PRAXIS WITHDRAWS SUPPORT Commentaries from Venceremos Brigade listserve From: soffiyah_elijah@hotmail.com To: vbrigade@lists.riseup.net Subject: Cuba blasts US black leaders for charges of racism Peace everyone, These are some of my thoughts about the recent sad misguided statement attacking Cuba from people that many of us admire. I am thankful for the response provided by Cuba. It is my hope that those of us in the u.s. who KNOW better, who have experienced Cuba in its many facets will have the courage to speak out. Silence is complicity. It would be good for all concerned to check out the information on Carlos Moore on the www.afrocubaweb.com website. Moore has been a well paid u.s. puppet for decades. Periodically he resurfaces but he never shows up with any facts. His "assignment" is to make sure that u.s. Blacks do not sympathize with Cuba. The latest volley is part of his on-going assignment. He successfully duped Cornell West, Ruby Dee and others by hiding his role in this behind faces that they did not associate with Moore. The guy in Cuba who is supposedly being "repressed" has never been known to Afro Cuban activists to be a champion of their issues. All of a sudden Moore has turned him into the next Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. We should be clear about the political timing. Black and Latino communities are being bombarded with military recruiting advertisements. This coincides with u.s. military contracts with Colombia to build up its presence there. Who best to send to Colombia than Black and Latino soldiers? If the u.s. can successfully discredit Cuba in the eyes of liberal and progressive Blacks then it need not worry about war resistance from a large sector of its potential soldier base. I am glad that folks are pushing back HARD. The analysis should also include the following:
I could go on but I'm sure that I've said plenty enough already. I hope that Cuba's true reality is shared with the world. I know of no other place on the planet that has achieved such a peaceful society. It's not nirvana but it's light years ahead of every place else. Others may think otherwise and I'm happy to dialogue or debate with them. in struggle... Soffiyah ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- On Dec 5, 2009, at 5:44 PM, N Jose Acevedo <njoseacevedo@cs.com> wrote: Vbers- In the spirit of dialogue, I thought it might be useful for people to see the actual statement that was circulated on 12/1. I must say I just can’t dismiss a statement of a group that includes Cornel West & Ruby Dee as simply a case of deceit and distortion. That doesn’t mean I automatically agree with what was written, just that a fast dismissal might not serve critical thinking. Racism is a complex issue that often triggers reaction rather than reflection. There is no denying by any standard that in this age in the Western Hemisphere if not the world, Cuba is the leader of seeking economic justice for its people. And I do understand that emanating from S Florida is a cesspool of organized right-wing Cubans hoping to one day be able to run the show on the island once again. Yet not all criticism that touches upon social issues in Cuba comes from counter-revolutionary thinking. Abrazos, Jose ---------------------------------------------------- MIAMI HERALD Posted on Sat, Dec. 05, 2009 Claim of Cuban racism rejected By JUAN O. TAMAYO jtamayo@... http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/cuba/story/1366579.html 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. Friday's reply was signed by eight government backers who regularly address black issues, but seemed to have official approval because the government press office distributed their statement. Victoria Ruiz-Labrit, a Miami supporter of black dissidents on the island, said she had received information from the island that government officials were pressing other black Cubans to sign the reply. Some refused and some signed, she said. The Cubans' statement said the Americans' allegations would be ``delusional craziness were it not for . . . evidence of the intention to add respected voices of the African-American community to the anti-Cuban campaign that attempts to undermine our sovereignty.'' Cuba has sent troops and doctors to Africa to help blacks, it said, hosted 40,000 African students in its schools, outlawed discrimination in 1959 and promoted Afro-Cuban culture through museums, music, dance and other institutions. Eradicating racism ``is a process not exempt from conflicts and contradictions, which involves not only inherited social disadvantages but rooted prejudices,'' the statement added, without directly addressing the allegations from the African-Americans. The Americans demanded that Raúl Castro end ``the unwarranted and brutal harassment of black citizens in Cuba who are defending their civil rights'' and added: ``We cannot be silent in the face of increased violations of civil and human rights for those black activists in Cuba who dare raise their voices against the island's racial system.'' Their statement also demanded the immediate release of ``political prisoner'' Darsi Ferrer, a well-known Afro-Cuban physician and activist jailed since July while under investigation on charges of illegal possession of two sacks of cement. Among the 60 were professor Cornel West of Princeton, actress Ruby Dee Davis and former South Florida congresswoman Carrie Meek. On Friday, Oscar Elias Biscet, a leading black dissident and physician serving a 25-year sentence in Havana, thanked the Americans for their support, the U.S. government's Miami-based Radio Martà reported. ------------------------------------------------------- Dear Tshaka and all: this is the Miami Herald link with the attachments, yeah, the Miami Herald posts this but doesn't post a word about a very revealing investigation by Miami CBS local news that aired last Sunday, which did a year and a half investigation into the 1996 plane shootdown by Cuba, which Cuban Five Gerardo Hernandez was convicted for, showing that Cuba repeatedly protested and that the U.S. was fully aware that there was going to be a shootdown due to the constant overflights by Brothers to the Rescue. Here is the link to the anti-Cuba statement: http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/cuba/story/1360990.html and here is the link to the CBS investigation: http://cbs4.com/iteam/brothers.rescue.cuba.2.1337438.html Also, Esteban Morales, who spoke to us at the Camp in Caimito this year, has issued a statement on La Jiribilla Cuban website, which is very good, but still only in Spanish. In the meantime here is the Spanish: Bob Guild just sent out the link, and here it is again: http://www.lajiribilla.co.cu/2007/n331_09/331_18.html Take care, Gloria -------------------------------------------------------- Sent: Friday, December 04, 2009 8:18 PM Subject: 2 comments: -Cuba blasts US black leaders for charges of racism Estimados/Estimadas Here is a respons from Poet Amiri Baraka, a brilliant author, knowledgeable of Cuba's social dynamics, current and historical/ responding to the AP "article" written by Will Weissert on alleged Cuban Racism.... All This is the work of a notorious Anti Castro Cuban negro, Carlos Moore, who was in Miami last month trying to get people to sign a questionable "petition" accusing the Cubans of racism. Moore has been pushing this style of vicious undermining since the 60's. I had an animated discussion with him while refusing to sign such BS. Apparently (at least I hope so) some well known Black people who signed the petition were ignorant of Moore's historical backwardness. We shd speak out on Moore and as well continue to support the Cuban Revolution.Of all the places in the West or the World to attack racism, to attack Cuba is the work of Gusanos or the CIA. Moore lives now in Brazil, does he think that a paragon of "post racial" harmony? Amiri Baraka AmiriBarakaBooks. com |