Thoughts on President Obama's address to the Cuban people

[babylonsister]

http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2016/3/22/1504834/-Thoughts-on-President-Obama-s-address-to-the-Cuban-people?detail=facebook


Thoughts on President Obama's address to the Cuban people
By Denise Oliver Velez
Tuesday Mar 22, 2016 · 12:46 PM EST


President Obama delivers remarks to the people of Cuba.


Listening to President Obama address the Cuban people today in Havana, I got a lump in my throat. He did not shy away from addressing the conflicts between the United States and Cuba, or the problems we still have not conquered here in the U.S—like racial discrimination and income inequality. He made references to the past, and to slavery as the heritage in both countries.

I wrote about black Cubans yesterday, and how they looked forward to Obama’s visit. The president’s speech was loaded with references to black history and internationally known black sports figures like Muhammad Ali, Teófilo Stevenson, and Jackie Robinson. He brought up his own parents who would not have been able to marry in the U.S. in some states.

I was stunned when he brought up “La Cachita”—Our Lady of Charity, “Virgen de la Caridad del cobre,” the patron saint of Cuba who is also the Catholic face of the Afro-Cuban deity—the Orisha Ochun, who represents fresh water, love, marriage, fertility and sensuality.

Professor Miguel A. De La Torre wrote of her significance as a bridge between Cubans in the U.S. and those in Cuba.


A devotional rendering image of Our Lady of Charity, featuring the "two Indians" and an African passenger on its legendary ship Our Lady of Charity

As "the Mother of all Cubans," this symbol has represented the potential of reconciliation for the Cuban people, an important task considering the present estrangement existing between the communities of La Habana and Miami, Florida. As symbol, it remains layered by contradictory religious thoughts, normalizing intra-Cuban racial oppression. While La Virgen de la Caridad/Ochún can serve as a catalyst for reconciliation among Cubans on both sides of the Florida Straits, She also serves as a witness against the dominant white Cuban elite who recreate Her image in order to mask their own dominant social position.


Home shrine dedicated to Ochun and ancestors Home altar for Ochun

Due to racism, Santería has historically been alien to many white Cubans; yet paradoxically, it is part, if not central, to the Cuban identity as a whole. As such, Cubans have yet to come to terms with this African-based religion reformulated within the depths of their own culture. In Santería there are rich resources for understanding Cubans which provide a healing response to the rupture existing between the communities in Miami and La Habana. If this healing is to happen, Santería cannot continue its colonial subordination to European Christianity or to the African Yoruba faith: It is a distinct reality with an equal voice in any dialogue for reconciliation.

A transcript of his remarks is available

Here are the segments I’ve referenced:

We both live in a new world, colonized by Europeans. Cuba, like the United States, was built in part by slaves brought here from Africa. Like the United States, the Cuban people can trace their heritage to both slaves and slave-owners. We’ve welcomed both immigrants who came a great distance to start new lives in the Americas.

Over the years, our cultures have blended together. Dr. Carlos Finlay’s work in Cuba paved the way for generations of doctors, including Walter Reed, who drew on Dr. Finlay’s work to help combat Yellow Fever. Just as Marti wrote some of his most famous words in New York, Ernest Hemingway made a home in Cuba, and found inspiration in the waters of these shores. We share a national past-time--La Pelota--and later today our players will compete on the same Havana field that Jackie Robinson played on before he made his Major League debut. (Applause.) And it's said that our greatest boxer, Muhammad Ali, once paid tribute to a Cuban that he could never fight--saying that he would only be able to reach a draw with the great Cuban, Teofilo Stevenson. (Applause.)

So even as our governments became adversaries, our people continued to share these common passions, particularly as so many Cubans came to America. In Miami or Havana, you can find places to dance the Cha-Cha-Cha or the Salsa, and eat ropa vieja. People in both of our countries have sung along with Celia Cruz or Gloria Estefan, and now listen to reggaeton or Pitbull. (Laughter.) Millions of our people share a common religion--a faith that I paid tribute to at the Shrine of our Lady of Charity in Miami, a peace that Cubans find in La Cachita.

I hope that the spirit of love, of La Cachita and Ochun, will prevail as we move forward into a new relationship between us. Thank you, President Obama.

[Mike Nelson]

1. Liked!

Obama will be remembered very well, historically.

[flamingdem]

2. I love this post, wanted to add that Ochun is a mulatto, you haven't mentioned this above though

maybe I didn't see it. I'm using the word mulatto because it's used it Cuba freely, mulato that is, not here anymore Obama referred to himself as "mixed race" and I thought that was very important in the Cuban context to own that since things are different there regarding race.

In Cuba the majority are mixed race. Obama would be considered mulatto in Cuba due to his physiology. At least more so than here where he has chosen to identify as a black American.

I appreciate La Religion in Cuba, it's not just the Yoruba derived but a mix of many African religions. I feel that people have depended upon it in hard times. In a way I hope that it loses popularity since it includes a lot of superstition, that's not always helpful, but then again so does the Catholic church.

Spoken as someone who spent a lot of time studying La Religion in Cuba, a completely fascinating area as is the culture on so many levels.

[dhill926]

3. fantastic post...

thanks for this...

[Lucinda]

4. Thank you for this!

I'm off to read the full remarks!

[malaise]

5. Great post Babylonsister

Rec