1 00:00:02,000 --> 00:00:07,000 Downloaded from YTS.MX 2 00:00:08,000 --> 00:00:13,000 Official YIFY movies site: YTS.MX 3 00:00:10,385 --> 00:00:11,720 - [Voiceover] What comes to your mind when you hear Cuba 4 00:00:11,803 --> 00:00:13,847 on the news, in conversation, stuff like that? 5 00:00:13,930 --> 00:00:14,973 Negative, positive, what? 6 00:00:15,056 --> 00:00:16,474 - Negative. Cigars. 7 00:00:16,558 --> 00:00:18,184 - [Voiceover] Why? 8 00:00:18,268 --> 00:00:18,935 - It's like a place that you don't wanna go to travel to. 9 00:00:19,019 --> 00:00:19,811 - Not a resolved issue, but a non-issue right, like 10 00:00:21,771 --> 00:00:23,648 right now, that our country's not even focusing on it. 11 00:00:23,732 --> 00:00:25,150 - Fidel Castro. - [Voiceover] What about him? 12 00:00:25,233 --> 00:00:26,317 - We don't like him. - [Voiceover] Why? 13 00:00:26,401 --> 00:00:30,655 - 'Cause he's, a dictator? 14 00:00:30,739 --> 00:00:32,741 He's probably cruel? 15 00:00:32,824 --> 00:00:34,075 - People there aren't happy, 16 00:00:34,159 --> 00:00:35,994 or see better opportunities elsewhere. 17 00:00:36,077 --> 00:00:36,995 - I don't really think about things 18 00:00:37,078 --> 00:00:37,996 that I don't know a lot about. 19 00:00:38,079 --> 00:00:38,288 I feel like I need to educate myself first, 20 00:00:38,371 --> 00:00:42,542 before I decide how I feel. 21 00:00:42,625 --> 00:00:46,129 - They're communist, and... 22 00:00:49,132 --> 00:00:51,843 That's pretty much all I know about Cuba, basically. 23 00:00:52,844 --> 00:00:54,596 - I'm thinking about Fidel Castro. 24 00:00:56,014 --> 00:00:58,767 What about Fidel, he's been in power for a long time. 25 00:00:58,850 --> 00:01:01,061 - I know I passed it on a cruise to Jamaica! 26 00:01:01,144 --> 00:01:03,855 And (laughing) we pointed at it but couldn't get too close. 27 00:01:03,938 --> 00:01:05,231 - [Voiceover] OK. 28 00:01:05,315 --> 00:01:07,776 - I heard they don't have no freedom in Cuba. 29 00:01:08,276 --> 00:01:12,280 - Cuba is a very revolutionary country to my knowledge. 30 00:01:12,364 --> 00:01:15,283 - I think communism is a good thing! 31 00:01:15,367 --> 00:01:17,577 - 90some percent of the population can read. 32 00:01:17,660 --> 00:01:19,371 Medical school is free. 33 00:01:19,454 --> 00:01:22,540 - Everything we got, they probably don't have. 34 00:01:22,624 --> 00:01:25,043 - It's the only place that's safe for the Black man. 35 00:01:25,126 --> 00:01:27,545 One of my veterans, Sister Assata Shakur, 36 00:01:27,629 --> 00:01:30,048 who's on exile, is in Cuba right now. 37 00:01:30,131 --> 00:01:32,425 - I think they need to lift all their embargoes, 38 00:01:32,509 --> 00:01:34,219 just open it up! 39 00:01:34,302 --> 00:01:37,222 It's about time, it's been going on for too long. 40 00:01:37,305 --> 00:01:41,101 - Che Guevara was the one that was pro people 41 00:01:41,184 --> 00:01:44,896 living and appreciating the beauty of Cuba. 42 00:01:44,979 --> 00:01:49,818 - The greatest resource to any nation is its people. 43 00:01:49,901 --> 00:01:54,781 It's the people that make 125th Street flourish. 44 00:01:54,864 --> 00:01:56,616 If you wanna read further, 45 00:01:56,700 --> 00:02:00,745 you can read this paper here, The Final Call, 46 00:02:00,829 --> 00:02:04,582 it speaks about Cuba: The Good Samaritan. 47 00:02:04,666 --> 00:02:06,418 - When I think of Cuba I think of 48 00:02:06,501 --> 00:02:09,838 a place that kicked out imperialists 49 00:02:09,921 --> 00:02:12,632 and made a country for the people, by the people. 50 00:02:12,716 --> 00:02:14,426 Even though it's not perfect, 51 00:02:14,509 --> 00:02:18,179 that country embodies what all nations 52 00:02:18,263 --> 00:02:19,764 should be trying to strive for, 53 00:02:19,848 --> 00:02:21,433 some type of equality, 54 00:02:21,516 --> 00:02:26,104 you know, education, medical coverage, 55 00:02:26,187 --> 00:02:29,941 you know, equality in housing, and so on and so forth. 56 00:02:30,025 --> 00:02:33,862 And of course I think of Fidel Castro and Che Guevara, 57 00:02:33,945 --> 00:02:36,531 and all of the other great men and women 58 00:02:36,614 --> 00:02:38,700 that contributed to that struggle. 59 00:02:38,783 --> 00:02:43,705 ("Balicky Bon" by Hypnotic Brass Ensemble) 60 00:02:56,384 --> 00:02:58,219 - Graduate students at Yale. 61 00:02:58,303 --> 00:03:00,972 - Came together as a Black Resistance reading group. 62 00:03:04,267 --> 00:03:06,978 They struggled to create the ultimate field trip: 63 00:03:09,564 --> 00:03:10,690 - They ventured to Black Cuba 64 00:03:10,774 --> 00:03:12,525 in search of their revolutionary selves. 65 00:03:12,609 --> 00:03:17,614 ("Balicky Bon" by Hypnotic Brass Ensemble) 66 00:03:25,955 --> 00:03:27,248 This documentary is a mix-tape 67 00:03:27,332 --> 00:03:29,834 of a community's historical memory, 68 00:03:31,670 --> 00:03:33,922 the travelers' intimate recollections, 69 00:03:34,005 --> 00:03:36,091 - It's very moving being here on this spot. 70 00:03:36,174 --> 00:03:37,801 - and the salvaged footage they found 71 00:03:37,884 --> 00:03:40,595 from their journey from the Ivy League to a rebel state. 72 00:03:42,013 --> 00:03:44,182 - [All] We are the narrators of this film. 73 00:03:47,102 --> 00:03:48,436 - [Voiceover] What does it mean to you 74 00:03:48,520 --> 00:03:50,021 to be a Black student at Yale University? 75 00:03:51,773 --> 00:03:54,943 - Um, I find that question very difficult to answer. 76 00:03:55,694 --> 00:03:57,404 - [Voiceover] Are you mad, I mean you know -- 77 00:03:57,487 --> 00:04:00,323 - I'm very, I'm very angry. 78 00:04:01,449 --> 00:04:03,702 I'm very angry and lonely. 79 00:04:03,785 --> 00:04:08,707 (piano music) 80 00:04:10,125 --> 00:04:12,377 - I did feel like an outcast at Yale. 81 00:04:14,004 --> 00:04:15,463 On the one hand, 82 00:04:15,547 --> 00:04:17,590 I have the community of color that I was raised in, 83 00:04:17,674 --> 00:04:20,802 which is very working class. 84 00:04:25,640 --> 00:04:27,475 As I would walk around campus, 85 00:04:27,559 --> 00:04:30,395 I never at all identified as being part of Yale, 86 00:04:30,478 --> 00:04:33,857 even though I was in Yale's power and privilege. 87 00:04:34,816 --> 00:04:37,819 - I had a certain anxiety, I guess I would say, 88 00:04:37,902 --> 00:04:39,195 you know, being a person of color too, 89 00:04:39,279 --> 00:04:43,408 being Black, well mixed race, and going to Yale, 90 00:04:43,491 --> 00:04:45,326 and also the class issues, 91 00:04:45,410 --> 00:04:47,454 of not having been trained 92 00:04:47,537 --> 00:04:51,583 in elitist kind of Ivy institutions. 93 00:04:52,667 --> 00:04:54,419 - I found Yale to be a place 94 00:04:54,502 --> 00:04:56,504 that was really exciting intellectually, 95 00:04:57,505 --> 00:05:01,134 but I felt sometimes that the institution is not for me, 96 00:05:01,217 --> 00:05:03,261 as a person of color and a person from, 97 00:05:03,345 --> 00:05:06,765 a middle-class background, single-parent background, 98 00:05:06,848 --> 00:05:09,601 I mean, it's a place that's for the production of the elite, 99 00:05:09,684 --> 00:05:13,980 it's for the future CEOs and the future senators 100 00:05:14,064 --> 00:05:15,982 and presidents and Supreme Court justices. 101 00:05:16,066 --> 00:05:21,029 (soulful music) 102 00:05:51,059 --> 00:05:52,560 - You end up building up a lot of cash. 103 00:05:52,644 --> 00:05:54,979 - And I saw where your Board has amply rewarded you 104 00:05:55,063 --> 00:05:56,064 for that success. 105 00:05:56,147 --> 00:05:58,066 (laughter) 106 00:06:16,251 --> 00:06:19,713 - I never saw myself in that vein, 107 00:06:19,796 --> 00:06:22,716 so in some senses I've felt alienated 108 00:06:22,799 --> 00:06:24,592 at times from the institution. 109 00:06:24,676 --> 00:06:29,639 (piano music) 110 00:06:47,782 --> 00:06:51,077 - Yale University was founded in 1701, 111 00:06:51,161 --> 00:06:53,204 however, the first African American 112 00:06:53,288 --> 00:06:55,957 wasn't admitted until 1850. 113 00:06:56,041 --> 00:06:57,250 African Americans weren't admitted 114 00:06:57,334 --> 00:07:00,420 in groups until the 1960s. 115 00:07:00,503 --> 00:07:03,048 In spite of this long history of racial exclusion, 116 00:07:03,131 --> 00:07:04,591 Yale is consistently ranked 117 00:07:04,674 --> 00:07:07,302 as one of the top three universities in the nation. 118 00:07:07,385 --> 00:07:09,304 Along with two of the other wealthiest schools 119 00:07:09,387 --> 00:07:11,806 in the country, Harvard and Princeton. 120 00:07:12,974 --> 00:07:14,309 - A lot of the people of color 121 00:07:14,392 --> 00:07:16,978 were coming from middle-class households, 122 00:07:17,062 --> 00:07:18,480 where they may have been 123 00:07:18,563 --> 00:07:21,149 third- or fourth-generation college students. 124 00:07:23,151 --> 00:07:24,903 And even for the people 125 00:07:24,986 --> 00:07:28,073 that were first-generation college students, 126 00:07:28,156 --> 00:07:31,117 there's really this idea of, like, economics 127 00:07:31,201 --> 00:07:33,661 as being the purpose of an education. 128 00:07:33,745 --> 00:07:36,748 I have an entire family or community 129 00:07:36,831 --> 00:07:38,667 to support when I get out of here. 130 00:07:39,668 --> 00:07:41,252 - I grew up in just sort of, I don't know, 131 00:07:41,336 --> 00:07:44,839 maybe ten-block radius that included my school, 132 00:07:44,923 --> 00:07:48,968 my church, my family. 133 00:07:49,052 --> 00:07:53,264 My mom and my godmother worked very hard 134 00:07:53,348 --> 00:07:54,974 paying next month's tuition bill. 135 00:07:55,058 --> 00:07:58,937 And I just, sort of constantly feel that disconnect here. 136 00:08:02,691 --> 00:08:05,860 - I was one of two or three 137 00:08:05,944 --> 00:08:09,698 Black grad students in residence in the History department. 138 00:08:11,116 --> 00:08:15,453 I was at a reception towards the end of the year, 139 00:08:15,537 --> 00:08:17,205 and I looked around the room... 140 00:08:18,707 --> 00:08:20,750 And I looked at the portraits on the walls, 141 00:08:22,127 --> 00:08:24,462 and I thought, I've gotta get out of here. 142 00:08:24,546 --> 00:08:26,214 And it was just sort of this, 143 00:08:26,297 --> 00:08:27,841 and I still don't have the words for it, 144 00:08:27,924 --> 00:08:30,802 but at that moment it was so oppressive, 145 00:08:30,885 --> 00:08:32,554 the extent that there was nobody here, 146 00:08:32,637 --> 00:08:36,224 or there, then, for me to talk to. 147 00:08:36,307 --> 00:08:37,600 And it wasn't that 148 00:08:37,684 --> 00:08:39,310 there wasn't anybody Black for me to talk to, 149 00:08:39,394 --> 00:08:40,562 there was nobody there 150 00:08:40,645 --> 00:08:42,147 who was interested in what I was doing. 151 00:08:43,940 --> 00:08:46,234 - It's difficult to know, I think in this day and age, 152 00:08:46,317 --> 00:08:50,238 how to be political and feel like you're on the one hand, 153 00:08:51,906 --> 00:08:54,409 in solidarity with movements of resistance, 154 00:08:54,492 --> 00:08:56,578 but on the other hand so clearly in a position 155 00:08:56,661 --> 00:08:59,330 that makes you at least tangentially complicit 156 00:08:59,414 --> 00:09:01,833 in a lot of stuff that's going on in the world. 157 00:09:03,918 --> 00:09:05,003 - [Voiceover] Why are you staying? 158 00:09:05,086 --> 00:09:06,254 - Um. 159 00:09:07,964 --> 00:09:09,924 I'm staying because, you know... 160 00:09:12,761 --> 00:09:14,429 It's almost, I feel a need, 161 00:09:15,847 --> 00:09:18,683 you know, to stay here and get that degree, 162 00:09:18,767 --> 00:09:20,769 'cause I think that's very important. 163 00:09:22,771 --> 00:09:24,064 I'm also staying here, you know, 164 00:09:24,147 --> 00:09:25,273 'cause I like school. 165 00:09:25,357 --> 00:09:26,649 I like my work. 166 00:09:28,318 --> 00:09:29,736 - [Voiceover] There's some people who would say 167 00:09:29,819 --> 00:09:34,074 that Yale simply doesn't prepare you 168 00:09:34,157 --> 00:09:36,743 to cope with Black reality. 169 00:09:37,952 --> 00:09:41,456 - Um, and? 170 00:09:42,332 --> 00:09:44,250 - [Voiceover] And that you are actually becoming, 171 00:09:44,334 --> 00:09:47,295 not educated, but miseducated or whitewashed. 172 00:09:47,379 --> 00:09:48,797 - I think that's... 173 00:09:49,839 --> 00:09:52,967 I see that as rhetoric almost, you know. 174 00:09:53,051 --> 00:09:54,052 That... 175 00:09:55,470 --> 00:09:57,222 You can educate yourself on campus 176 00:09:57,305 --> 00:09:59,432 without going to class. 177 00:09:59,516 --> 00:10:02,227 I mean, you cook up tutorials, 178 00:10:02,310 --> 00:10:03,812 do what you want to do. 179 00:10:03,895 --> 00:10:06,731 I mean, people here are not feeding you stuff. 180 00:10:06,815 --> 00:10:08,942 They're not feeding you knowledge. 181 00:10:09,025 --> 00:10:11,903 I think that's a general misconception that people hold to. 182 00:10:11,986 --> 00:10:14,906 You know, you do what you wanna do. 183 00:10:14,989 --> 00:10:16,741 The place affords you that freedom. 184 00:10:16,825 --> 00:10:19,077 - My experience at Yale has been that if I hadn't been 185 00:10:19,160 --> 00:10:21,913 in the African American Studies department, 186 00:10:21,996 --> 00:10:24,332 perhaps I would have felt like an outcast. 187 00:10:24,416 --> 00:10:25,917 But I didn't, 188 00:10:26,001 --> 00:10:28,003 because the department very much became a home. 189 00:10:29,504 --> 00:10:32,924 - African American Studies is also known as Black Studies, 190 00:10:33,008 --> 00:10:36,511 Africana Studies, and African Diaspora studies. 191 00:10:44,102 --> 00:10:45,770 It's an academic discipline 192 00:10:45,854 --> 00:10:49,274 that focuses on the history, culture, and politics 193 00:10:49,357 --> 00:10:51,735 of communities of African descent. 194 00:10:59,242 --> 00:11:01,786 Beginning with the Third World Strike, 195 00:11:01,870 --> 00:11:05,123 at San Francisco State College in 1968, 196 00:11:05,206 --> 00:11:09,002 coalitions of students, teachers, and community members 197 00:11:09,085 --> 00:11:12,047 demanded the hiring of African American professors, 198 00:11:12,130 --> 00:11:13,465 and classes that reflected 199 00:11:13,548 --> 00:11:16,384 the experiences of people of color. 200 00:11:17,385 --> 00:11:19,387 - [Voiceover] The education that Third World people need 201 00:11:19,471 --> 00:11:22,474 is one that sees the dignity and the worth and the pride 202 00:11:22,557 --> 00:11:24,642 of the people from which the come. 203 00:11:24,726 --> 00:11:28,313 To enable us to in turn go back to our communities, 204 00:11:28,396 --> 00:11:31,149 increase and develop the level of consciousness 205 00:11:31,232 --> 00:11:33,526 of our people and why they live in poverty 206 00:11:33,610 --> 00:11:38,073 and why racism is continuing as a mainstay, 207 00:11:38,156 --> 00:11:40,658 of keeping Third World people poor. 208 00:11:40,742 --> 00:11:42,869 (police yelling on bullhorn) 209 00:11:42,952 --> 00:11:46,206 (protestors chanting) 210 00:11:46,289 --> 00:11:47,749 - Now African American studies, 211 00:11:47,832 --> 00:11:50,335 no matter what it's called or where it's taught, 212 00:11:50,418 --> 00:11:53,505 is politically informed at its roots. 213 00:11:53,588 --> 00:11:55,882 As far as a research-driven, 214 00:11:55,965 --> 00:11:59,511 quote, traditional liberal arts, kind of program, 215 00:11:59,594 --> 00:12:01,554 that's what Yale has in African American studies. 216 00:12:01,638 --> 00:12:05,392 That trajectory's very different from, say, 217 00:12:05,475 --> 00:12:07,185 those programs that were started 218 00:12:07,268 --> 00:12:09,688 with students with shotguns in their hands, 219 00:12:09,771 --> 00:12:11,231 literally armed struggle. 220 00:12:11,314 --> 00:12:13,775 They have a legacy of a different kind of practice, 221 00:12:13,858 --> 00:12:15,443 other than African American Studies. 222 00:12:18,113 --> 00:12:19,197 Now, which is better? 223 00:12:19,280 --> 00:12:20,949 This is up to you to decide. 224 00:12:27,706 --> 00:12:29,249 - I got to a point where I felt like 225 00:12:29,332 --> 00:12:31,626 I couldn't spend the rest of my life as an activist, 226 00:12:31,710 --> 00:12:35,797 because it's just really grueling, emotionally, physically. 227 00:12:36,965 --> 00:12:39,050 I was working as an activist with this organization 228 00:12:39,134 --> 00:12:40,719 called Pastors for Peace. 229 00:12:40,802 --> 00:12:43,304 Its motto is a people's foreign policy. 230 00:12:43,388 --> 00:12:46,307 We would organize humanitarian aid caravans 231 00:12:46,391 --> 00:12:50,562 to Chiapas and Nicaragua and El Salvador and Cuba, 232 00:12:50,645 --> 00:12:52,147 and I loved that work, 233 00:12:52,230 --> 00:12:55,442 but I wanted to make a contribution in some other way. 234 00:12:55,525 --> 00:12:59,946 My interest in, sort of, protest politics, 235 00:13:00,030 --> 00:13:03,241 and the interest that I shared with other graduate students, 236 00:13:03,324 --> 00:13:06,369 led me to found this Black Resistance reading group. 237 00:13:07,078 --> 00:13:08,705 As a way to get us motivated, 238 00:13:08,788 --> 00:13:11,624 to sort of exploring works that were about anti-colonialism, 239 00:13:11,708 --> 00:13:14,169 or anti-racist politics. 240 00:13:14,252 --> 00:13:16,296 - I think this was an opportunity for us, you know, 241 00:13:16,379 --> 00:13:17,839 people who were like-minded, 242 00:13:17,922 --> 00:13:21,176 to exercise some agency over our education, you know? 243 00:13:22,177 --> 00:13:24,304 And we had a diversity of people, 244 00:13:24,387 --> 00:13:27,932 and classes, and colors, and politics, within our group. 245 00:13:28,016 --> 00:13:29,976 But at the same time I felt like we were all, 246 00:13:30,060 --> 00:13:32,771 in some kind of odd way, 247 00:13:32,854 --> 00:13:36,691 feeling alienated for similar reasons. 248 00:13:37,525 --> 00:13:39,611 - In Black communities around the world, 249 00:13:39,694 --> 00:13:41,154 reading groups have continued 250 00:13:41,237 --> 00:13:44,783 the knowledge-sharing tradition that began with slavery. 251 00:13:44,866 --> 00:13:47,452 - Revolutionary Africans would meet secretly 252 00:13:47,535 --> 00:13:49,204 to learn each other's languages, 253 00:13:49,287 --> 00:13:50,830 teach each other to read, 254 00:13:50,914 --> 00:13:53,792 and develop resistance strategies. 255 00:13:53,875 --> 00:13:55,460 It can be sort of formal, 256 00:13:55,543 --> 00:13:58,296 like the legendary Dark Tower of Harlem, 257 00:13:58,380 --> 00:14:01,800 hosted by hair-care heiress A'lelia Walker. 258 00:14:01,883 --> 00:14:03,968 - Reading groups can also be grassroots, 259 00:14:04,052 --> 00:14:07,764 like the Black Panther Party's political education classes. 260 00:14:09,724 --> 00:14:11,309 - When you look at struggle, 261 00:14:11,393 --> 00:14:14,396 this depends on the education thing, you dig? 262 00:14:14,479 --> 00:14:15,730 You understand what I'm saying? 263 00:14:15,814 --> 00:14:17,399 With no education you have neo-colonialism 264 00:14:17,482 --> 00:14:18,400 instead of colonialism, 265 00:14:18,483 --> 00:14:20,527 like you've got in Africa now 266 00:14:20,610 --> 00:14:22,862 and like you've got in Haiti. 267 00:14:22,946 --> 00:14:24,280 So what we're talking about 268 00:14:24,364 --> 00:14:26,366 is there has to be an educational program. 269 00:14:26,449 --> 00:14:27,951 That's very important. 270 00:14:28,034 --> 00:14:28,535 As a matter of fact, reading is so important for us 271 00:14:28,618 --> 00:14:28,868 that a person has to go through six weeks 272 00:14:28,952 --> 00:14:32,330 of our political education 273 00:14:32,414 --> 00:14:34,040 before he can consider himself a member of the party 274 00:14:34,124 --> 00:14:36,501 able to even run down ideology for the party. 275 00:14:36,584 --> 00:14:37,877 Why? 276 00:14:37,961 --> 00:14:38,670 Because if they don4t have an education, 277 00:14:38,753 --> 00:14:40,296 then they4re nowhere, you dig what I4m saying? 278 00:14:42,173 --> 00:14:44,509 - The reading group initially started off fairly diffuse. 279 00:14:44,592 --> 00:14:47,178 There wasn't a particular theme beyond resistance, 280 00:14:47,262 --> 00:14:49,848 and that we wanted it to be global, 281 00:14:49,931 --> 00:14:51,433 that we weren't just talking about the United States, 282 00:14:51,516 --> 00:14:53,351 that we were talking about the diaspora. 283 00:14:53,435 --> 00:14:57,188 - A diaspora is a community of people who remain connected, 284 00:14:57,272 --> 00:14:59,441 although they have been dispersed from their homeland 285 00:14:59,524 --> 00:15:01,943 due to forces outside of their control. 286 00:15:02,027 --> 00:15:05,530 The African Diaspora names a world-wide community 287 00:15:05,613 --> 00:15:08,408 of millions who claim African heritage, 288 00:15:08,491 --> 00:15:11,536 and deal with the every-day reality of anti-black racism. 289 00:15:12,537 --> 00:15:14,956 - I got interested in diasporic issues 290 00:15:15,040 --> 00:15:16,916 when I went to Oxford. 291 00:15:17,000 --> 00:15:20,795 - Fuck fees, fuck fees, education should be free! 292 00:15:20,879 --> 00:15:23,465 - And met a lot of Black people from around the world, 293 00:15:23,548 --> 00:15:27,218 Caribbean, West Africa, most predominantly, 294 00:15:27,302 --> 00:15:29,971 and I realized that African American issues 295 00:15:30,055 --> 00:15:31,973 weren't the only game in town, basically. 296 00:15:33,058 --> 00:15:34,476 - It was through our discussions 297 00:15:34,559 --> 00:15:36,478 that I really began thinking about Cuba again. 298 00:15:36,561 --> 00:15:39,272 It's like, you know, Cuba is a revolutionary country, 299 00:15:39,356 --> 00:15:42,484 and it's a socialist country, and it's a Black country. 300 00:15:42,567 --> 00:15:45,612 - The rest of us had, probably more latent interest, 301 00:15:45,695 --> 00:15:49,991 and less experience with Cuba, but were intrigued by it. 302 00:15:51,368 --> 00:15:54,996 - [Dalton] I think one of my earliest recollections of Cuba 303 00:15:55,080 --> 00:15:58,583 was reading some of the speeches of Malcolm X, 304 00:15:58,667 --> 00:16:01,586 I think By Any Means Necessary, in one of those collections, 305 00:16:01,670 --> 00:16:06,257 there's talk about Castro's visit to Harlem, 1960. 306 00:16:06,341 --> 00:16:11,346 (cheering) 307 00:16:14,015 --> 00:16:15,225 - [Translator] Remember that 308 00:16:15,308 --> 00:16:15,850 in those days when I came here first, 309 00:16:15,934 --> 00:16:19,145 those were the days of the Cold War. 310 00:16:19,229 --> 00:16:21,773 (speaks Spanish) 311 00:16:21,856 --> 00:16:25,110 The revolution was practically a newborn. 312 00:16:25,193 --> 00:16:27,153 That was in the year 1960. 313 00:16:27,237 --> 00:16:30,949 (speaks Spanish) 314 00:16:31,032 --> 00:16:32,534 Injustice was obvious, 315 00:16:32,617 --> 00:16:34,619 discrimination was obvious to me, 316 00:16:36,079 --> 00:16:38,998 I knew that here I would have the heart 317 00:16:39,082 --> 00:16:41,209 of the neighbors of Harlem. 318 00:16:41,292 --> 00:16:46,256 (applause) 319 00:16:46,881 --> 00:16:48,550 We have shed our blood. 320 00:16:49,759 --> 00:16:54,764 We have shed our blood to fight against colonialism! 321 00:16:55,390 --> 00:16:56,975 And to defend independence! 322 00:16:57,058 --> 00:17:02,063 (cheering and whistling) 323 00:17:05,942 --> 00:17:07,360 - Yes let us pray, 324 00:17:07,444 --> 00:17:08,737 for the salvation of all of those 325 00:17:08,820 --> 00:17:11,489 who live in that totalitarian darkness. 326 00:17:11,573 --> 00:17:14,409 They are the focus of evil in the modern world. 327 00:17:15,410 --> 00:17:17,370 - [Josh] My early understandings of communism, 328 00:17:17,454 --> 00:17:18,997 growing up in the 1980s, 329 00:17:19,080 --> 00:17:22,000 when the Cold War and kind of anti-communism 330 00:17:22,083 --> 00:17:24,669 was so pervasive in popular culture. 331 00:17:24,753 --> 00:17:28,840 - You tell your guys in Miami, your friend. 332 00:17:28,923 --> 00:17:30,675 It'd be a pleasure. 333 00:17:30,759 --> 00:17:32,927 I kill a communist for fun. 334 00:17:34,095 --> 00:17:35,513 - [Josh] And understanding communism 335 00:17:35,597 --> 00:17:37,349 as being something evil. 336 00:17:37,432 --> 00:17:40,977 - Not gonna stop this fight, no matter what. 337 00:17:45,190 --> 00:17:46,900 (explosion) 338 00:17:46,983 --> 00:17:48,485 - [Josh] We went from that to reading 339 00:17:48,568 --> 00:17:51,529 about the relationship between Malcolm and Castro, 340 00:17:51,613 --> 00:17:53,031 and also Patrice Lumumba, 341 00:17:53,114 --> 00:17:54,532 all that kinda wrapped up together, 342 00:17:54,616 --> 00:17:56,618 starting to offer kinda an alternative 343 00:17:56,701 --> 00:17:58,161 to these other understandings 344 00:17:58,244 --> 00:18:00,121 of what communism might be about, 345 00:18:00,205 --> 00:18:02,624 or what a socialist society might be about. 346 00:18:02,707 --> 00:18:06,169 ("After The Rain" by Little Dragon) 347 00:18:18,973 --> 00:18:21,893 - Socialism is an alternative to capitalism, 348 00:18:21,976 --> 00:18:25,063 and aims to develop relatively equal power relations 349 00:18:25,146 --> 00:18:26,481 in a society. 350 00:18:34,823 --> 00:18:37,409 Communism is a form of socialism. 351 00:18:37,492 --> 00:18:40,120 It simply endorses the public collective ownership 352 00:18:40,203 --> 00:18:42,831 of things like factories, technologies, 353 00:18:42,914 --> 00:18:44,499 and natural resources. 354 00:19:05,937 --> 00:19:08,023 - Its also part of our struggle, 355 00:19:08,106 --> 00:19:10,275 to see that the amenities 356 00:19:10,358 --> 00:19:13,486 of life in the 20th century reach our people. 357 00:19:13,570 --> 00:19:16,364 You know Mr. President that we are very very far 358 00:19:16,448 --> 00:19:20,702 from achieving the goal of raising those standards of living 359 00:19:20,785 --> 00:19:25,040 without which the struggle for independence is not enough. 360 00:19:27,542 --> 00:19:29,127 - Our Friend Angela. 361 00:19:29,210 --> 00:19:34,132 (cheery music) 362 00:19:37,052 --> 00:19:38,887 (applause) 363 00:19:38,970 --> 00:19:42,640 - I can envision no more profound honor 364 00:19:42,724 --> 00:19:44,392 for a communist, 365 00:19:44,476 --> 00:19:48,063 than to be considered a part of an educational system 366 00:19:48,146 --> 00:19:52,150 which puts knowledge, science, and reason 367 00:19:52,233 --> 00:19:55,987 at the service of humanity's material 368 00:19:56,071 --> 00:19:58,365 and spiritual well-being. 369 00:19:58,448 --> 00:20:03,078 That is not only to be able to understand the world, 370 00:20:03,912 --> 00:20:07,248 but to apply that knowledge in changing it. 371 00:20:07,332 --> 00:20:08,875 (applause) 372 00:20:08,958 --> 00:20:12,087 - The idea came up as, we should take a field trip! 373 00:20:12,170 --> 00:20:15,507 And sort of, the ridiculousness of equating Cuba, 374 00:20:15,590 --> 00:20:17,342 thinking of Cuba as a field trip, 375 00:20:17,425 --> 00:20:18,843 but we were completely serious. 376 00:20:18,927 --> 00:20:20,512 Once we started to discuss it, 377 00:20:20,595 --> 00:20:23,390 to me it kind of clicked as in, 378 00:20:23,473 --> 00:20:25,850 of course I want to go to Cuba. 379 00:20:25,934 --> 00:20:28,311 It just seemed like a logical next step 380 00:20:28,395 --> 00:20:30,021 for this reading group, 381 00:20:30,105 --> 00:20:32,190 to move from the sort of, theoretical, 382 00:20:32,273 --> 00:20:34,275 into really seeing 383 00:20:34,359 --> 00:20:37,696 how Black resistance is lived. 384 00:20:38,863 --> 00:20:40,115 - [Besenia] Oh, I see what you mean. 385 00:20:40,198 --> 00:20:41,700 - [Voiceover] Yeah. (laughter) 386 00:20:41,783 --> 00:20:42,867 - [Dalton] Gotta get used to it. 387 00:20:42,951 --> 00:20:44,411 I'm just playing with the camera. 388 00:20:44,494 --> 00:20:45,537 - We understood ourselves 389 00:20:45,620 --> 00:20:47,205 as going, almost as emissaries, 390 00:20:47,288 --> 00:20:50,125 you know, from Yale, African American Studies, 391 00:20:50,208 --> 00:20:52,544 and that we kind of represented a larger group of people 392 00:20:52,627 --> 00:20:53,962 who may have wanted to go, 393 00:20:54,045 --> 00:20:55,964 but were not able to go. 394 00:20:56,047 --> 00:20:59,718 - The video would probably be most important 395 00:20:59,801 --> 00:21:03,596 as an educational tool, 396 00:21:03,680 --> 00:21:06,307 how does Cuba impact our thinking 397 00:21:06,391 --> 00:21:08,935 about a variety of different things, you know. 398 00:21:09,019 --> 00:21:10,729 - This is really lacking out there, 399 00:21:10,812 --> 00:21:13,106 just dialog and people talking, 400 00:21:13,189 --> 00:21:16,067 sort of, off the cuff about Cuba. 401 00:21:16,151 --> 00:21:17,527 - Well I think it's important 402 00:21:17,610 --> 00:21:17,819 to kinda talk a little bit about the process 403 00:21:17,902 --> 00:21:20,405 of actually getting ready to go, 404 00:21:20,488 --> 00:21:22,115 'cause there were a lot of obstacles. 405 00:21:22,198 --> 00:21:23,825 - US government's economic embargo 406 00:21:23,908 --> 00:21:26,828 bans Americans from freely traveling to Cuba. 407 00:21:29,247 --> 00:21:31,624 - There are some exceptions for researchers, 408 00:21:31,708 --> 00:21:35,170 students, journalists, artists, and Cuban Americans. 409 00:21:39,090 --> 00:21:41,801 - The US remains the only country in the world 410 00:21:41,885 --> 00:21:44,846 to have any restrictions on trade or travel to Cuba. 411 00:21:45,764 --> 00:21:47,932 - We wanted initially to raise enough money 412 00:21:48,016 --> 00:21:51,936 to have all of our expenses funded for the whole group. 413 00:21:52,020 --> 00:21:54,147 And that began to seem 414 00:21:54,230 --> 00:21:55,565 like something that would be impossible. 415 00:21:55,648 --> 00:21:58,443 - Each of us going to the discretionary funds 416 00:21:58,526 --> 00:22:00,278 of our separate departments, 417 00:22:00,362 --> 00:22:01,613 outside of African American Studies, 418 00:22:01,696 --> 00:22:04,115 and asking for moneys. 419 00:22:04,199 --> 00:22:06,534 - The money thing was a huge obstacle, 420 00:22:06,618 --> 00:22:08,953 and it was a constant reminder 421 00:22:09,037 --> 00:22:11,831 of the kind of antagonistic space we were in at Yale. 422 00:22:11,915 --> 00:22:14,167 - There are a lot of pots of money around the campus, 423 00:22:14,250 --> 00:22:17,337 but they're more for, we discovered, 424 00:22:17,420 --> 00:22:20,632 planning conferences, or bringing speakers to campus, 425 00:22:20,715 --> 00:22:21,966 or things like that, 426 00:22:22,050 --> 00:22:24,969 and not sending a group of students 427 00:22:25,053 --> 00:22:27,514 off to a forbidden country. (laughter) 428 00:22:27,597 --> 00:22:32,602 To explore socialism and radical Black politics, so. 429 00:22:32,936 --> 00:22:34,229 - Even while I was participating, 430 00:22:34,312 --> 00:22:36,189 I was kinda like, this ain't gonna work. 431 00:22:36,272 --> 00:22:37,440 This isn't gonna work. (laughter) 432 00:22:37,524 --> 00:22:38,650 They said, we don't have the money, 433 00:22:38,733 --> 00:22:40,318 you know, and it's true. 434 00:22:40,402 --> 00:22:42,987 They did not, people were not forthcoming 435 00:22:43,071 --> 00:22:44,698 with money for this trip, 436 00:22:44,781 --> 00:22:46,116 and there's some surprising people 437 00:22:46,199 --> 00:22:48,159 that you would think would be supporting. 438 00:22:48,243 --> 00:22:49,869 But Robin was very clear that we were going to do it 439 00:22:49,953 --> 00:22:51,746 and it was going to happen. 440 00:22:53,164 --> 00:22:56,001 - We were able to throw some fundraisers, 441 00:22:56,084 --> 00:22:57,836 we had a film festival, 442 00:22:57,919 --> 00:23:01,923 and we also just asked like every little 443 00:23:02,007 --> 00:23:04,551 organization, fiefdom, whatever, 444 00:23:04,634 --> 00:23:06,678 at Yale that we could for some money, 445 00:23:06,761 --> 00:23:09,514 and we were able to cobble together enough funding. 446 00:23:09,597 --> 00:23:11,266 - There was never a sense of, 447 00:23:11,349 --> 00:23:13,018 these are the people that have funding and can go to Cuba, 448 00:23:13,101 --> 00:23:14,602 and these are the people that can't. 449 00:23:14,686 --> 00:23:16,771 It was very much a sort of community ethos, 450 00:23:16,855 --> 00:23:20,358 of, well, what's the point of me being able to go, 451 00:23:20,442 --> 00:23:24,070 if this other person can't go? 452 00:23:24,154 --> 00:23:28,408 And how much of a conflict is that 453 00:23:28,491 --> 00:23:30,452 if we proclaim to be 454 00:23:31,536 --> 00:23:34,247 interested in a socialist society, 455 00:23:34,330 --> 00:23:37,667 and visiting it and participating in that experiment? 456 00:23:38,877 --> 00:23:40,628 - Who packed up the bag? 457 00:23:40,712 --> 00:23:42,047 - [Robin] Everything's in there. 458 00:23:42,130 --> 00:23:43,381 - We got all the Radioshack stuff? 459 00:23:43,465 --> 00:23:45,175 - [Robin] Yeah, everything's in there. 460 00:23:45,258 --> 00:23:48,720 - The topic was 1968 to 2002, Are We Still Radicals, right? 461 00:23:48,803 --> 00:23:50,096 Every sngle one of these panelists 462 00:23:50,180 --> 00:23:51,973 was basically saying yes I'm still a radical. 463 00:23:52,057 --> 00:23:53,224 This one woman said that, 464 00:23:53,308 --> 00:23:57,103 just her being one of the 1.5% 465 00:23:57,187 --> 00:24:01,733 of Black tenured faculty at Oberlin, she is a radical. 466 00:24:01,816 --> 00:24:02,734 - [Robin] Oh please. 467 00:24:02,817 --> 00:24:04,069 - And I was like, OK, 468 00:24:04,152 --> 00:24:05,153 let me see where she's going with this. 469 00:24:05,236 --> 00:24:09,949 And she goes, just me being part of that 1.5% of the faculty 470 00:24:10,033 --> 00:24:11,951 who goes into a board meeting, 471 00:24:12,035 --> 00:24:15,747 or goes into a department meeting, I am being a radical. 472 00:24:15,830 --> 00:24:18,083 And I was like, OK, so that means that Clarence Thomas 473 00:24:18,166 --> 00:24:20,085 is being a radical by going to the Supreme Court, 474 00:24:20,168 --> 00:24:21,294 and Colin Powell are being radi -- 475 00:24:21,378 --> 00:24:22,462 And Condoleezza Rice?! 476 00:24:22,545 --> 00:24:24,255 I was like, that's some bullshit! 477 00:24:24,339 --> 00:24:26,091 And everybody in the audience was head-nodding, 478 00:24:26,174 --> 00:24:27,592 I was like OK, 479 00:24:27,676 --> 00:24:29,427 these are all conservative Black folks right here. 480 00:24:29,511 --> 00:24:30,762 - [Robin] So Theresa, you were going to tell us 481 00:24:30,845 --> 00:24:32,514 something about your parents? 482 00:24:32,597 --> 00:24:36,768 - My father, he's kinda like a quasi-intellectual, 483 00:24:36,851 --> 00:24:39,604 he taught math for many years, 484 00:24:39,688 --> 00:24:41,231 he's extremely well-read, 485 00:24:41,314 --> 00:24:44,651 he watches like five different newscasts. (laughter) 486 00:24:44,734 --> 00:24:46,486 One summer vacation, 487 00:24:46,569 --> 00:24:49,280 we went to Myrtle Beach, North Carolina. 488 00:24:49,364 --> 00:24:52,325 And while everybody else was out on the beach, 489 00:24:52,409 --> 00:24:55,370 having a good time, like throwing the Frisbee, 490 00:24:55,453 --> 00:24:57,664 my father made us sit 491 00:24:57,747 --> 00:25:01,459 and watch the Iran-Contra hearings. 492 00:25:01,543 --> 00:25:02,836 - [Voiceover] But it was designed 493 00:25:02,919 --> 00:25:04,754 to be kept a secret from the American people. 494 00:25:08,049 --> 00:25:10,802 - I think that growing up in that environment 495 00:25:10,885 --> 00:25:12,637 makes me question things. 496 00:25:12,721 --> 00:25:15,140 And I think that's a really important link, 497 00:25:15,223 --> 00:25:18,643 in terms of how people become politicized 498 00:25:18,727 --> 00:25:20,228 or think about politics. 499 00:25:20,311 --> 00:25:21,980 - [Robin] OK, you were telling us about 500 00:25:22,063 --> 00:25:25,316 how having Thayden radicalized you in a number of ways. 501 00:25:25,400 --> 00:25:27,235 - Oh, yeah, being a parent has really radicalized me. 502 00:25:27,318 --> 00:25:29,696 You know, being a parent has really radicalized me. 503 00:25:29,779 --> 00:25:33,324 To me, at the heart of revolutionary struggle 504 00:25:33,408 --> 00:25:36,036 is a concern for the conditions in which 505 00:25:36,119 --> 00:25:40,081 we socially raise our children and our future generations. 506 00:25:40,165 --> 00:25:42,250 I don't think that revolutionary struggle 507 00:25:42,334 --> 00:25:46,338 is just something that one does for themselves. 508 00:25:48,423 --> 00:25:49,841 - [Robin] And we're on our way to Cuba. 509 00:25:49,924 --> 00:25:51,259 Are you excited? 510 00:25:51,343 --> 00:25:52,552 - Do you believe it? Of course I'm excited. 511 00:25:52,635 --> 00:25:54,262 (laughter) 512 00:25:55,263 --> 00:25:57,098 Cuba means a lot to me. 513 00:25:57,182 --> 00:25:58,641 It's very mythological. 514 00:25:59,684 --> 00:26:02,062 I wanna show solidarity with the Cuban people, 515 00:26:02,145 --> 00:26:04,356 I'm very proud of the Cuban people. 516 00:26:06,775 --> 00:26:11,112 I feel like Cuba's a piece in the puzzle, a missing link. 517 00:26:22,290 --> 00:26:24,584 I'm already inspired, I haven't left the airport. 518 00:26:24,668 --> 00:26:29,673 ("Mugambi" by The Souljazz Orchestra) 519 00:26:39,808 --> 00:26:42,227 Day one, first impressions. 520 00:26:42,310 --> 00:26:44,396 No corporate restaurant chains. 521 00:26:44,479 --> 00:26:46,898 No strip malls. 522 00:26:46,981 --> 00:26:50,068 No McDonalds or any of that, 523 00:26:50,151 --> 00:26:53,822 completely changes just the physical landscape is stunning. 524 00:26:53,905 --> 00:26:55,782 - I remember being very struck, 525 00:26:55,865 --> 00:26:57,242 all the billboards that you would see, 526 00:26:57,325 --> 00:26:58,451 and there weren't that many, 527 00:26:58,535 --> 00:27:00,245 but they were talking about history, 528 00:27:00,328 --> 00:27:01,663 and the nation's history, 529 00:27:01,746 --> 00:27:03,415 and you could say they were propagandistic, 530 00:27:03,498 --> 00:27:05,834 but they seemed to me to be much more valuable, 531 00:27:05,917 --> 00:27:08,086 than advertisements for Bacardi Rum, 532 00:27:08,169 --> 00:27:11,047 or (laughing) Absolut Vodka or something like that. 533 00:27:17,012 --> 00:27:18,430 - Alright, so good morning. 534 00:27:18,513 --> 00:27:19,931 (murmured responses) 535 00:27:20,015 --> 00:27:21,766 And I'm sorry because of the rain, 536 00:27:21,850 --> 00:27:24,477 and so we're going to have rain for you all day, 537 00:27:24,561 --> 00:27:26,604 but we were praying to have rain, 538 00:27:26,688 --> 00:27:29,607 because we are in the middle of our dry season, 539 00:27:29,691 --> 00:27:31,943 and we were praying so much, probably that's why. 540 00:27:32,027 --> 00:27:34,112 (group laughs) 541 00:27:34,195 --> 00:27:36,781 Alright, so I'm going to be going through the program, 542 00:27:36,865 --> 00:27:39,534 so that you can know what is going on. 543 00:27:41,411 --> 00:27:43,663 - I know that this is important 544 00:27:43,747 --> 00:27:47,000 for the Afro-American people, 545 00:27:47,083 --> 00:27:48,460 and also for Cuba because 546 00:27:48,543 --> 00:27:51,338 the link between Malcolm X 547 00:27:51,421 --> 00:27:54,341 and Fidel Castro and our revolution. 548 00:27:54,424 --> 00:27:57,302 We always maintained the hopes 549 00:27:57,385 --> 00:27:59,763 that this relation could be possible. 550 00:27:59,846 --> 00:28:03,516 This is the opportunity for you 551 00:28:03,600 --> 00:28:08,271 to get it clarified about our revolution. 552 00:28:28,333 --> 00:28:30,919 - Education of Caribbean history. 553 00:28:32,170 --> 00:28:36,341 Cuba is a Caribbean country. 554 00:28:36,424 --> 00:28:38,009 The Caribbean 555 00:28:38,093 --> 00:28:41,680 is a very controversial region. 556 00:28:41,763 --> 00:28:44,432 The definition of "Caribe" 557 00:28:44,516 --> 00:28:49,729 is not only a geographical definition. 558 00:28:49,813 --> 00:28:54,693 It's an ethnological definition, 559 00:28:54,776 --> 00:28:57,195 an historical definition. 560 00:28:57,278 --> 00:29:00,323 This is more important. 561 00:29:00,949 --> 00:29:03,410 The similarities 562 00:29:03,493 --> 00:29:06,371 are made by colonialism. 563 00:29:09,124 --> 00:29:11,459 - Colonialism is a practice of domination, 564 00:29:11,543 --> 00:29:14,421 which involves the subjugation of one people by another. 565 00:29:14,504 --> 00:29:16,381 This domination increases economic gain, 566 00:29:16,464 --> 00:29:17,674 and political power. 567 00:29:18,800 --> 00:29:20,802 - Most of the indigenous people of Cuba 568 00:29:20,885 --> 00:29:23,888 were Arawak or Guanajatabey. 569 00:29:24,973 --> 00:29:27,142 They fought against Christopher Columbus, 570 00:29:27,225 --> 00:29:31,479 Diego Velasquez, and other representatives of Spain's elite. 571 00:29:33,648 --> 00:29:35,108 - [Voiceover] The Spanish colonizers 572 00:29:35,191 --> 00:29:38,319 used advanced military weaponry and professional troops. 573 00:29:38,403 --> 00:29:39,904 This regime also developed 574 00:29:39,988 --> 00:29:42,574 an arbitrarily violent criminal justice system, 575 00:29:42,657 --> 00:29:45,326 which disproportionately punished indigenous people. 576 00:29:48,538 --> 00:29:51,916 - The vast majority of the indigenous people of Cuba died 577 00:29:52,000 --> 00:29:55,712 or were marginalized within 100 years of Columbus' arrival. 578 00:29:56,421 --> 00:29:58,340 - Spain's takeover of Cuba, 579 00:29:58,423 --> 00:30:01,259 along with the subjugation of Hispaniola and Puerto Rico, 580 00:30:01,343 --> 00:30:03,970 gave Spain the political and economic monopoly 581 00:30:04,054 --> 00:30:05,221 in the Caribbean. 582 00:30:07,766 --> 00:30:10,101 - The lack of environmental regulations 583 00:30:10,185 --> 00:30:11,603 and trade restrictions 584 00:30:11,686 --> 00:30:13,188 allow for the Cuban elite 585 00:30:13,271 --> 00:30:17,275 to form two lucrative interdependent enterprises. 586 00:30:17,359 --> 00:30:20,278 Industrial agriculture, and slave labor. 587 00:30:22,364 --> 00:30:25,200 Slavery is the system where people are treated as property 588 00:30:25,283 --> 00:30:26,701 and forced to work. 589 00:30:26,785 --> 00:30:29,454 It exists for the purposes of lowering labor costs 590 00:30:29,537 --> 00:30:31,039 and increasing profits. 591 00:30:35,377 --> 00:30:39,214 - Between 1511 and 1865, nearly 1,000,000 Africans 592 00:30:39,297 --> 00:30:42,467 were kidnapped, sold as if they were property, 593 00:30:42,550 --> 00:30:45,387 and forced to work in Cuba as slaves. 594 00:30:47,055 --> 00:30:50,141 - Cuba became the largest slave-importing colony 595 00:30:50,225 --> 00:30:51,393 in the Caribbean. 596 00:30:56,106 --> 00:30:59,734 Cuban plantation owners constructed homes and slave quarters 597 00:30:59,818 --> 00:31:03,321 so that laborers were under surveillance at all times. 598 00:31:03,405 --> 00:31:05,323 They were forced to live in barracones, 599 00:31:05,407 --> 00:31:06,866 which are walled-in villages, 600 00:31:06,950 --> 00:31:09,411 where men and women are separated with a courtyard. 601 00:31:12,455 --> 00:31:15,500 Those who tried to escape were dismembered 602 00:31:15,583 --> 00:31:18,336 or hunted down by slave-hunters called rancheadores. 603 00:31:18,420 --> 00:31:23,425 (emotional jazz music) 604 00:31:30,306 --> 00:31:31,850 - In spite of the risk, 605 00:31:31,933 --> 00:31:34,769 Cuban slaves frequently disrupted the authority 606 00:31:34,853 --> 00:31:36,771 of plantation owners. 607 00:31:36,855 --> 00:31:38,898 - They organized armed revolts, 608 00:31:38,982 --> 00:31:41,568 and lived in maroon communities of escaped slaves 609 00:31:41,651 --> 00:31:44,446 that raided plantations, destroyed property, 610 00:31:44,529 --> 00:31:46,322 and liberated other slaves. 611 00:31:54,372 --> 00:31:58,418 - This is the monument for the maroons 612 00:31:58,501 --> 00:32:01,546 that escaped from their slave masters 613 00:32:01,629 --> 00:32:02,797 that used to live in this area. 614 00:32:02,881 --> 00:32:05,091 All this area was covered by woods. 615 00:32:05,175 --> 00:32:06,885 And this is like a symbol, 616 00:32:06,968 --> 00:32:09,721 praying for their god to help them, 617 00:32:09,804 --> 00:32:13,141 and so in that way they have this big casserole, 618 00:32:13,224 --> 00:32:17,771 there was like smoke coming out of the casserole, 619 00:32:17,854 --> 00:32:20,815 and that smoke was a sort of guidance, 620 00:32:20,899 --> 00:32:23,109 for where to go and where not to go, you know. 621 00:32:23,193 --> 00:32:25,612 To continue to freedom. 622 00:32:25,695 --> 00:32:26,738 - [Dalton] Joshua? 623 00:32:26,821 --> 00:32:27,989 - Si? 624 00:32:28,073 --> 00:32:29,616 - [Dalton] Habla. 625 00:32:29,699 --> 00:32:31,743 - This is intense, because there are so few monuments 626 00:32:31,826 --> 00:32:33,745 in the world to the struggle, 627 00:32:33,828 --> 00:32:35,413 to the horror of slavery, 628 00:32:35,497 --> 00:32:36,915 but also the struggle against slavery. 629 00:32:36,998 --> 00:32:39,125 And this, to have this monument here 630 00:32:39,209 --> 00:32:41,419 that's a symbol of this resistance, 631 00:32:41,503 --> 00:32:43,963 along side of every other part of this town 632 00:32:44,047 --> 00:32:45,757 and this community that was built 633 00:32:45,840 --> 00:32:47,175 out of the struggle of the revolution, 634 00:32:47,258 --> 00:32:48,134 the Cuban Revolution, 635 00:32:48,218 --> 00:32:49,427 to see these two things together 636 00:32:49,511 --> 00:32:51,012 really united both in... 637 00:32:52,931 --> 00:32:55,433 Historical memory but also living reality, 638 00:32:55,517 --> 00:32:57,185 and to see those two things together is intense, 639 00:32:57,268 --> 00:32:59,062 and also sort of spiritual 640 00:32:59,145 --> 00:33:01,815 because we're here in the mountains, in this valley, 641 00:33:01,898 --> 00:33:06,111 and you can feel the unity of nature 642 00:33:06,194 --> 00:33:09,364 and it's intense, and it feels good. 643 00:33:11,366 --> 00:33:16,371 (fast-paced drumming and singing) 644 00:33:38,601 --> 00:33:40,020 - [Voiceover] Cuban slaves would also engage 645 00:33:40,103 --> 00:33:42,480 in cultural resistance using song, 646 00:33:42,564 --> 00:33:45,025 dance, folk tales, religion, 647 00:33:45,108 --> 00:33:47,902 and that validated their humanity and community. 648 00:33:47,986 --> 00:33:52,991 (fast-paced drumming and singing) 649 00:34:09,924 --> 00:34:14,596 The plantation is a pivotal aspect in the Caribbean history. 650 00:34:14,679 --> 00:34:18,850 The plantation not only organized the economics 651 00:34:18,933 --> 00:34:21,561 of all of these countries, 652 00:34:21,644 --> 00:34:24,773 but organized the society, too. 653 00:34:24,856 --> 00:34:30,028 The society where the whites were at the top of the society 654 00:34:30,111 --> 00:34:32,739 and the Black Africans, 655 00:34:32,822 --> 00:34:34,699 slave or free 656 00:34:34,783 --> 00:34:36,618 at the bottom of the society. 657 00:34:39,871 --> 00:34:44,417 (trumpeting) 658 00:34:44,501 --> 00:34:49,464 (patriotic orchestral music) 659 00:34:57,138 --> 00:34:59,265 - 30 years. 660 00:34:59,349 --> 00:35:02,811 The Cubans were fighting 30 years 661 00:35:02,894 --> 00:35:06,523 in order to obtain their independence. 662 00:35:19,536 --> 00:35:25,417 (fast-paced drumming and singing) 663 00:35:25,500 --> 00:35:27,836 - Imperialism is a system of domination 664 00:35:29,254 --> 00:35:31,923 by which a country exercises power over another, 665 00:35:32,007 --> 00:35:34,092 through settlement, political rule, 666 00:35:34,175 --> 00:35:38,430 military force, or indirect mechanisms of control. 667 00:35:48,773 --> 00:35:52,444 The patriot that began the war, 668 00:35:52,527 --> 00:35:56,281 Carlos Manuel de Céspedes, 669 00:35:56,364 --> 00:36:00,744 he freed the slaves, in order 670 00:36:01,745 --> 00:36:05,665 they fight in an equal situation, as a citizen 671 00:36:05,749 --> 00:36:07,876 in order to obtain independence. 672 00:36:07,959 --> 00:36:12,881 And the majority of the soldiers at the end of the war 673 00:36:12,964 --> 00:36:15,175 were Black or mulatto. 674 00:36:15,258 --> 00:36:18,511 For example, Antonio Maceo is the paradigm 675 00:36:18,595 --> 00:36:20,972 because he's the biggest. 676 00:36:35,987 --> 00:36:38,656 - The US declared war on Spain in 1898, 677 00:36:38,740 --> 00:36:40,950 in order to gain imperial rule over Cuba. 678 00:36:42,744 --> 00:36:44,371 In most American classrooms, 679 00:36:44,454 --> 00:36:46,998 we learn to call this conflict the Spanish American War. 680 00:36:47,082 --> 00:36:49,501 In Cuba, they call it the US intervention 681 00:36:49,584 --> 00:36:51,503 on Cuba's War of Independence. 682 00:36:53,963 --> 00:36:55,256 - As a result of the war, 683 00:36:55,340 --> 00:36:58,051 the US was able to gain dominance over Cuba, 684 00:36:58,134 --> 00:36:59,928 as well as Puerto Rico, 685 00:37:01,179 --> 00:37:03,932 Guam, and the Philippines. 686 00:37:09,604 --> 00:37:13,400 President of the Republic of Cuba, Tomás Estrada Palma. 687 00:37:13,483 --> 00:37:15,193 I'm talking about 1902. 688 00:37:15,276 --> 00:37:18,029 When he was selected as the president of Cuba, 689 00:37:18,113 --> 00:37:21,366 he just decided to represent the American interests in our country 690 00:37:21,449 --> 00:37:23,368 and not the Cubans anymore. 691 00:37:23,451 --> 00:37:25,537 That's why we consider him as a traitor. 692 00:37:25,620 --> 00:37:28,206 And because of him, we still have the military base, 693 00:37:28,289 --> 00:37:30,291 Guantánamo military base. 694 00:37:30,375 --> 00:37:33,420 He's the one who signed the amendment, called the Platt Amendment, 695 00:37:33,503 --> 00:37:37,924 which allowed the American government to have military bases in our country. 696 00:37:38,008 --> 00:37:42,971 (fast-paced singing and drumming) 697 00:37:44,305 --> 00:37:46,141 - [Voiceover] Political corruption is the abuse of power 698 00:37:46,224 --> 00:37:49,019 by public officials for private gain. 699 00:37:49,978 --> 00:37:51,604 - In the early 20th century, 700 00:37:51,688 --> 00:37:54,566 the US installed and supported Cuban government leaders. 701 00:37:54,649 --> 00:37:59,612 (fast-paced drumming and singing) 702 00:38:09,831 --> 00:38:11,416 - [Voiceover] The US used its influence 703 00:38:11,499 --> 00:38:14,919 to increase the profits of private American companies, 704 00:38:15,003 --> 00:38:17,505 which dominated the island's economy. 705 00:38:18,173 --> 00:38:22,510 US companies owned about 40% of the Cuban sugar lands, 706 00:38:22,594 --> 00:38:24,596 almost all the cattle ranches, 707 00:38:24,679 --> 00:38:28,099 90% of the mines and a mineral concession, 708 00:38:28,183 --> 00:38:30,143 80% of the utilities, 709 00:38:30,226 --> 00:38:32,562 and practically all the oil industry. 710 00:38:33,438 --> 00:38:36,274 - With US military support and economic aid, 711 00:38:36,358 --> 00:38:39,194 these leaders suppressed social movements and rebellions 712 00:38:39,277 --> 00:38:40,987 that would oppose their corruption. 713 00:38:41,071 --> 00:38:46,034 (fast-paced drumming and singing) 714 00:38:51,956 --> 00:38:54,125 While African Americans were rising up, 715 00:38:54,209 --> 00:38:56,086 Cubans began their own revolution. 716 00:38:56,878 --> 00:39:00,840 A coalition of students, workers, farmers, and armed forces 717 00:39:00,924 --> 00:39:03,134 called the July 26th Movement 718 00:39:03,218 --> 00:39:06,179 used non-violent civil disobedience 719 00:39:06,262 --> 00:39:09,891 and guerilla warfare to combat the corrupt Batista regime. 720 00:39:11,059 --> 00:39:12,310 - [Voiceover] The armed wing of the movement included: 721 00:39:12,394 --> 00:39:13,812 Juan Almeida, 722 00:39:15,313 --> 00:39:17,065 Raul and Fidel Castro, 723 00:39:18,983 --> 00:39:20,402 Celia Sanchez, 724 00:39:22,070 --> 00:39:23,446 Che Guevara. 725 00:39:32,622 --> 00:39:34,499 - So 61 marchers. 726 00:39:34,582 --> 00:39:36,584 And these are some of the tortures 727 00:39:36,668 --> 00:39:38,670 that were applied to this group of men, 728 00:39:38,753 --> 00:39:41,840 as well as some tools that were used for torturing. 729 00:39:42,674 --> 00:39:45,385 And many persons that had nothing to do with this action 730 00:39:45,468 --> 00:39:46,720 were tortured here as well. 731 00:39:46,803 --> 00:39:51,850 ("Taijite" by Hypnotic Brass Ensenble) 732 00:39:58,773 --> 00:40:01,443 - [Voiceover] After years of organizing and bloodshed, 733 00:40:01,526 --> 00:40:03,945 Batista and his supporters surrendered. 734 00:40:10,201 --> 00:40:11,411 The leaders of this movement 735 00:40:11,494 --> 00:40:12,620 took power over the Cuban government 736 00:40:12,704 --> 00:40:14,873 on January 1st, 1959. 737 00:40:14,956 --> 00:40:19,961 ("Balicky Bon" by Hypnotic Brass Ensemble) 738 00:40:26,468 --> 00:40:27,969 - [Voiceover] Once they came into power, 739 00:40:28,053 --> 00:40:30,555 they started to make changes US elites didn't like. 740 00:40:31,723 --> 00:40:34,309 The new government ended private education, 741 00:40:34,392 --> 00:40:36,436 nationalized private property, 742 00:40:36,519 --> 00:40:38,855 and made racial discrimination illegal. 743 00:40:52,994 --> 00:40:54,245 - [Joshua] Standing in front of Moncada, 744 00:40:54,329 --> 00:40:56,498 what's it like, what are you thinkin'? 745 00:40:59,876 --> 00:41:01,920 - I really feel like this is our revolution, you know? 746 00:41:02,003 --> 00:41:04,798 I feel like this is more than just the revolution of Cuba, 747 00:41:04,881 --> 00:41:05,965 I really feel like it's the revolution 748 00:41:06,049 --> 00:41:07,801 of a lot of principles. 749 00:41:07,884 --> 00:41:09,928 Just the fact that now it's a school, you know? 750 00:41:10,011 --> 00:41:11,596 And seeing the children come up and down, 751 00:41:11,680 --> 00:41:13,515 the way they've kept those principles alive, 752 00:41:13,598 --> 00:41:17,185 I wanna go back to the States and help 753 00:41:17,268 --> 00:41:20,313 bring some life to this idea of revolution, 754 00:41:20,397 --> 00:41:22,315 and try to imbue it with some form that like, 755 00:41:22,399 --> 00:41:23,817 revolution is possible, 756 00:41:23,900 --> 00:41:26,027 that's something that I'm gettin' from this space. 757 00:41:26,111 --> 00:41:28,822 I mean, that revolution is something that can be made, 758 00:41:28,905 --> 00:41:30,949 and that it's something that can be sustained 759 00:41:31,032 --> 00:41:32,575 on a daily basis. 760 00:41:32,659 --> 00:41:35,620 That's something that I'm really feeling is lacking 761 00:41:35,704 --> 00:41:36,830 from our communities. 762 00:41:36,913 --> 00:41:39,666 And I'm just really feeling honored 763 00:41:39,749 --> 00:41:41,376 to be on this spot right here. 764 00:41:41,459 --> 00:41:44,671 And I feel like there's a real reason why this blockade 765 00:41:44,754 --> 00:41:48,466 is trying to not just obstruct 766 00:41:48,550 --> 00:41:51,344 political relations and economic relationships 767 00:41:51,428 --> 00:41:53,138 between the United States and Cuba, 768 00:41:53,221 --> 00:41:55,390 but it's also trying to stop our people 769 00:41:55,473 --> 00:41:57,142 and our communities from coming 770 00:41:57,225 --> 00:41:59,227 and seeing this spirit of resistance, 771 00:41:59,310 --> 00:42:01,813 that people actually believed in something 772 00:42:01,896 --> 00:42:03,481 so solid and so hard, 773 00:42:03,565 --> 00:42:05,150 that they would put their lives on the line, 774 00:42:05,233 --> 00:42:06,568 and they would dedicate themselves 775 00:42:06,651 --> 00:42:09,821 to social justice and change. 776 00:42:09,904 --> 00:42:12,157 - The spirit in which the embargo was created 777 00:42:12,240 --> 00:42:15,326 was really an attempt to completely isolate Cuba 778 00:42:15,410 --> 00:42:16,494 as much as possible. 779 00:42:16,578 --> 00:42:18,580 During the 1950s and '60s, 780 00:42:18,663 --> 00:42:20,749 when communism was growing, 781 00:42:20,832 --> 00:42:24,336 when the Soviet Union was becoming a world superpower, 782 00:42:24,419 --> 00:42:27,339 and Fidel Castro was gaining power, 783 00:42:27,422 --> 00:42:31,301 Cuba started nationalizing a lot of US companies in Cuba. 784 00:42:32,010 --> 00:42:33,386 This upset the Americans, 785 00:42:33,470 --> 00:42:34,888 and so what this resulted in 786 00:42:34,971 --> 00:42:38,058 was a complete economic, commercial, 787 00:42:38,141 --> 00:42:40,518 and financial embargo against Cuba. 788 00:42:40,602 --> 00:42:41,895 - Will consider lifting the embargo 789 00:42:41,978 --> 00:42:44,606 only if the Cuban leader embraces democracy. 790 00:42:44,689 --> 00:42:47,025 The president offered this list of demands: 791 00:42:47,108 --> 00:42:48,860 Free political prisoners. 792 00:42:48,943 --> 00:42:51,696 Allow opposition parties to organize and speak freely. 793 00:42:51,780 --> 00:42:54,449 Hold competitive national assembly elections next year, 794 00:42:54,532 --> 00:42:56,201 international monitors. 795 00:42:56,284 --> 00:42:58,536 Allow a national referendum to gauge Cuban support 796 00:42:58,620 --> 00:43:00,872 for free speech and other civil liberties. 797 00:43:00,955 --> 00:43:03,541 - Then, and only then, 798 00:43:03,625 --> 00:43:06,127 I will explore ways with the United States Congress 799 00:43:06,211 --> 00:43:07,962 to ease economic sanctions. 800 00:43:08,046 --> 00:43:11,841 (applause) 801 00:43:16,179 --> 00:43:17,472 - Good afternoon. 802 00:43:18,640 --> 00:43:20,475 Today the United States of America 803 00:43:20,558 --> 00:43:23,478 is changing its relationship with the people of Cuba. 804 00:43:24,354 --> 00:43:25,897 These fifty years have shown 805 00:43:25,980 --> 00:43:27,982 that isolation has not worked. 806 00:43:28,650 --> 00:43:30,402 It's time for a new approach. 807 00:43:30,485 --> 00:43:32,904 We are taking steps to increase travel, 808 00:43:32,987 --> 00:43:35,323 commerce, and the flow of information 809 00:43:35,407 --> 00:43:36,866 to and from Cuba. 810 00:43:38,576 --> 00:43:41,830 This is fundamentally about freedom, and openness, 811 00:43:41,913 --> 00:43:43,623 and also expresses my belief in the power 812 00:43:43,707 --> 00:43:45,333 of people-to-people engagement. 813 00:43:46,167 --> 00:43:48,670 (chanting) 814 00:44:17,449 --> 00:44:19,993 - [Voiceover] Over 80 people were arrested over the weekend 815 00:44:20,076 --> 00:44:22,454 at peaceful anti-Wall Street protests. 816 00:44:22,537 --> 00:44:24,164 - They maced five women. 817 00:44:24,247 --> 00:44:26,541 The captain stepped up, maced their faces, 818 00:44:26,624 --> 00:44:28,209 and then tried to run away. 819 00:44:28,293 --> 00:44:30,128 And avoid cameras that were around. 820 00:44:30,211 --> 00:44:32,464 (chanting) 821 00:44:32,547 --> 00:44:35,216 - It's not a practice of Amnesty International 822 00:44:35,300 --> 00:44:37,385 to compare one country to another 823 00:44:37,469 --> 00:44:41,139 and say, you know, country X's human rights record 824 00:44:41,222 --> 00:44:44,434 is much worse than country Y. 825 00:44:45,560 --> 00:44:47,896 Just because a violation is a violation, 826 00:44:47,979 --> 00:44:49,272 an abuse is an abuse. 827 00:44:49,356 --> 00:44:53,360 The embargo has been in place for over 50 years, 828 00:44:53,443 --> 00:44:56,821 and there's been no evidence 829 00:44:56,905 --> 00:45:00,575 that shows that the embargo has improved the human rights 830 00:45:00,658 --> 00:45:03,078 of either Americans or Cubans 831 00:45:03,161 --> 00:45:05,705 or anyone residing in both countries. 832 00:45:05,789 --> 00:45:08,208 In fact, Amnesty International research 833 00:45:08,291 --> 00:45:10,001 has shown quite the opposite, 834 00:45:10,085 --> 00:45:14,005 it's been quite detrimental to the human rights 835 00:45:14,089 --> 00:45:17,550 of individuals in the United States and in Cuba. 836 00:45:17,634 --> 00:45:18,843 - Viva Cuba libre! 837 00:45:18,927 --> 00:45:21,429 (cheering) 838 00:45:24,516 --> 00:45:26,434 - [Joshua] So how does it feel to be standing here, 839 00:45:26,518 --> 00:45:27,686 under Che? 840 00:45:27,769 --> 00:45:28,978 - Feels good. 841 00:45:30,980 --> 00:45:33,024 To be at the 842 00:45:33,108 --> 00:45:36,403 Ministry of the Interior where Che worked, 843 00:45:36,486 --> 00:45:37,445 this is where his vision 844 00:45:37,529 --> 00:45:39,280 of Cuba appeared. 845 00:46:11,813 --> 00:46:13,732 - [Voiceover] The Cuban government provided support 846 00:46:13,815 --> 00:46:16,151 and solidarity to independence movements 847 00:46:16,234 --> 00:46:20,530 in Algeria, Angola, the Congo, and South Africa. 848 00:46:21,740 --> 00:46:24,242 - [Voiceover] Medical and military aid from Cuba 849 00:46:24,325 --> 00:46:27,328 helped Algerian rebels, and their children. 850 00:46:29,748 --> 00:46:30,915 - [Voiceover] Che Guevara and a small group 851 00:46:30,999 --> 00:46:32,459 of Afro-Cuban rebels 852 00:46:32,542 --> 00:46:34,419 helped the Congolese National Movement's attempt 853 00:46:34,502 --> 00:46:37,255 to continue to struggle for self-determination. 854 00:46:38,506 --> 00:46:40,258 The struggle had been thwarted 855 00:46:40,342 --> 00:46:43,011 after the CIA endorsed the assassination of Patrice Lumumba 856 00:46:53,271 --> 00:46:55,940 Cubans sent military instructors, special forces, 857 00:46:56,024 --> 00:46:58,443 as well as millions-of-dollars-worth of advanced weaponry, 858 00:46:58,526 --> 00:47:00,195 which enabled Angola to defend itself 859 00:47:00,278 --> 00:47:02,238 against foreign occupations. 860 00:47:04,366 --> 00:47:06,159 - [Voiceover] Cuba also played a major role 861 00:47:06,242 --> 00:47:09,037 in the fight against apartheid in South Africa. 862 00:47:10,580 --> 00:47:12,374 - Africa for us 863 00:47:13,083 --> 00:47:17,128 is part of our being. 864 00:47:17,212 --> 00:47:19,047 Africans were brought here 865 00:47:19,130 --> 00:47:23,093 and what we are is because they were brought here. 866 00:47:23,760 --> 00:47:25,053 - In the United States, 867 00:47:25,136 --> 00:47:27,806 we usually see Cubans who look like this: 868 00:47:27,889 --> 00:47:30,975 (singing in Spanish) 869 00:47:31,059 --> 00:47:32,852 ? Come on shake your body baby do that conga ? 870 00:47:32,936 --> 00:47:35,480 ? Go white girl, go white girl ? 871 00:47:36,147 --> 00:47:39,567 In fact, 60% of Cubans are Afro-Cubans, 872 00:47:39,651 --> 00:47:40,610 who look like this: 873 00:47:40,694 --> 00:47:45,824 (drumming and singing in Spanish) 874 00:47:57,002 --> 00:48:00,547 - One difference about Cuba, 875 00:48:00,630 --> 00:48:02,590 in terms of issues of race, 876 00:48:02,674 --> 00:48:07,512 is that people not of obviously African descent 877 00:48:07,595 --> 00:48:10,181 could talk about being of African descent, 878 00:48:10,265 --> 00:48:12,517 because they're in a mixed-race country. 879 00:48:12,600 --> 00:48:14,686 Even if you seem like a white person, 880 00:48:14,769 --> 00:48:16,479 or you're read as a white person, 881 00:48:17,647 --> 00:48:22,193 you have been impacted by the history of slavery, 882 00:48:22,277 --> 00:48:25,864 and all of the other migrations throughout the Caribbean, 883 00:48:25,947 --> 00:48:28,033 and throughout the world, into Cuba. 884 00:48:28,116 --> 00:48:30,952 So I think there's a kind of openness, 885 00:48:31,036 --> 00:48:33,621 to talk about race, to talk about Africa, 886 00:48:33,705 --> 00:48:35,206 that there isn't in the United States. 887 00:48:35,290 --> 00:48:36,916 I think there's a kind of complacency 888 00:48:37,000 --> 00:48:38,710 that people have in this country of, 889 00:48:38,793 --> 00:48:40,795 well you're white you just wouldn't understand, 890 00:48:40,879 --> 00:48:42,380 or you're not of this experience 891 00:48:42,464 --> 00:48:44,549 so you just wouldn't understand. 892 00:48:44,632 --> 00:48:46,551 - One thing is very important, 893 00:48:46,634 --> 00:48:48,762 is the feeling the Cubans have 894 00:48:48,845 --> 00:48:53,391 that we are closer to African Americans 895 00:48:54,392 --> 00:48:57,187 than to Americans in general. 896 00:48:57,812 --> 00:49:00,315 That we have more understanding. 897 00:49:01,024 --> 00:49:04,277 - Cuba supported and provided political asylum 898 00:49:04,361 --> 00:49:07,405 to several committed African American activists, 899 00:49:07,489 --> 00:49:10,325 including Robert F. Williams, and Assata Shakur. 900 00:49:11,409 --> 00:49:14,079 A political prisoner is someone who is prosecuted 901 00:49:14,162 --> 00:49:15,789 because of their political activism, 902 00:49:15,872 --> 00:49:19,000 or because they committed politically-motivated crimes. 903 00:49:27,759 --> 00:49:31,012 Robert F. Williams encouraged Southern African Americans 904 00:49:31,096 --> 00:49:33,014 to legally defend themselves 905 00:49:33,098 --> 00:49:36,267 against white supremacist terrorism. 906 00:49:36,351 --> 00:49:41,272 - Negros must be prepared to repulse attacks, 907 00:49:41,356 --> 00:49:43,483 and they must be willing to fight, 908 00:49:43,566 --> 00:49:47,696 they must be willing to die and to kill if necessary, 909 00:49:47,779 --> 00:49:49,447 that there was no law, 910 00:49:49,531 --> 00:49:53,451 no 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution 911 00:49:53,535 --> 00:49:56,621 of equal protection in the South, 912 00:49:56,705 --> 00:49:59,457 and that therefore they didn4t have any deterrent, 913 00:49:59,541 --> 00:50:03,586 so they would have to create the deterrent force themselves. 914 00:50:05,714 --> 00:50:08,133 - Receiving political asylum from Cuba 915 00:50:08,216 --> 00:50:11,386 between 1962 and 1965 916 00:50:11,469 --> 00:50:14,723 allowed Williams to communicate to his grassroots base 917 00:50:14,806 --> 00:50:18,018 through a program called Radio Free Dixie. 918 00:50:18,101 --> 00:50:19,185 He founded the Crusader, 919 00:50:19,269 --> 00:50:20,937 a progressive newspaper, 920 00:50:21,021 --> 00:50:23,648 and became president of the Revolutionary Action Movement. 921 00:50:27,485 --> 00:50:30,113 Assata Shakur, who describes her slave name 922 00:50:30,196 --> 00:50:33,408 as Joann Chesimard, was a student activist 923 00:50:33,491 --> 00:50:36,119 at Borough of Manhattan Community College. 924 00:50:37,078 --> 00:50:38,747 She became a leader of the Harlem chapter 925 00:50:38,830 --> 00:50:40,457 of the Black Panther Party. 926 00:50:40,540 --> 00:50:44,169 Later, she was associated with the Black Liberation Army. 927 00:50:44,252 --> 00:50:47,756 - Freedom, justice, equality. 928 00:50:47,839 --> 00:50:51,760 Decent living, for people, 929 00:50:52,927 --> 00:50:56,181 is, if there's a complete change, 930 00:50:56,264 --> 00:50:57,557 a complete change, 931 00:50:57,640 --> 00:51:00,268 everything has got to be turned around, 932 00:51:00,352 --> 00:51:03,480 and that's the revolution, a complete change. 933 00:51:05,106 --> 00:51:07,025 - Assata, along with fellow activist 934 00:51:07,108 --> 00:51:10,403 Zayd Malik Shakur and Sundiata Acoli, 935 00:51:10,487 --> 00:51:13,281 were pulled over while driving on the New Jersey Turnpike 936 00:51:13,365 --> 00:51:15,617 on May 2nd, 1973. 937 00:51:16,659 --> 00:51:18,870 One of the New Jersey State Troopers on the scene 938 00:51:18,953 --> 00:51:21,915 later admitted that the police pulled over these activists 939 00:51:21,998 --> 00:51:23,249 because they were Black while driving 940 00:51:23,333 --> 00:51:25,377 a car with Vermont license plates. 941 00:51:27,796 --> 00:51:28,672 - [Voiceover] There was a confrontation 942 00:51:28,755 --> 00:51:30,632 in which Assata Shakur was shot, 943 00:51:31,549 --> 00:51:33,510 in her arms, shoulder, and back. 944 00:51:34,302 --> 00:51:36,221 State Trooper Warner Forrester 945 00:51:36,304 --> 00:51:38,348 and Zayd Malik Shakur were killed. 946 00:51:39,974 --> 00:51:42,227 - Although the medical experts at trial 947 00:51:42,310 --> 00:51:44,396 supported Assata's version of events, 948 00:51:44,479 --> 00:51:46,731 she was convicted by an all-white jury, 949 00:51:46,815 --> 00:51:49,359 and sentenced to life, plus 33 years. 950 00:51:51,820 --> 00:51:53,446 - The Hands Off Assata campaign 951 00:51:53,530 --> 00:51:55,031 asserts that she was framed 952 00:51:55,115 --> 00:51:57,242 for the murder of Zayd Shakur and Warner Forrester 953 00:51:57,325 --> 00:51:59,077 because of her political activism. 954 00:52:01,579 --> 00:52:03,123 After spending two years 955 00:52:03,206 --> 00:52:05,417 in a maximum-security federal prison, 956 00:52:05,500 --> 00:52:07,419 while in solitary confinement, 957 00:52:07,502 --> 00:52:08,837 fearing she would be murdered, 958 00:52:08,920 --> 00:52:10,588 Shakur escaped. 959 00:52:10,672 --> 00:52:12,966 She lived underground for five years, 960 00:52:13,049 --> 00:52:17,178 until Cuba granted her political asylum in 1984. 961 00:52:18,096 --> 00:52:21,016 - When it was prison, prison was hell. 962 00:52:22,225 --> 00:52:26,104 It was a new kind of plantation. 963 00:52:26,187 --> 00:52:28,982 I feel like, I feel like a maroon woman. 964 00:52:29,065 --> 00:52:31,776 I feel like an escaped slave, 965 00:52:31,860 --> 00:52:35,155 because what I saw in the United States 966 00:52:35,238 --> 00:52:36,990 in those prisons was slavery. 967 00:52:37,073 --> 00:52:40,452 It was Black people with chains, 968 00:52:40,535 --> 00:52:42,037 in cells. 969 00:52:42,120 --> 00:52:44,205 It was just poor people, you know, 970 00:52:44,289 --> 00:52:46,124 I mean just stepped on and smashed. 971 00:52:46,207 --> 00:52:48,335 I'll never forget what I saw. 972 00:52:48,418 --> 00:52:50,628 I'll never forget what I've lived through. 973 00:52:50,712 --> 00:52:53,298 I'll never forget what my people have lived through. 974 00:52:56,217 --> 00:52:58,470 - The FBI currently offers a reward 975 00:52:58,553 --> 00:53:00,597 for assistance with her capture. 976 00:53:01,431 --> 00:53:03,641 The activists who were convicted in the US 977 00:53:03,725 --> 00:53:05,643 of helping Assata with her escape, 978 00:53:05,727 --> 00:53:10,023 Marilyn Buck, Mutulu Shakur, Sekou Odinga, 979 00:53:10,106 --> 00:53:14,486 and Silvia Baraldini, incarcerated, or died in prison. 980 00:54:21,177 --> 00:54:24,055 - One of the first things done by the revolution 981 00:54:24,139 --> 00:54:28,059 was to give same opportunities for everyone. 982 00:54:28,810 --> 00:54:33,648 Legally, it was stated that the color of the skin 983 00:54:33,732 --> 00:54:36,818 or the gender, or whatever difference, 984 00:54:36,901 --> 00:54:41,656 is not to be used for giving privilege to different people. 985 00:54:42,657 --> 00:54:46,077 And for a long time we thought, that's it. 986 00:54:46,745 --> 00:54:48,204 Every problem is solved. 987 00:54:50,040 --> 00:54:51,916 But then with time, 988 00:54:52,000 --> 00:54:54,753 we started to notice that it's not enough 989 00:54:54,836 --> 00:54:59,007 to say that we are the same in front of the law. 990 00:55:01,551 --> 00:55:06,514 Race issues are very touchy issues here for Cubans. 991 00:55:11,227 --> 00:55:13,897 Unity is very important. 992 00:55:15,523 --> 00:55:19,110 For Cubans, unity is our weapon 993 00:55:19,194 --> 00:55:21,237 to defend our country. 994 00:55:22,906 --> 00:55:24,616 So if I start to... 995 00:55:26,242 --> 00:55:28,703 bring out differences, 996 00:55:29,371 --> 00:55:33,083 I might be regarded as attempting against unity. 997 00:55:57,982 --> 00:55:59,734 - Like, the other day I was walking 998 00:55:59,818 --> 00:56:02,153 with these friends on the streets, 999 00:56:02,237 --> 00:56:04,072 I was asked for my ID, 1000 00:56:06,491 --> 00:56:08,326 and then I asked why are you asking me for my ID, 1001 00:56:08,410 --> 00:56:10,328 I can't walk freely with a phone here in Cuba? 1002 00:56:10,412 --> 00:56:11,996 I'm Cuban. 1003 00:56:12,080 --> 00:56:13,373 And they said no no no, but you know why we asked. 1004 00:56:13,456 --> 00:56:15,208 I don't know why you're asking for my ID, 1005 00:56:15,291 --> 00:56:16,334 so I need to know. 1006 00:56:16,418 --> 00:56:17,502 They say, you know, come on, 1007 00:56:17,585 --> 00:56:18,920 you're a Cuban, he said, hey. 1008 00:56:19,004 --> 00:56:20,714 Well I gave him my ID and what are you do? 1009 00:56:20,797 --> 00:56:22,257 I'm a tour guide and I'm also writing 1010 00:56:22,340 --> 00:56:23,717 (mumbles) 1011 00:56:23,800 --> 00:56:25,927 from the Ministry of Foreign Trade. 1012 00:56:26,011 --> 00:56:27,345 Are you telling me that's what -- 1013 00:56:27,429 --> 00:56:28,930 It's just because I'm Black, you know. 1014 00:56:29,014 --> 00:56:30,849 That's the problem. 1015 00:56:30,932 --> 00:56:34,019 And the police, we also need to educate the police as well. 1016 00:56:34,102 --> 00:56:36,688 We need to educate certain fields within the society. 1017 00:56:36,771 --> 00:56:39,899 I mean, I'm talking about my own experience. 1018 00:56:39,983 --> 00:56:41,109 Probably you ask some other people, 1019 00:56:41,192 --> 00:56:43,528 they will tell you different things. 1020 00:56:43,611 --> 00:56:45,905 But I'm telling you about my own experience, and I think 1021 00:56:45,989 --> 00:56:49,200 most of the Black people feel the same way, that way. 1022 00:56:49,284 --> 00:56:54,289 (solemn piano music) 1023 00:57:20,398 --> 00:57:22,150 - Some people let's say make a joke 1024 00:57:22,233 --> 00:57:25,320 in which a Black person looks stupid. 1025 00:57:26,321 --> 00:57:28,198 And I go and say, listen. 1026 00:57:28,990 --> 00:57:31,451 This is racism, what you're doing. 1027 00:57:31,534 --> 00:57:33,286 And this person says no, 1028 00:57:33,370 --> 00:57:34,829 I have many friends who are Black 1029 00:57:34,913 --> 00:57:36,498 and there's no problem with that. 1030 00:57:36,581 --> 00:57:38,667 It's just a joke. 1031 00:57:51,054 --> 00:57:52,639 And this person doesn't understand 1032 00:57:52,722 --> 00:57:56,685 that it's teaching this just a joke to children, 1033 00:57:56,768 --> 00:58:00,814 and it's conveying a way of understanding life. 1034 00:58:04,567 --> 00:58:08,113 Culturally we have been using certain kind of language 1035 00:58:08,196 --> 00:58:13,868 there are things that just go invisible. 1036 00:58:13,952 --> 00:58:16,538 - We have been given the same opportunity, 1037 00:58:16,621 --> 00:58:19,374 as any other citizen here in Cuba. 1038 00:58:19,457 --> 00:58:20,625 Some people have taken it, 1039 00:58:20,709 --> 00:58:21,960 some other don't. 1040 00:58:22,043 --> 00:58:24,170 Some other haven't, I mean. 1041 00:58:24,254 --> 00:58:26,965 But I think that it's not a matter of having opportunities 1042 00:58:27,048 --> 00:58:29,509 or having an important post within the society, 1043 00:58:29,592 --> 00:58:31,052 sometimes you find people that, 1044 00:58:31,136 --> 00:58:33,221 they say hey you speak English, you speak French, 1045 00:58:33,304 --> 00:58:36,433 you are not Black, you are white. 1046 00:58:46,401 --> 00:58:49,904 That's a little, small comment I wanted to make. 1047 00:58:51,781 --> 00:58:53,324 OK, ready to eat? 1048 00:58:54,826 --> 00:58:56,161 - Hola, amigo, hola! 1049 00:58:56,244 --> 00:58:57,829 - [Dalton] Hola hola hola! 1050 00:58:57,912 --> 00:58:58,872 - Video! 1051 00:58:58,955 --> 00:59:00,790 - [Dalton] Bueno! 1052 00:59:05,086 --> 00:59:07,756 - Every society is a society of contradictions. 1053 00:59:07,839 --> 00:59:12,010 United States, we have the same kinda thing. 1054 00:59:12,093 --> 00:59:13,720 You can go to an expensive restaurant 1055 00:59:13,803 --> 00:59:15,722 and it's down the block, around the corner, 1056 00:59:15,805 --> 00:59:18,808 from more humble places. 1057 00:59:19,976 --> 00:59:22,395 Cuba, for all of its struggle and everything, it's the same. 1058 00:59:22,479 --> 00:59:24,856 It has the same contradictions, 1059 00:59:24,939 --> 00:59:26,941 or similar, parallel contradictions, 1060 00:59:27,025 --> 00:59:29,569 and this is another manifestation. 1061 00:59:29,652 --> 00:59:30,987 - [Dalton] So sit down, enjoy the meal. 1062 00:59:31,071 --> 00:59:33,448 - Sit down and eat and, you know, reflect. 1063 00:59:38,453 --> 00:59:40,955 - Reflections on my whiteness, um. 1064 00:59:41,039 --> 00:59:44,459 You know, a lot of the tourism in Havana, 1065 00:59:44,542 --> 00:59:47,629 are European tourists and white tourists, 1066 00:59:47,712 --> 00:59:50,882 and being here, 1067 00:59:52,509 --> 00:59:53,760 I think it's really important 1068 00:59:53,843 --> 00:59:56,388 and something I am conscious of right now, 1069 00:59:56,471 --> 00:59:59,474 is that, and rightfully so, 1070 00:59:59,557 --> 01:00:02,894 people, probably their initial reaction to me 1071 01:00:02,977 --> 01:00:04,562 is gonna be one of skepticism 1072 01:00:04,646 --> 01:00:07,315 or maybe even deeper than that, 1073 01:00:07,399 --> 01:00:11,778 knowing what or how maybe the vast majority 1074 01:00:11,861 --> 01:00:14,739 of the European tourists handle themselves here, 1075 01:00:14,823 --> 01:00:17,742 their power relationship with people in Cuba, 1076 01:00:17,826 --> 01:00:21,246 but people of color really all over the world. 1077 01:00:21,329 --> 01:00:26,251 (upbeat dance music) 1078 01:00:29,337 --> 01:00:31,673 - We're at this wonderful beach resort 1079 01:00:31,756 --> 01:00:34,300 catering to the European tourist market. 1080 01:00:34,384 --> 01:00:38,763 Playing this wonderful, how shall we say? 1081 01:00:40,432 --> 01:00:42,100 European dance music. 1082 01:00:42,183 --> 01:00:45,437 I offered Tucker $20 if he could get them to play 1083 01:00:45,520 --> 01:00:49,691 a Black Star CD, Talib Kweli and Mos Def. 1084 01:00:49,774 --> 01:00:52,360 He tried it out, he returned unsuccessful, 1085 01:00:52,444 --> 01:00:54,362 so it looks like that wasn't really 1086 01:00:54,446 --> 01:00:56,614 the niche they were going for. 1087 01:00:56,698 --> 01:00:57,949 - They don't have a CD player, 1088 01:00:58,033 --> 01:00:59,200 so we're gonna try some tape. 1089 01:00:59,284 --> 01:01:02,203 (dance music) 1090 01:01:02,287 --> 01:01:06,374 (instructor speaking Spanish) 1091 01:01:06,458 --> 01:01:10,170 - [Voiceover] After the Soviet Union dissolved in 1991, 1092 01:01:10,253 --> 01:01:12,047 Cuba made some capitalist reforms 1093 01:01:12,130 --> 01:01:14,883 that increased its dependence on tourism. 1094 01:01:20,305 --> 01:01:22,640 - I see if like the tourism, it's bringing resources 1095 01:01:22,724 --> 01:01:26,811 if money's coming back into Cuban civil society, 1096 01:01:26,895 --> 01:01:30,982 that towns are improving and hospitals and schools, 1097 01:01:31,066 --> 01:01:33,526 and people's homes, too, home life, 1098 01:01:33,610 --> 01:01:35,403 is improving through this, 1099 01:01:35,487 --> 01:01:37,655 people are paying whatever, $200, $250 a night, 1100 01:01:37,739 --> 01:01:40,575 whatever it is to stay here. 1101 01:01:40,658 --> 01:01:42,160 But if that's not being seen, 1102 01:01:42,243 --> 01:01:45,163 this is a potentially ticking time bomb. 1103 01:01:46,915 --> 01:01:48,333 Of a route to go. 1104 01:01:48,416 --> 01:01:50,710 And I mean, I'm trying not to critique it too hard, 1105 01:01:50,794 --> 01:01:52,754 I don't, I talk... 1106 01:01:54,297 --> 01:01:55,840 I believe in socialism, 1107 01:01:55,924 --> 01:01:57,592 but as Dead Prez says, 1108 01:01:57,676 --> 01:01:59,844 "Livin' and breathin' it, not just fuckin' believin' it." 1109 01:01:59,928 --> 01:02:01,346 We don't, on this trip. 1110 01:02:01,429 --> 01:02:02,764 None of us, as much as -- 1111 01:02:02,847 --> 01:02:03,723 And I think there's a lot of people 1112 01:02:03,807 --> 01:02:05,183 who are contemplating that, 1113 01:02:05,266 --> 01:02:06,685 what it means to do that. 1114 01:02:10,855 --> 01:02:13,692 It's a pity that here in the tourist industry, 1115 01:02:13,775 --> 01:02:15,151 when you are working with clients, 1116 01:02:15,235 --> 01:02:17,445 you are not able to take them to your homes. 1117 01:02:17,529 --> 01:02:19,698 It's not possible. 1118 01:02:19,781 --> 01:02:22,701 If you come some other time, 1119 01:02:22,784 --> 01:02:24,703 you can visit my family, you'll see... 1120 01:02:24,786 --> 01:02:26,871 They live in what we call "cerrades." 1121 01:02:26,955 --> 01:02:31,876 It's like apartments one next to the other one. 1122 01:02:31,960 --> 01:02:33,712 I was raised up in there, 1123 01:02:33,795 --> 01:02:38,049 it's a poor part of Havana. 1124 01:02:38,133 --> 01:02:41,052 My mother's a nurse, and now she's retired. 1125 01:02:41,136 --> 01:02:44,723 Little by little, they started coming to the capital 1126 01:02:44,806 --> 01:02:46,433 looking for a better life. 1127 01:02:46,516 --> 01:02:50,478 in terms of supporting a family, helping a family, 1128 01:02:50,562 --> 01:02:53,148 it's a good time to do it now. 1129 01:02:54,357 --> 01:02:57,277 Sometimes people say, "Hey, Alejandro, you're going too fast!" 1130 01:02:57,360 --> 01:03:00,655 And I say I have to take advantage now when I'm young. 1131 01:03:00,739 --> 01:03:03,158 That's my life in a way. 1132 01:03:03,992 --> 01:03:06,745 Responsibilities that I have. 1133 01:03:06,828 --> 01:03:08,747 What you're saying is really 1134 01:03:08,830 --> 01:03:13,001 the same reality a lot of Americans or African Americans live. 1135 01:03:15,837 --> 01:03:18,298 That one person may go off to school 1136 01:03:18,381 --> 01:03:21,760 and become the professional of their family 1137 01:03:21,843 --> 01:03:26,306 and takes care of the younger cousins or siblings 1138 01:03:26,389 --> 01:03:30,310 because it's real difficult to transition 1139 01:03:30,393 --> 01:03:33,772 when your family is living in what we call "the projects," 1140 01:03:33,855 --> 01:03:37,108 which seems similar to where your family lives. 1141 01:03:37,192 --> 01:03:39,027 - My dream when I was a little kid 1142 01:03:39,110 --> 01:03:40,779 was to get into university, 1143 01:03:40,862 --> 01:03:44,199 because I remember that I saw lawyers with their cars, 1144 01:03:44,282 --> 01:03:47,118 you know, very elegant, very respected, 1145 01:03:47,202 --> 01:03:48,536 you know, he's a lawyer. 1146 01:03:48,620 --> 01:03:50,497 You know, he's a doctor, he's a teacher, 1147 01:03:50,580 --> 01:03:52,957 but now, you know, opposite. 1148 01:03:53,041 --> 01:03:55,210 You got like people working in the tourist industry, 1149 01:03:55,293 --> 01:03:58,129 like they make more than any other, lawyer, 1150 01:03:58,213 --> 01:04:00,507 being a doctor, being a teacher, whatever. 1151 01:04:00,590 --> 01:04:01,966 You need to change it! 1152 01:04:02,050 --> 01:04:04,052 You need to prioritize good things. 1153 01:04:04,135 --> 01:04:07,180 I wasn't forced, but I said hey, I have to work. 1154 01:04:07,263 --> 01:04:09,683 No matter what but I loved my profession 1155 01:04:09,766 --> 01:04:11,393 as an English teacher, as a translator, 1156 01:04:11,476 --> 01:04:14,229 but I need to do this because it's the only way to help. 1157 01:04:17,482 --> 01:04:20,527 - To know that yeah, you know, I am in a socialist state, 1158 01:04:20,610 --> 01:04:23,154 but I'm still wondering, you know, 1159 01:04:24,239 --> 01:04:26,700 I love to acknowledge that this is here, 1160 01:04:26,783 --> 01:04:29,577 but I feel like really, you know, 1161 01:04:29,661 --> 01:04:31,871 there's still, there's distress. 1162 01:04:31,955 --> 01:04:35,834 Bellies hungry, you know, you need more. 1163 01:04:37,419 --> 01:04:39,379 And that means that there's some other level of change 1164 01:04:39,462 --> 01:04:40,964 that still needs to be dealt with. 1165 01:04:41,047 --> 01:04:45,969 (rapping in Spanish) 1166 01:05:16,958 --> 01:05:19,961 - There were this group of MCs, it was two MCs, 1167 01:05:20,045 --> 01:05:21,796 these two guys talked about, 1168 01:05:21,880 --> 01:05:24,549 if they were in the United States, 1169 01:05:24,632 --> 01:05:27,093 they could just wake up in the morning, 1170 01:05:27,177 --> 01:05:28,970 go downstairs to their studio, 1171 01:05:29,054 --> 01:05:30,805 lay down some tracks, 1172 01:05:30,889 --> 01:05:33,808 and be able to like put out a video the next day. 1173 01:05:33,892 --> 01:05:35,602 And we were like, I don't, that -- 1174 01:05:35,685 --> 01:05:37,896 We live in the United States, you can't do that! 1175 01:05:50,325 --> 01:05:53,286 And one of the things that really struck me was, 1176 01:05:53,370 --> 01:05:56,122 their idea of the United States. 1177 01:05:56,206 --> 01:05:59,918 It really reminded me of kids that I, 1178 01:06:00,001 --> 01:06:02,420 my cousins, or my little brother, 1179 01:06:02,504 --> 01:06:04,130 kids from the neighborhood that I grew up in, 1180 01:06:04,214 --> 01:06:05,340 in the Bronx, 1181 01:06:05,423 --> 01:06:07,550 this ideas that there is a kind of a... 1182 01:06:08,551 --> 01:06:11,471 It's an alternative American dream, in a sense, 1183 01:06:11,554 --> 01:06:13,098 that's not the like, if you work hard 1184 01:06:13,181 --> 01:06:15,183 you can pull yourself up by your bootstraps, 1185 01:06:15,266 --> 01:06:18,520 it's the sense that comes 1186 01:06:18,603 --> 01:06:20,939 from the media, 1187 01:06:21,022 --> 01:06:23,108 about what life is like in the United States, 1188 01:06:23,191 --> 01:06:26,361 and the idea that life can be like that for you. 1189 01:06:26,444 --> 01:06:29,114 Even though food and people 1190 01:06:29,197 --> 01:06:32,492 can't necessarily travel easily between the US and Cuba, 1191 01:06:32,575 --> 01:06:35,161 these images in the media of popular culture 1192 01:06:35,245 --> 01:06:37,122 do travel really easily. 1193 01:06:37,205 --> 01:06:38,707 People do get cable over there, 1194 01:06:38,790 --> 01:06:41,668 and see MTV and BET, 1195 01:06:41,751 --> 01:06:45,547 and have these ideas promoted by 1196 01:06:45,630 --> 01:06:49,300 a lot of the really famous 1197 01:06:49,384 --> 01:06:51,386 hip hop artists in the United States 1198 01:06:51,469 --> 01:06:55,640 and they accept that as being a kind of news report 1199 01:06:55,724 --> 01:06:56,891 on what it's like in the US. 1200 01:06:56,975 --> 01:06:58,226 ("Edem Chante" by Creole Choir of Cuba) 1201 01:06:58,309 --> 01:06:59,853 - In the United States, 1202 01:06:59,936 --> 01:07:00,895 many African American and Latino families are coping 1203 01:07:00,979 --> 01:07:05,483 with the severe economic realities of the Great Recession. 1204 01:07:05,567 --> 01:07:08,319 - [Voiceover] Yet, executives at the four larget 1205 01:07:08,403 --> 01:07:11,948 global media conglomerates continue to use images 1206 01:07:12,032 --> 01:07:15,577 of African Americans and Latinos spending frivolously. 1207 01:07:19,748 --> 01:07:21,666 - [Voiceover] The majority of these executives 1208 01:07:21,750 --> 01:07:24,085 aren't even African American or Latino. 1209 01:07:29,841 --> 01:07:31,509 - [Voiceover] The African American and Latino 1210 01:07:31,593 --> 01:07:35,180 home ownership rates are about 25% less 1211 01:07:35,263 --> 01:07:37,098 than they are for whites. 1212 01:07:42,687 --> 01:07:44,689 - No one's race determines their work ethic, 1213 01:07:44,773 --> 01:07:47,859 yet African American and Latinos were hit hardest 1214 01:07:47,942 --> 01:07:50,945 by the decline of construction and manufacturing industries. 1215 01:07:51,029 --> 01:07:54,074 African Americans and Latinos have significantly higher 1216 01:07:54,157 --> 01:07:56,034 unemployment rates than any other race. 1217 01:07:56,117 --> 01:08:01,039 ("Edem Chante" by Creole Choir of Cuba) 1218 01:08:05,001 --> 01:08:06,503 - [Voiceover] Since the Revolution, 1219 01:08:06,586 --> 01:08:09,214 Cuba's government has provided subsidized housing, 1220 01:08:09,297 --> 01:08:11,383 universal public education, 1221 01:08:11,466 --> 01:08:13,551 and a comprehensive jobs program. 1222 01:08:14,636 --> 01:08:17,639 - In Cuba, more Blacks own their own houses 1223 01:08:17,722 --> 01:08:19,557 than anywhere in the world. 1224 01:08:19,641 --> 01:08:23,144 Their unemployment rate is consistently 2%. 1225 01:08:43,915 --> 01:08:46,751 - [Voiceover] In the United States, the racial segregation 1226 01:08:46,835 --> 01:08:49,087 of educational opportunities persists. 1227 01:08:49,170 --> 01:08:50,839 - [Leader] Fight fight for schools! 1228 01:08:50,922 --> 01:08:53,174 - [Crowd] Fight fight fight for schools! 1229 01:08:53,258 --> 01:08:55,093 - [Voiceover] Although race doesn't determine 1230 01:08:55,176 --> 01:08:57,512 a person's intellectual capabilities, 1231 01:08:57,595 --> 01:08:58,888 African American adults 1232 01:08:58,972 --> 01:09:01,683 have higher rates of illiteracy than whites. 1233 01:09:03,226 --> 01:09:05,103 - [Voiceover] African American children 1234 01:09:05,186 --> 01:09:08,148 are tracked three times more than white children 1235 01:09:08,231 --> 01:09:10,150 for special education programs. 1236 01:09:10,233 --> 01:09:12,318 - [Crowd] Fight fight fight for schools! 1237 01:09:12,402 --> 01:09:14,362 - [Leader] Fight for schools, fight fight for schools! 1238 01:09:14,446 --> 01:09:17,240 - [Crowd] Fight for schools, fight fight for schools! 1239 01:09:19,200 --> 01:09:20,994 - [Voiceover] The quality of public education in Cuba 1240 01:09:21,077 --> 01:09:23,788 improved radically after the revolutionary government 1241 01:09:23,872 --> 01:09:25,623 ended private education, 1242 01:09:25,707 --> 01:09:28,793 and launched a nationwide campaign for adult literacy. 1243 01:09:31,212 --> 01:09:32,589 Over 50 years later, 1244 01:09:32,672 --> 01:09:35,175 Cuba still has nearly a 100% literacy rate, 1245 01:09:35,258 --> 01:09:38,386 and they have equality of basic educational opportunities 1246 01:09:38,470 --> 01:09:41,139 across racial lines, and class divides. 1247 01:09:41,222 --> 01:09:46,227 ("Balicky Bon" by Hypnotic Brass Ensemble) 1248 01:09:48,480 --> 01:09:53,234 (children chattering) 1249 01:09:53,318 --> 01:09:54,152 (ball cracks) 1250 01:09:59,783 --> 01:10:02,369 - There's obvious poverty, 1251 01:10:02,452 --> 01:10:05,830 but in terms of misery, 1252 01:10:05,914 --> 01:10:09,793 I didn't see the kind of misery that I see right out here in New York City. 1253 01:10:11,169 --> 01:10:12,504 - [Doctor] The state doesn't want to spend money 1254 01:10:12,587 --> 01:10:13,713 on our kind of patients, 1255 01:10:13,797 --> 01:10:15,840 because they're Black, and brown. 1256 01:10:15,924 --> 01:10:17,676 - [Voiceover] Because they're Black, 1257 01:10:17,759 --> 01:10:18,885 or because they're poor? 1258 01:10:18,968 --> 01:10:20,679 - Both! Both. 1259 01:10:20,762 --> 01:10:23,556 If you look at whites, poor whites, and poor Blacks, 1260 01:10:23,640 --> 01:10:27,435 poor whites have worse healthcare than richer whites, 1261 01:10:27,519 --> 01:10:29,354 but even if you look at them, 1262 01:10:29,437 --> 01:10:31,773 compared people on the same income level, 1263 01:10:31,856 --> 01:10:33,566 non-whites have worse healthcare. 1264 01:10:33,650 --> 01:10:37,112 They have less access to the system. 1265 01:10:37,195 --> 01:10:39,864 - We African Americans have higher death rates 1266 01:10:39,948 --> 01:10:43,201 for stroke, cancer, diabetes, asthma, 1267 01:10:43,284 --> 01:10:45,704 and HIV/AIDS, than whites. 1268 01:10:47,789 --> 01:10:50,750 - Alcohol is probably the leading cause of disease 1269 01:10:50,834 --> 01:10:52,794 in patients who are admitted to this hospital. 1270 01:10:53,628 --> 01:10:55,547 And why, the question why a community, 1271 01:10:55,630 --> 01:10:58,049 and why a community's more prone to be into alcohol, 1272 01:10:58,133 --> 01:10:59,884 is purely social, 1273 01:10:59,968 --> 01:11:03,596 it's related to their inability to survive in the setting, 1274 01:11:03,680 --> 01:11:05,390 the economic and political setting 1275 01:11:05,473 --> 01:11:06,933 of this city at this time. 1276 01:11:07,017 --> 01:11:08,184 And it's more than this city, 1277 01:11:08,268 --> 01:11:10,395 it's related to this country also. 1278 01:11:10,478 --> 01:11:12,105 - [Voiceover] That seems to suggest 1279 01:11:12,188 --> 01:11:12,564 that something like half the adult community around here 1280 01:11:12,647 --> 01:11:15,442 is seeking oblivion one way or another. 1281 01:11:15,525 --> 01:11:16,568 - Yeah, I would have no trouble saying 1282 01:11:16,651 --> 01:11:17,819 that 50% of the patients 1283 01:11:17,902 --> 01:11:19,279 have some type of drug-related problem, 1284 01:11:19,362 --> 01:11:20,989 if you include alcohol. 1285 01:11:21,865 --> 01:11:23,283 - [Voiceover] In Cuba, 1286 01:11:23,366 --> 01:11:25,201 there's free public health care for everyone. 1287 01:11:26,161 --> 01:11:28,079 - [Voiceover] Afro-Cubans are the healthiest 1288 01:11:28,163 --> 01:11:30,373 Black population in the Americas. 1289 01:11:34,711 --> 01:11:38,923 (emotional choral music) 1290 01:11:39,007 --> 01:11:41,176 - In the US, there are relatively lax rules 1291 01:11:41,259 --> 01:11:43,345 about purchasing and owning guns. 1292 01:11:47,515 --> 01:11:49,642 Murder is the leading cause of death 1293 01:11:49,726 --> 01:11:52,228 for young African Americans since 1978. 1294 01:11:53,021 --> 01:11:54,272 1978! 1295 01:12:02,030 --> 01:12:04,866 While no one's race determines their desire to live, 1296 01:12:04,949 --> 01:12:08,495 in the US, I'm 10 times more likely than a white man, 1297 01:12:08,578 --> 01:12:09,871 to be a victim of homicide. 1298 01:12:09,954 --> 01:12:11,206 (gunshot) One time. 1299 01:12:11,289 --> 01:12:14,959 (10 gunshots) 10 times! 1300 01:12:15,043 --> 01:12:18,046 - I'm nearly 30 times more likely than a white woman 1301 01:12:18,129 --> 01:12:19,506 to be a victim of homicide. 1302 01:12:19,589 --> 01:12:21,132 (gunshot) One time. 1303 01:12:21,216 --> 01:12:26,137 (30 gunshots) 30 times. 1304 01:12:37,273 --> 01:12:39,484 In Cuba, there are more restrictive gun laws, 1305 01:12:39,567 --> 01:12:40,985 and less killing. 1306 01:12:41,069 --> 01:12:42,696 The homicide rate there 1307 01:12:42,779 --> 01:12:45,323 is less than a third of what it is for African Americans. 1308 01:12:53,248 --> 01:12:58,169 (chattered greetings) 1309 01:13:10,015 --> 01:13:15,020 (chanting) 1310 01:14:02,484 --> 01:14:07,364 (upbeat Cuban music) 1311 01:14:24,172 --> 01:14:27,467 - Neighborhood Association put on a performance for us, 1312 01:14:27,550 --> 01:14:30,428 and they had their children singing and dancing. 1313 01:14:30,512 --> 01:14:35,392 (rapping in Spanish) 1314 01:14:38,019 --> 01:14:39,521 - We were invited to the Block Party, 1315 01:14:39,604 --> 01:14:41,940 and it was just really awesome! 1316 01:14:42,023 --> 01:14:46,277 You had all these kids doing this great song and dance, 1317 01:14:46,361 --> 01:14:48,196 you know, performance piece, 1318 01:14:48,279 --> 01:14:50,615 in not a community of means, you know. 1319 01:14:50,699 --> 01:14:52,992 The performance is with like one lightbulb 1320 01:14:53,076 --> 01:14:55,453 that they like string from inside somebody's house, 1321 01:14:55,537 --> 01:14:56,955 but it's like they make it into a stage, 1322 01:14:57,038 --> 01:14:58,873 and it's amazing, you know! 1323 01:15:00,375 --> 01:15:04,504 In order to show us the best of who they were, 1324 01:15:04,587 --> 01:15:06,673 they showed us their children, 1325 01:15:06,756 --> 01:15:09,718 and what they teach their children about being Cuban, 1326 01:15:09,801 --> 01:15:14,139 and being a part of that community. 1327 01:15:14,806 --> 01:15:18,309 And it occurred to me that giving people 1328 01:15:18,393 --> 01:15:22,480 the resources they need to take care of each other, 1329 01:15:22,564 --> 01:15:25,191 to take care of their children, 1330 01:15:25,275 --> 01:15:28,069 is how we will overcome. 1331 01:15:46,004 --> 01:15:47,505 - Time has come to say goodbye, 1332 01:15:47,589 --> 01:15:49,257 but I think that it's not going to be forever. 1333 01:15:49,341 --> 01:15:51,051 I think that it's going to be for a short period of time, 1334 01:15:51,134 --> 01:15:53,094 because they're going to be back very soon. 1335 01:15:53,178 --> 01:15:55,722 I am humbled that you have learned about Cuba, 1336 01:15:55,805 --> 01:15:58,391 so that you can help us from now on, 1337 01:15:58,475 --> 01:16:01,895 knowing our reality and knowing the way we are, 1338 01:16:01,978 --> 01:16:04,105 it will be great if you can also 1339 01:16:04,189 --> 01:16:08,276 tell to the people in the States, how is the Cuban reality. 1340 01:16:08,860 --> 01:16:11,863 The things that you have here, seen, 1341 01:16:11,946 --> 01:16:14,032 by yourself, that hasn't been as tourists. 1342 01:16:14,115 --> 01:16:18,036 It's just something that you have checked by yourself, 1343 01:16:18,119 --> 01:16:19,621 because there is also a saying that says, 1344 01:16:19,704 --> 01:16:21,373 seeing is believing, 1345 01:16:21,456 --> 01:16:23,375 and I guess that now you're going to believe more 1346 01:16:23,458 --> 01:16:24,709 in our country. 1347 01:16:33,009 --> 01:16:34,552 - [Voiceover] So you don't think that Yale is sincere, 1348 01:16:34,636 --> 01:16:36,513 that Black students at Yale are sincere. 1349 01:16:37,722 --> 01:16:39,057 Think they're just there for a front? 1350 01:16:39,140 --> 01:16:40,308 - They just there for a front. 1351 01:16:40,392 --> 01:16:43,728 Until they realize why they got there, 1352 01:16:43,812 --> 01:16:45,647 how they got there. 1353 01:16:45,730 --> 01:16:47,649 - [Voiceover] Do you think they're being trained to be leaders? 1354 01:16:47,732 --> 01:16:49,317 - They're being trained to be leaders, 1355 01:16:49,401 --> 01:16:50,902 but I don't think they're being trained to be leaders 1356 01:16:50,985 --> 01:16:52,153 to come back in the Black community. 1357 01:16:52,237 --> 01:16:52,779 - [Voiceover] Well even where they go, 1358 01:16:52,862 --> 01:16:53,029 can they help Back people where they go, 1359 01:16:53,113 --> 01:16:54,114 as they're trained now? 1360 01:16:56,157 --> 01:16:57,659 - They could, they could, true they could. 1361 01:16:57,742 --> 01:16:59,077 But will they? 1362 01:17:00,662 --> 01:17:02,247 - This is a group that said, 1363 01:17:02,330 --> 01:17:03,915 we're gonna try something that's gonna be hard to do, 1364 01:17:03,998 --> 01:17:06,418 traveling from the US to Cuba is not easy, 1365 01:17:08,378 --> 01:17:10,422 and this is our intellectual project, 1366 01:17:10,505 --> 01:17:11,840 and boom. 1367 01:17:12,799 --> 01:17:14,175 You guys went. 1368 01:17:14,884 --> 01:17:16,761 And you actually made the transition 1369 01:17:16,845 --> 01:17:19,097 from being book smart, 1370 01:17:19,180 --> 01:17:21,266 to trying to figure this out on the ground. 1371 01:17:22,684 --> 01:17:24,310 So it actually reinforced to me, 1372 01:17:24,394 --> 01:17:25,311 as I thought about it, 1373 01:17:25,395 --> 01:17:26,938 the idea that when people say, 1374 01:17:27,022 --> 01:17:28,606 oh, well this won't happen, 1375 01:17:28,690 --> 01:17:30,108 or they're gonna say no, 1376 01:17:30,191 --> 01:17:32,110 or just, you know, they don't even try, basically. 1377 01:17:32,193 --> 01:17:34,529 That's the one way to guarantee you'll never get anything. 1378 01:17:35,530 --> 01:17:37,782 - There are many of our people who are thinking more deeply, 1379 01:17:37,866 --> 01:17:39,284 and more broadly, 1380 01:17:39,367 --> 01:17:40,785 and are beginning to see the importance 1381 01:17:40,869 --> 01:17:44,039 of lifting it out of the national context. 1382 01:17:44,122 --> 01:17:45,790 And the only way this can be done, 1383 01:17:45,874 --> 01:17:48,293 is by internationalizing the problem. 1384 01:17:48,376 --> 01:17:51,838 Instead of it being called civil rights in the future, 1385 01:17:51,921 --> 01:17:54,883 we're going to have to label it a human rights struggle, 1386 01:17:54,966 --> 01:17:56,468 or the struggle for human rights. 1387 01:17:56,551 --> 01:17:57,844 It becomes a world problem. 1388 01:17:57,927 --> 01:17:59,804 - Any form of discrimination, 1389 01:17:59,888 --> 01:18:01,473 including racial discrimination, 1390 01:18:01,556 --> 01:18:03,141 is a violation of human rights. 1391 01:18:03,224 --> 01:18:07,812 It's on all of us to really call on our policymakers. 1392 01:18:11,733 --> 01:18:17,197 A world in which everyone can freely enjoy human rights, 1393 01:18:17,280 --> 01:18:19,240 is certainly possible. 1394 01:18:25,413 --> 01:18:29,167 - African Americans are in the middle 1395 01:18:29,250 --> 01:18:32,587 of a struggle in their country. 1396 01:18:32,671 --> 01:18:36,174 And we Cubans are in the middle of a struggle too. 1397 01:18:36,966 --> 01:18:39,427 That brings us together. 1398 01:18:40,929 --> 01:18:42,764 - There's nowhere that you can go in the United States 1399 01:18:42,847 --> 01:18:45,100 and see a predominantly Black community 1400 01:18:45,183 --> 01:18:47,852 that doesn't have serious issues with poverty, 1401 01:18:47,936 --> 01:18:49,229 serious issues with drugs, 1402 01:18:49,312 --> 01:18:51,189 serious issues with violence. 1403 01:18:51,272 --> 01:18:54,192 It's hard to convince yourself that there can be anther way. 1404 01:18:55,819 --> 01:18:57,278 But there's another way. 1405 01:18:58,363 --> 01:19:03,201 ("Vamo a Vencer" by Krudas Cubensi)