María Ileana Faguaga Iglesias
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ISLAS’ intention with this section, “Profiles,” is to introduce our readers to the life, work, ideas,
Profiles
and perspectives regarding Cuba today, and to the future of outstanding African descendants on
the island. These black men and women are involved in politics, culture, civic activism, and reli-
gion.
María Ileana
Faguaga Iglesias
Leonardo Calvo Cárdenas
Historian and political scientist
Vice-President, Progressive Arc Party (PARP)
National Vice-Coordinator, Citizens’ Committee
for Racial Integration (CIR)
Havana, Cuba
M
aría Ileana Faguaga has become one
of our country’s most authentic in-
tellectual voices. Her solid training,
ample work experience, and recognized seri-
ousness and professionalism at all times have
earned her well deserved prestige both inside
and outside of Cuba.
This historian, anthropologist, research-
er and professor was born in Havana in Octo-
ber 1963. She began to forge her solid career
while at university, where yours truly had the
opportunity to admire and become friendly
with her.
After graduating in1987 with a degree in
contemporary history from the University of
Havana, she pursued further studies by seeking
certificates, a Master’s degree and post-gradu-
ate studies in Cuba and Brazil, in important
disciplines like ethnology and sociocultural
anthropology.
Her already recognized, scholarly pro-
duction includes research studies, essays and
publications on subjects such as interracial re- María Ileana Faguaga
ISLAS 47lations, race and health, gender, Afro-Cuban ent groups in Cuban society. Her wellknown
women, African religions, power relations, intellectual honesty and personal valor make
and nation and identity. Her work has been her indispensable for any serious discussion
published in Cuba, Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, about Cuba’s reality. Graciously, she has of-
the United States, Jamaica, Spain and Italy. fered to share with our readers her ideas,
In recent years, she has worked intensely criteria and opinions about subjects that are
as Director of a program for intercultural important to Cuba’s present and future.
and interfaith dialog through CEHILA-CU- Leonardo Calvo Cárdenas: How impor-
BA (Commission for Study of the History of tant do you think it is to preserve historical
the Church in Latin America). As an adjunct truth and learn much more about the anthro-
professor in the School of Philosophy and pological keys and facts concerning a society as
History at the University of Havana, she has diverse, plural and complex as our Cuban one?
offered graduate courses such as “Encounters María Ileana Faguaga Iglesias: History,
and Clashes of Religious and Secular Worlds,” which is often underappreciated, and thought
“The Religious Factor in U.S. Politics,” and of and reproduced as if it were just stories,
“Survey of World Religions.” even fantastic ones, is an undeniable reality. As
Among the many research studies com- such, it is a science whose object it is to relate,
pleted by this prolific and devoted scholar of analyze and reflect on the processes and sys-
our sociocultural roots and realities are “���
Re- tems of everyday social events, thoughts, cus-
laciones de poder y autoridad entre la Iglesia toms and beliefs. It is a process in itself that
católico-romana y la santería cubana” [Power can be subjected to analyses and reflections,
Relations and Authority between the Catholic and everything within it is important—the
Church and Cuban Santería], “Género, raza y macro and the micro, collectivities and indi-
salud”[Gender: Race and Health], “Propuesta viduals. Events are important in and of them-
metodológica para el estudio de la negritud selves, but also as symbols. Both communicate,
desde la Cuba del siglo XXI” [Methological yet it is possible that many symbols considered
Proposal for the Study of Blackness in Twen- unchangeable by those who document history
ty-First Century Cuba], “Raza, poder y na- are more significant to those collectivities that
ción” [Race, Power and Nation], Afro-Cuban actually experienced the history, even if, in the
Women and Health Care and “��������������
La mujer afro- majority of cases, that history is not included
cubana”[Afro-Cuban Women]. in history books.
This versatile and indefatigable intellec- This is why history should never con-
tual has also worked as a journalist, corres- tain only landmark events or famous people,
pondent, columnist and assistant for impor- but also the daily life and actions of common
tant media outlets like France Press agency, people. Both contribute to the circumstances
Brazilian magazine Mais e Mais, Miami’s that lead to great events, and make possible
Radio Única, and Mexico’s Radio Monitor. the creation and appearance of great people
She is also currently one of ISLAS’ principal who capitalize and make visible great his-
contributors. torical events—for good or bad. To deny
Her work and publications are extremely that basic essence of history and begin to see
important for the current and future debate it almost exclusively as a narrative of great
about sociocultural relations between differ- events that highlights only those aspects of
48 ISLASfamous people that are considered positive, characteristics of their sickly national proj-
and ignores their humanness in an attempt to ect, which is marginalizing and exclusionary,
impose upon us a mythified and reified version totalitarian and authoritarian, and also other
of history and its actors even now is harmful characteristics (like violence and intolerance)
to the history of the already biased nation we have been used by those very same leaders to
still are. This is sometimes caused by the sin of construct the framework of their power.
omission, and others by a twisting of histori- Seeing ourselves in our ethnogenetic di-
cal truth, and can also damage the historical versity and its myriad pluralistic consequences
narrative we share with the world. (racial, cultural, ideological, sexual, gender),
To confront its truths, our truths as a na- and our violent origins, that is, in those unde-
tion, is to position ourselves precisely within niable historical truths is the only thing that
its specificity, an internal reproduction no will allow us to follow a path to a reconstitu-
longer part of colonization, but rather of co- tion and strengthening of our damaged social
lonialism. In recent years, the government of fabric. It is one of the ways that will allow us
the Castro Ruz brothers, which has discursive- to reconstruct and heal our imaginaries and
ly pretended to be the most nationalist of all, our wounds as a social body, a body that has
has come to be recognized as being a leader- been deeply wounded by having been taught
ship of “Galicians born in Cuba”[white Span- to make an ill-fated, impractical and fictional
iards born in Cuba, or criollos]. For example, association between homeland or country,
if we were to focus on all the destruction they system of government, political ideology and
have wrought in their obvious intention to de- those who govern.
culturate us and folklorize the best and most Our accelerated process of de-na-
vivid elements of our Afro-Cuban roots, it tionalization needs acknowledge and be
would be difficult to doubt their condition as strenghthened by our pluralism, in all its
white colonialists who govern—which should manifestations, and not for the purpose of an
mean ‘serve society’—have also subjected the economic restructuring, as is often rumored,
nation to their whims and arbitrariness, and perhaps upon the insistence of those in power.
interrupted and impeded in its natural prog- Doomed in the midst of social chaos and
ress. This has bogged us down with having to ungovernability—either by means that are
bring to fruition an integrative process that visible ever more coercive and repressive—we
despite more than a century and even now has find ourselves being a people with our own
not be truly realized. historical truths. With those truths as a point
To turn to our historical realities is to of departure, we are starting down a road to
return to the violent and arbitrary origins legal and distributive equity, real equality of
of our original conformation, to go back to opportunities, with the possibility of making
pluralism, and the dichotomous pair—tol- them effective. This should be part and parcel
erance and intolerance. These have been ba- of any attempt to reconstruct the nation, any
sic and spreadable concepts in Cuba since its initiation of a different political plan, any at-
ethnogenesis. Nevertheless, these have been tempt to create a new social contract. If not,
considered by those who are in leadership now it will be difficult for these attempts to acquire
as one and the same thing (plurality and toler- the required legitimacy of all social, cultur-
ance). It is as if they were at once prejudicial al, racial, political, sexual, or generational
ISLAS 49groups among us. For all these groups to har- Nonetheless, even now there is tremen-
moniously develop, we need to learn to live as dous ignorance about the importance of reli-
a pluralistic society, which forces us to create gion in our shaping as a nation. We also con-
legislation against violence through negotia- tinue to ignore the true tole that the clergy in
tion and consensus building. our broad religious spectrum have had in the
LCC: What do you think historiography strength of our social fabric. Those in power
practically or totally lacks for the purpose of have imposed an atheizing policy on all of
confronting the enormous challenge of de- society, as if everyone had joined the Cuban
fining what we are as a nation with objective Communist Party (PCC). Many scholars have
clarity? taken to declaring the Cuban people to be
MIFI: I have already mentioned some of atheistic and anticlerical; the Roman Catholic
its shortcomings, with relation to historical Church as counterrevolutionary (in its entire-
truth, but I could mention others as impor- ty, with no consideration for either the com-
tant as those, and talk about how they relate position of the clergy nor their worshippers);
to each other. Many of us agree that the histo- and continue viewing practitioners of African
riography produced in Cuba is plagued by si- religions as criminals or people predisposed
lences and omissions, arbitrariness and awful, to be criminal (which is a purely colonialist,
politically motivated interpretations. We are anti-black, positivistic and above all, anti-
sometimes tricked into believing that those scientific view).
characteristics are part of our history, yet that However, it is precisely this lack of
is not always the case. In any event, these char- knowledge about the profundity of each re-
acteristics—these excerpts, views, interpreta- ligious and spiritual elements present on the
tions and reflections in black and white—are island that allows the government to choose
part of a historiography that is published in or designate the Roman Catholic hierarchy to
a country where independent publishing is serve as a spokesman of sorts, a decision that is
a subversive’s dream. Yes, and what a dream! arbitrary and discriminatory. We cannot lose
What a wonderful and admirable way to show from sight that the Catholic Church in Cuba,
one’s disobedience as an unyielding rebel! This while not unaware of the country’s cultural
is voicing our opposition to the atrocities of depth and breadth, still lacks the kind of rec-
those in power, and their manipulations. Af- ognition and significance it has in other Latin
ter all, they permeate everything, even spaces American and European countries. It also
where knowledge is constructed and decon- lacks social authority and impactful relevance
structed. We should not forget that if there is for the island’s African-originated religions,
anything the Castro Ruz brothers do well, it is particularly Regla de Ocha or Santería. Aside
to fully understand what the old saying says, from this grave shortcoming, which influences
that ‘knowledge is power.’ Consequently, they its ability to be truly objective (as it says it
have taken to limiting our access to knowl- is), and is absolutely necessary in the social
edge by censoring and twisting it on us. This sciences and historiography in Cuba, I agree
explains why a society that has a very high with Afro-Cuban historians Juan F. Benemelis
percentage of graduates from secondary and and Iván César Martínez that we need to take
tertiary institutions has such a high rate of a fresh look at the nation’s altar, because on
functional and instructional illiteracy. it rest people whose actions were truly anti-
50 ISLASnationalistic, such as the first independence cally due to chance, even when the authors are
supporter and later President José Miguel Cubans who live in Cuba. The zones of silence
Gómez, who in 1912 ordered the massacre and the distortions continue even today. There
of more than five thousand black Cubans, are many archives that are closed to research-
and who today even has a recently renovated ers. We are ignorant about much of the past,
monument to him on one of Havana’s main but we also don’t know about most of the
thoroughfares. daily events that would allow us to analyze the
We must revisit our country’s history so present or, retrospectively link them with the
we can learn the role that each of its ethno- past without the usual distortion that occurs.
racial groups has played and, consequently, LCC: Despite the induced atheism of
give them their well-earned place in history, recent decades, the Cuban people continue re-
and similarly give them equal opportunities vealing an intense and diverse religiosity. How
in daily life. The sacrilege of black Cuban do you think that religious hierarchies of any
women having been excluded from feminism denomination should contribute to Cuba’s
is the result of ignorance, racism, opportun- reconstruction as a modern and balanced so-
ism and politicking hidden behind the guise ciety?
of supposedly revolutionary historiography. MIFI: Humility, moral support, the
There is not one word about the outstanding teaching and practice of rapprochement, lis-
role of the black population in education and tening, the creation of dialogue, education
journalism, or about their drive to obtain an and encouragement to seek consensus and
education while facing so many, huge obsta- love, so we can rid ourselves of a violence that
cles. There is no mention of the black lodges, so permeates relationships between Cuban
which still exist in eastern Cuba. Hardly any- men and women in Cuba, and facilitate the
thing is said about the role played by migrants indispensable and necessary reencounter with
to Cuba from the rest of the Caribbean, or those Cubans who live abroad. These could
about the Cuban population that engaged in be some of the essential contributions they
a reverse migration. It is shameful that we are should make at the right time. These could
barraged by the imposed idea that the Cuban help define the very nation. These are contri-
population barely did anything for itself be- butions that all the nations’ priests, priestess-
fore the Castro Ruz brothers took power. The es, male and female clergy could make to the
same can be said about ignoring the civil so- nation as a whole.
ciety that existed before them, or the more or When religions fulfill their function they
less authentic attempts there are to revitalize are spaces of acceptance and love, harmony
them at the present moment. Hidden from us and spiritual realization. In this way, they
is the fundamental role that unions played, or contribute to the realization of a being’s in-
an accurate evaluation of the Popular Social- tegrity as a human. This has all been distorted
ist Party (PSP). At one point, it got to the by the Castro government’s structure, which
extreme of trying to deny the mutual cultural has invaded even the privacy of individuals
influence between the people of the United and families.
States and Cuba, and the fact that we know Cubans—or at least those of us who live
anything about the Cuban historiography on the island—lack training for being able to
that is produced or published abroad is practi- engage in dialogue. The worst of our traits
ISLAS 51as individual and collective subjects have been the way for the respectful treatment of their
exacerbated. We are trapped by violence, and own religious communities, or others. This
also reproduce it. It is hard to listen to some- has also happened in Cuba, where delegates to
one who does not think exactly as we do, more the National Assembly with manifestly profes-
so yet if they differ in opinion. We have become sional positions as pastors or babalawos have
accustomed to the idea that helping ourselves not consulted their respective religious com-
overcome our material wants is an obligation. munities.
Thus, we expect this. Furthermore, we often We need humility, a sense of collectivity
boldly hurt those who do not help us overcome and community commitment. It is essential to
our myriad problems, because we want more, value individual attitudes regarding everyone,
and believe that we deserve it. Yet, we are not and forget any delirious notions of fame or
always willing to share with those who have fortune by dint of personal privileges. The
less than we do; this goes for material things, future Cuba will need to learn to live hori-
but also our personal time. zontally and symmetrically. This requires us
This is an area in which priests, priest- to learn this right now. Undervaluing others
esses and other clergy of all faiths could help does not make us better.
us, as long as they too are filled with the neces- LCC: What does Cuba’s current race
sary humility; so long as they are tolerant and problem need?
open to understanding diversity; as long as MIFI: If I express myself quickly and to-
they don’t take differences to be threatening; tally honestly, as a black, Afro-Cuban woman,
and, of course, as long as they can survive the that is, if I speak as one who belongs to an
temptation to side with those in power, be- ethno-racial and sexual group that resulted
cause if the didn’t, they’d inevitably be against from the ethno-biological blending of my an-
the population. cestors whose traits nature gave me, and from
For this reason, they should also not my position of militancy, my radical position-
fall into the artificial and petulant habit of ing in view of discrimination and, in this case
overvaluing their own religion, because that anti-black discrimination, then I am equally
would automatically mean they undervalued radical and categorical in my position on the
the rest. When some clergy accept that gov- race problem in today’s Cuba: I totally hate it.
ernments concede them special treatment vis- Nevertheless, my instincts as a histori-
à-vis others, they are positioning themselves cally wounded person who is also currently
in a position of superiority, even if they don’t plagued by the same problem should not cause
behave that way. In Cuba, where for years me to embrace hate or resentment. Both lead
Christian denominations used a visa that al- down a path that is akin to a vicious circle of
lowed them to exit and return to Cuba for hostility. As the intelligent and thinking, ra-
religious reasons, it has only recently come to tional beings we are, we should never allow
pass that representatives of African religions ourselves to follow it. That would only help
have been able to do the same. When religious racists, by facilitating our annihilation as so-
figures allow themselves to participate in the cial subjects, for which reason our response to
government’s power structure—on their own intensely polarized positions and immovable
initiative and without the permission of their founding principles has to be moderation, so
communities—they are not necessarily paving we can consciously position ourselves, and
52 ISLASsink in our heels with seriousness, responsi- hundred years of a Peninsular colonial system
bility and maturity. Yet, we cannot allow our- and Republican capitalism—as our leaders
selves to be trapped by the ancient and manip- do.
ulative story that to work on our own behalf When prisons are overflowing with
as an ethno-racial, African descendant group young blacks of both sexes, our youth sell
is to contribute to the nation’s division. Until themselves to neocolonial buyers of sex, be-
now, we have been used and abused, excluded cause the precarious nature of their lives, and
and manipulated for the benefit of the white the bad example we as previous generations
power nucleus, be it criollo, be it Cuban, but set, who trusted that education and honest
always white, or considers itself so. work would bring about progress for our fam-
We must open our eyes, have an atten- ilies and ourselves, offers them no other op-
tive gaze, and reflect in a way that leads us to tion. When professional black women have to
the right answer. There are new accusations prostitute themselves or work as domestics in
hanging over our Afro-Cuban activist heads. the homes of whites with much less education
The nation’s media now accuse us of being than them, and they also have to endure their
pro-imperialists. More recently, Granma, the abuse and accusations; when an anti-black
official newspaper and organ of the Cuban attitude is commonplace, and we are said to
Communist Party, has threatened to revisit be sensitive if we reject or try to respond to
Law 88, known popularly as the Gag Law, ac- them; when our children are discriminated at
cording to which almost any Cuban can be im- kindergartens and schools, and they continue
prisoned and lose his property (even if some to be condemned to live our ever more dilapi-
have little), by being accused of collaborating dated tenement yards or hovels; when even
with a foreign power. Thus, unless Cuba’s gov- the government accepts that we receive fewer
ernmental institutions have approved it, any remittances, and we all know that they are es-
sort of collaboration with, for example, the sential for survival; when our youth generally
Black Civil Rights Movement in the United find it impossible to gain access to universi-
States, can be (mis)interpreted that way, and ties, which speaks volumes about the social,
thus incriminate us. This is not unlike other economic and political disadvantage we must
measures that have been used against us, like endure, about our prolonged entrapment in
personal or family harassment, short term historically constructed stereotypes created
imprisonment, denial of permission to travel for the benefit of the white population, and in
abroad, racialized offenses, denial of a right detriment to those who should already be seen
to publish, and other forms of harassment as their brother, their compatriots, without
and mistreatment. Notwithstanding, because regard for skin color, culture or physiognomy,
of the extremes some of these tactics have 30% of the black people on the Cuban Com-
reached, it is impossible to remain passive or munist Party’s Central Committee are noth-
allegedly comfortable during our long wait. ing more than a decorative element, some-
Neither can we remain neutral. It is impos- thing that obliges us to keep resisting and, if
sible to remain naively confident that those in necessary, go on the offensive.
power will resolve the profound and explicitly LCC: What steps and plans should the
visible, ethno-racial asymmetries that exist at authorities and citizens take and carry out to
all social edges and levels, or not to blame four potentially and successfully confront the enor-
ISLAS 53mous challenges our country faces in the race who are the heart and soul of this entire na-
problem? tion, and the true ethno-racial integration.
MIFI: Even though Afro-Cuban scholars We need a concrete and legal process of affir-
and activists in Cuba (and from that African mative action, and to promote at all levels—
Diaspora that is still historically denied us) civic, economic, political, cultural and so-
have made explicit suggestions about concrete cial—citizen empowerment, of all citizens,
steps, in this sense, I will accept the challenge and particularly of black Cubans and their
of clearly stating my ideas. You may or may descendants. We must work to crush cultural
not agree with them. I offer them in no par- and racial stereotypes; restructure our sys-
ticular order, because I believe that many of tem of the teaching and learning of not only
these actions should take place in a simulta- history, but also everything else, because the
neous and articulated fashion. Above all, we history of a place as vast as Africa, like the
must acknowledge: history of all African descendants, cannot be
• The multi-faceted asymmetry that exists, understood if we do not concomitantly work
with its racist, and specifically anti-black on all levels of education, at all its levels, as
foundation. complementary systems of knowledge. All of
• The existence and vitality of a racialized and our current institutions have to get involved
racist sociopolitical structure. in this and others should be created for this
• The ethno-racial plurality of our country, to purpose as well.
reject the false idea that we are integrated. An effective combination of everything I
• The race problem being of a deeply political have mentioned, and many other efforts, will
nature. contribute to a restarted process of reinte-
• The gravity of the asymmetrical, ethno- gration in Cuba, and of African descendants
racial situation. in a natural space, the Black Atlantic. It will
• The need for blacks and mestizos be the prin- represent the beginning of a true process of
cipal actors in the process to eliminate rac- decolonization, liberation, and post-coloniza-
ism, with no tutelage or false paternalism tion for people.
from those who need to be coerced, instead LCC: Being black and female in Cuba at
of helping in their growth and maturation. any time or under any circumstance has consti-
• The out-migration of Cuban African descen- tuted a difficult road to hoe. From your deeply
dants, the Afro-Cuban Diaspora, Afro-Cu- sensitive and committed position regarding
ban exiles, made invisible by the unauthentic this subject, how should Cuban women face
history we are offered as national history. the challenge of transcending machista and
The redress and enforcement of legisla- discriminatory behaviors that so forcefully
tive measures to protect and defend against survive in our society?
subtle and vile, racist violence is the price MIFI: The subject of the discrimina-
we must pay. We must disabuse ourselves of tion of black women is getting complicated.
the temptation of having “window dressing On top of sexual discrimination and as an
blacks”that serve the system by just repeating ethno-racial group, you must add, for almost
its rhetoric, supporting its illegitimate po- all of us, discrimination that is based on
sition. They are acting against the interests what economically or politically oppressed
of millions of black Cuban men and women social group you come from or belong to. If
54 ISLASone is a lesbian, transgender or bisexual, you We can and must raise our level of self-
must add to this list discrimination of these esteem by using positive knowledge, includ-
things, and you can add more, for example, ing our history of resistance, challenges and
on account of where you live, class of work- successes, and making visible those respon-
ers you belong to, etc. The situation got even sible for them. We must rescue a history that
worse because of some embarrassing declara- belongs to and has been hidden from us, or
tions about Cuba’s shortcomings made by the just are not familiar with, to gain strength.
current President of the island, Raúl Castro We must become conscious of the fact that we
made publicly. I don’t recall him ever making are good for a great deal more than just sex.
direct reference to discrimination against us Proving that is an effective way to break ste-
as black women. The government has not ac- reotypes. It is our duty to educate adolescent
knowledged this, nor has the Cuban Federa- and young black girls about themselves, about
tion of Women. We black Cuban women, we not rejecting themselves, at the same time
Afro-Cuban women, whether we are militants we educate young and adolescent black boys
or not, must acknowledge ourselves, and our about acknowledging their own worth, and
personal and group definitions and personali- that of their sisters.
ties. We must ourselves validate these charac- We must urgently acknowledge and learn
teristics, our natural beauty, and be free of about all the kinds of discrimination to which
colonialist impositions. we are subjected: racial, cultural, sexual, gen-
ISLAS 55each other, instead of denigrating and hin-
dering each other, by which we serve our white
friends. Mistrust of ourselves and amongst
ourselves has caused us to accept a racialized,
hierarchical structure that is today still im-
posed on us. It is a weapon used against us that
helps those who discriminate, marginalize and
exclude us.
We are facing the challenge of acknowl-
edging our diversity, our plurality of genders,
ideologies, instruction, spaces and religions.
We must work together with our differences,
making them enriching to us, and not allow
them to feed the many separations that work
against us all. We face the challenge of coming
together, respecting and helping each other to
make visible black lesbians, bisexuals or trans-
sexuals, who are discriminated not only for
their condition as women. Black women are
expected to always be available for sex with
men. Consequently, these women are hurt even
der, economic, social (neighborhood or pro- more than their heterosexual black women.
fessional) and aesthetic. We need more clarity Yet, they tend to be rejected by their own cul-
about the fact that this all comes from white tural and racial sisters. We face the challenge
men and women, as well as from black men, of making our ethno-racial differences count
and ourselves. They and we are victims of a in issues of health care, too. Since we are the
racialized power structure that is now more worst off, economically, domestic violence,
than five centuries old. It has never been de- alcoholism, drug addiction, and other social
constructed. We must decolonize ourselves. and health ills, are prevalent amongst us. They
This means having an identity, negation and subject us to levels of negative stress that im-
freeing ourselves from an ideology of misce- pact our health and make even more difficult
genation and racial betterment based on dis- our material conditions of our survival. Yet,
criminatory attitudes we still have amongst we don’t even take this into consideration,
ourselves about skin tone, and length and generally.
type of hair. We must beat out any tempta- We must position ourselves as social
tion to have a man, whatever the price, even subjects, and being to create our own orga-
if he beats and discriminates against us, or nizations. Those that have existed for these
we have to support him. We must learn to 52 years have never taken our differences into
love our children but not allow that love and consideration. We need to stop our atomiza-
its expression be shaped by phenotypes, hair, tion, so that we can get the weapons that will
and the amount of melanin in someone’s skin. force the legal system to consider us, with our
We must learn to gregariously share, helping differences, without it diminishing us. We
56 ISLASneed for black women to be represented in the research its historic roots, write its history,
power structure by black women who are con- and search out our Afro-Caribbean, African-
scious of what they are, and with the deter- American, and African sisters who in the past
mination to act in favor and not against their 52 years have organized and kept Afro-Femi-
kind, as has been the case till now. nism current. This is all something we are kept
We must fight to make ourselves seen as uninformed about and isolated from.
we are and as we want to be represented by the To conclude, we must recognize that we
media, and not how others decide to project have a lot to learn, both theoretically and
our image. This includes the representation practically, and that part of that learning
of stable black families, all kinds of black so- involves research, empowerment and citizen
cial actors, via positive models, and not just reempowerment. We must accept that as black
through negative characterizations (which are women our struggle for justice is political, but
so often induced), as is so often the case. We that doesn’t mean that they, or we, are anti-
must articulate our national Afro-Feminism, national in nature.
ISLAS 57You can also read
