Recently, I had
the experience to travel to Cuba via Cancun, Mexico. For many years 1 have
been listening to the propaganda of the United States Government and trying
to understand why the United States hated the Cuban people. I knew that
after the REVOLUTION, Castro came to the USA in 1961 and stayed at the
Teresa Hotel in the Harlem section of New York City. I laughed when the
stories came out that his delegation was killing and plucking chickens
in the hotel. I remember he was quoted as saying, "Black blood flows through
my veins". It was then 1 began to see the light. That phrase does not put
one in good standing with American tradition. I also remember when Joe
Louis, the Brown Bomber, returned from Cuba. He could go anywhere on the
island. He said the people were warm, friendly and they admired him. Those
were things that did not happen at home. I remember President John F. Kennedy's
Bay of Pigs fiasco and the embarrassment of the defeat of a world super
power by a small backward Caribbean nation. I remember the Maralito boat
flotillas, the release of all of the prisoners from Cuban jails and American
having to take them because of our flawed foreign policy. I searched for
an answer, then as I do now, as to why white Cubans were rescued and given
a safe haven in Miami while black Haitians were either killed or sent back
to Haiti to uncertain fates. I was dumbfounded when the Christian coalition
and the Republican Party - who teach and preach family values would advocate
taking a child from his father, four grandparents and scores of friends
only to give custody to cousins whom he did not know. The Elian Gonzalez
saga sickened most people of color and got on my nerves. All of these memories
caused me to jump at the chance to renew my passport, get a license and
see for myself what Cuba is all about.
As I prepared for my visa to Cuba, I remembered being locked up in Florence,
South Carolina for drinking water from a white water fountain after just
returning home from the European Theater of Operations (World War II).
I remembered the segregated south; joining the police force in Atlanta
and being told under no circumstances was I to arrest a white person. I
remembered gathering at Selma to march to Montgomery and carrying Cynthia
to Decatur, Alabama to protest the fact that Tommie Lee Hines was in jail
for looking at a white woman. I though about MARCHING ON WASHINGTON twice
and all of the other Civil Rights fights that I had been involved in as
we fought for equity in the south.
We flew from Cancun to Havana in a couple of hours. During that flight
1 had no idea if we were going into a hostile atmosphere, having been fed
forty years of CIA and American government propaganda about Castro's repression
of Cuba's citizens. The plane landed and we were met by a small delegation
of government officials. I was comforted when I saw that one of them was
Bernardo Toscano, a friend who had visited me in my home when he was a
member of the staff of the Cuban Interest Section in Washington. We were
taken to the International Hotel, one of the finest in Havana. The service
was as good or better than in America. We went to day care centers where
the children played with old toys, but were happily playing. We went to
schools where there were not enough erasers and pencils and the lights
could not stay on for lack of electricity. We went to hospitals where drugs
and medicine were in short supply, but any Cuban was treated. We went to
medical schools where doctors are trained and sent all over Africa and
jungles of the Caribbean nations. Three thousand Cuban doctors are in Africa.
In most cases, the only medical care there. Cuba, the most enlightened
and advanced nation in that section of the world, is suffering from severe
shortages of everything because of the tight embargo placed on it by the
Helms-Burton legislation passed by the Congress of the USA. The funniest
thing about the situation in Cuba is to see the old automobiles running
up and down the streets. No car is later than 1959. Most of them are earlier
models. The most prized car is the 1957 Chevy. They keep the cars in mint
condition. The people are beautiful and charming. They love Americans.
The literacy rate is the highest in the world at 98%. Health care is universal,
with a doctor for every 600 citizens. Medical service is free to all citizens.
I wish America could serve all of its citizens as well as Cuba. Although
it is against the law, any purchase or transaction can be made with an
American dollar. It is ironic that the dollar is king. My impression of
Cuba is that the island loves Castro. They love him because he freed them
from the repressive British regime. Under Batista, the country was segregated
and discrimination was the law of the land, just as it was in the southern
part of America. We met with all of the ministers of various governmental
agencies. We visited Santiago, where the revolution began and is the blackest
of all provinces. However, the climax of the visit was dinner with the
president at the president's Mansion.
I found what 1 was looking for during my visit to Cuba. I found a country
that I could love just as much as I love America. I returned to the United
Stated determined to fight for the lifting of the outrageous embargo on
Cuba. In recent years, America has lifted the embargos on many countries
- some that have waged war - but not on Cuba. I wonder why. Could it be
because Cuba, under Castro, has almost achieved the world's dream, "One
country, one people I plan to return as soon as possible and encourage
all American citizens to see for themselves. Soon, the embargo will end
and once again, the citizens of both nations will enjoy the warmth and
charm of both countries.