The Militant(logo) 
    Vol.63/No.15           April 19, 1999 
 
 
Cubans speak at Civil Rights Institute  

BY CINDY JAQUITH AND SUSAN LAMONT
BIRMINGHAM, Alabama - "Our visit made a magnificent impression on us. Before, we had only a general idea of what the civil rights movement was, based on what we had read and studied in Cuba," said Itamys García Villar, speaking here March 30 at the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute (BCRI).

García and Luis Ernesto Morejón - two youth leaders from Cuba currently on a speaking tour in the United States - spent several hours at the Institute that morning, studying exhibits depicting life for Blacks under Jim Crow segregation in the South, and the militant battles led by Black workers in the 1950s and 1960s that overthrew the "Whites only/Colored only" system.

García, 27, and Morejón, 23, noted to their tour guides that they had never witnessed institutionalized racism in Cuba, which was eradicated following the 1959 socialist revolution there.

That evening, the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute hosted a citywide meeting for the two Cuban youths attended by some 50 people. The event was chaired by University of Alabama/Birmingham history professor Dr. Horace Huntley, who is also on staff at the BCRI. Odessa Woolfolk, president of the board of directors of the BCRI, also welcomed the two young Cubans.

Among those bringing greetings to the meeting was Joann Hogan, vice president of the Catfish Workers of America. She and two other workers in that group from Belzoni, Mississippi, had earlier toured the BCRI with the Cuban youth. Hogan told the audience a little about their struggle against unjust firings by the Freshwater Farms catfish-processing plant last November. "I'm here to support the Cubans," declared Hogan, "and if anyone else needs our support, just let us know."

García and Morejón were invited to speak in this city by several departments at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) and at Miles College. The local tour was also sponsored by the Black Student Awareness Committee at UAB, the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists, and others.

More than 40 people, largely UAB students and faculty, heard García and Morejón at a meeting at the UAB Smolian International House March 29. Student legislator MaryAnn Geronimo welcomed the Cuban youths by reading the resolution adopted by the Student Government Association (SGA) at UAB. The SGA supported the youths' visit as a valuable "exchange of free thought and expression to increase student awareness and enhance their experience."

Desiree Fisher from the Black Student Awareness Committee also welcomed the Cubans to the UAB campus. "It is important that we create and maintain close ties to each other to exchange information about current events affecting the students in both countries," she said.

There were a lot of questions after the Cuban youths' presentations ranging from "What elements of capitalism are Cubans willing to experiment with?" to "What was the role of Cuban volunteers in southern Africa?" and "Are there class divisions in Cuba?"

"The revolution has given all kinds of opportunities to women," García explained in response to a question about the role of women in Cuba today. "Before 1959 women had no right to a job, to higher education. Now, as a Black and as a woman, there are no limits on what I can do."

Another person asked about the Cubans' initiative in Haiti, where Cuban doctors and medical workers have volunteered to spearhead a major campaign to improve health care. "We have made doctors available to go to Haiti to establish a health program like the one we have in Cuba," García said. "Haiti is one of the poorest countries in the world, with one of the highest infant mortality rates. We will provide the doctors. All we ask is that the material resources to back such a campaign be provided by the more developed countries. Unfortunately, none has so far been forthcoming."

Earlier that day, García and Morejón traveled to Epes, Alabama, where they spent time talking with Black farmers who are members of the Federation of Southern Cooperatives.

The farmers explained the difficulties they face as small producers trying to get loans and to compete in the market. They asked about the attitude of the government in Cuba toward working farmers.

"In 1959, one of the first mandates of the revolution was to give land to those who worked it," Morejón told them. The Cuban said he had been struck by the number of farmers he met in neighboring Georgia who had to rent their land and who would never own it.

Morejón and García also explained how the government in Cuba guarantees a market for all the produce of the farmers as well as striving to assure that everyone in Cuba has access to basic foods.

 
 
 
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