Read more
Originally published in Spanish and edited by Cuban historian Daisy Rubiera Castillo and playwright and theater critic Inés María Martiatu Terry, this ground-breaking edited collection is the first work of its kind. It places the experiences of black and mulata women at the center of Cuban history. Including essays from a mix of well-known and newly published Cuban authors, the volume examines the lives of Afrocubanas from the late nineteenth century to the present. The volume’s contributors collect and interrogate the voices of black Cuban women and the political, cultural, social, and ideological contributions they have made to the history of their nation.
One of the unique qualities of Afrocubanas is that the text is the product of a grassroots community working group in Havana. A number of antiracist organizations emerged to fight racial inequality in light of Cuba’s new economic challenges after the fall of its chief trading partner, the Soviet Union in 1991. But, the Afrocubanas Project (founded in the mid-2000s) is one of the few groups that challenges racism and sexism together. The members of the Afrocubanas Project hail from a variety of professions, ages, and sexual orientations. They share a collective interest in challenging negative stereotypes about black women. This volume merges their activism and scholarship to offer a counter discourse to existing narratives about black women in Cuba while also creating and disseminating new knowledge about Afrocubanas.
There is no other published work in English devoted to analyzing the political and intellectual dimensions of black Cuban women’s thought across the island’s history. This text is essential reading for scholars and students of Africana Studies, Afro-Latin American Studies, Caribbean history, and courses focusing on black women in the Atlantic region.
List of contents
Part One: History
Lawsuits by Slave Women in Nineteenth Century Cuba / Digna Castañeda Fuertes
Reconstructing Ex-slave Belén Álvarez's Story / Oilda Hevia Lanier
Women of Color in Santiaguera Colonial Society, A Commentary / María Cristina Hierrezuelo
Part Two: Thought
Women of Minerva / María del Carmen Barcia Zequeira
Gratitude: To My Friends and Colleagues of the Journal Minerva / Úrsula Coimbra de Valverde
Black Voices in Favor of the Independent Party of Color / Carmen Piedra
Our Ethnic Values / Consuelo Serra
What We Are / Inocencía Silveira
The Black Cuban Woman / Gerardo del Valle
Black Cuban Women and Culture / Catalina Pozo Gato
Black Intelligence / Arabella Òña
Women in Santeria or Regla Ocha: Gender, Myths and Reality / Daisy Rubiera Castillo
Gender and Raciality: An Obligatory Reflection in Contemporary Cuba / Yulexis Almeida Junco
On Afro-Cuban Women Stereotypes: Construction and Deconstruction of Myths / María Ileana Faguaga Iglesias
Proposing an Inclusive and Non-sexist Gaz
About the author
Devyn Spence Benson is an Associate Professor of Africana and Latin American Studies and the Chair of the Department of Africana Studies at Davidson College. She is the author of Antiracism in Cuba: The Unfinished Revolution (University of North Carolina Press, 2016). Dr. Karina Alma is an Assistant Professor in the Chicana/o Studies department at the University of California, Los Angeles. She coedited the anthology, U.S. Central Americans: Reconstructing Memories, Struggles and Communities of Resistance (Arizona University Press, 2017).Mika’il Petin is assistant vice president of student success at Motlow State Community College.
Summary
There is no other published work in English devoted to analyzing the political and intellectual dimensions of black Cuban women’s thought across the island’s history. This text is essential reading for students of Afro-Latin American studies, Caribbean history, or courses focussing on black women in the Atlantic region.
