an island on horseback”; “the longest ninety miles”; “the pendular revolution”; “the art of triangulation”; “the revolution’s third man”; and “the persistent plantation.”
Paolo Spadoni
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- September 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780813035154
- eISBN:
- 9780813038896
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University Press of Florida
- DOI:
- 10.5744/florida/9780813035154.003.0005
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Latin American Studies
This chapter tracks the flow of hard currency reaching Cuba from the United States in order to provide evidence of the importance for the Cuban economy of activities carried out by U.S. citizens and ...
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This chapter tracks the flow of hard currency reaching Cuba from the United States in order to provide evidence of the importance for the Cuban economy of activities carried out by U.S. citizens and firms. More specifically, it analyzes the presence of U.S. visitors on the island, the flow of remittances from Cuban exiles, payments to the Cuban government by American carriers for telecommunications services, and U.S. investments in foreign companies that operate in the Cuban market. It also examines U.S. food sales to Havana and other recent developments.Less
This chapter tracks the flow of hard currency reaching Cuba from the United States in order to provide evidence of the importance for the Cuban economy of activities carried out by U.S. citizens and firms. More specifically, it analyzes the presence of U.S. visitors on the island, the flow of remittances from Cuban exiles, payments to the Cuban government by American carriers for telecommunications services, and U.S. investments in foreign companies that operate in the Cuban market. It also examines U.S. food sales to Havana and other recent developments.
Devyn Spence Benson
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- September 2016
- ISBN:
- 9781469626727
- eISBN:
- 9781469626741
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of North Carolina Press
- DOI:
- 10.5149/northcarolina/9781469626727.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, Latin American History
Analyzing the ideology and rhetoric around race on the island and in south Florida during the early years of the Cuban revolution, Devyn Spence Benson argues that ideas, stereotypes, and ...
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Analyzing the ideology and rhetoric around race on the island and in south Florida during the early years of the Cuban revolution, Devyn Spence Benson argues that ideas, stereotypes, and discriminatory practices relating to racial difference persisted despite major state efforts to generate social equality. Drawing on Cuban and U.S. archival materials and face-to-face interviews, Benson examines 1960s government programs and campaigns against discrimination, showing how such programs frequently negated their efforts by reproducing racist images and idioms in revolutionary propaganda, cartoons, and school materials. Building on nineteenth-century discourses that imagined Cuba as a raceless space--“not blacks, not whites, only Cubans”--revolutionary leaders embraced a narrow definition of blackness, often seeming to suggest that Afro-Cubans had to discard their blackness to join the revolution. This was and remains a false dichotomy for many Cubans of color, Benson demonstrates. While some Afro-Cubans agreed with the revolution’s raceless sentiments, others found ways to use state rhetoric to demand additional reforms. Still others, finding a revolution that disavowed blackness unsettling and paternalistic, fought to insert black history and African culture into revolutionary nationalisms. Despite such efforts by Afro-Cubans and radical government-sponsored integration programs, racism has persisted throughout the revolution in subtle but lasting ways.Less
Analyzing the ideology and rhetoric around race on the island and in south Florida during the early years of the Cuban revolution, Devyn Spence Benson argues that ideas, stereotypes, and discriminatory practices relating to racial difference persisted despite major state efforts to generate social equality. Drawing on Cuban and U.S. archival materials and face-to-face interviews, Benson examines 1960s government programs and campaigns against discrimination, showing how such programs frequently negated their efforts by reproducing racist images and idioms in revolutionary propaganda, cartoons, and school materials. Building on nineteenth-century discourses that imagined Cuba as a raceless space--“not blacks, not whites, only Cubans”--revolutionary leaders embraced a narrow definition of blackness, often seeming to suggest that Afro-Cubans had to discard their blackness to join the revolution. This was and remains a false dichotomy for many Cubans of color, Benson demonstrates. While some Afro-Cubans agreed with the revolution’s raceless sentiments, others found ways to use state rhetoric to demand additional reforms. Still others, finding a revolution that disavowed blackness unsettling and paternalistic, fought to insert black history and African culture into revolutionary nationalisms. Despite such efforts by Afro-Cubans and radical government-sponsored integration programs, racism has persisted throughout the revolution in subtle but lasting ways.
Jesse E. Hoffnung-Garskof
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- January 2020
- ISBN:
- 9780691183534
- eISBN:
- 9780691185750
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691183534.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, American History: 19th Century
In the late nineteenth century, a small group of Cubans and Puerto Ricans of African descent settled in the segregated tenements of New York City. At an immigrant educational society in Greenwich ...
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In the late nineteenth century, a small group of Cubans and Puerto Ricans of African descent settled in the segregated tenements of New York City. At an immigrant educational society in Greenwich Village, these early Afro-Latino New Yorkers taught themselves to be poets, journalists, and revolutionaries. At the same time, these individuals built a political network and articulated an ideal of revolutionary nationalism centered on the projects of racial and social justice. These efforts were critical to the poet and diplomat José Martí's writings about race and his bid for leadership among Cuban exiles, and to the later struggle to create space for black political participation in the Cuban Republic. This book presents a vivid portrait of these largely forgotten migrant revolutionaries, weaving together their experiences of migrating while black, their relationships with African American civil rights leaders, and their evolving participation in nationalist political movements. By placing Afro-Latino New Yorkers at the center of the story, the book offers a new interpretation of the revolutionary politics of the Spanish Caribbean, including the idea that Cuba could become a nation without racial divisions. A model of transnational and comparative research, the book reveals the complexities of race-making within migrant communities and the power of small groups of immigrants to transform their home societies.Less
In the late nineteenth century, a small group of Cubans and Puerto Ricans of African descent settled in the segregated tenements of New York City. At an immigrant educational society in Greenwich Village, these early Afro-Latino New Yorkers taught themselves to be poets, journalists, and revolutionaries. At the same time, these individuals built a political network and articulated an ideal of revolutionary nationalism centered on the projects of racial and social justice. These efforts were critical to the poet and diplomat José Martí's writings about race and his bid for leadership among Cuban exiles, and to the later struggle to create space for black political participation in the Cuban Republic. This book presents a vivid portrait of these largely forgotten migrant revolutionaries, weaving together their experiences of migrating while black, their relationships with African American civil rights leaders, and their evolving participation in nationalist political movements. By placing Afro-Latino New Yorkers at the center of the story, the book offers a new interpretation of the revolutionary politics of the Spanish Caribbean, including the idea that Cuba could become a nation without racial divisions. A model of transnational and comparative research, the book reveals the complexities of race-making within migrant communities and the power of small groups of immigrants to transform their home societies.