tAlKiNG ABOUt rAce iN cUBA: FOUr trANs-AtlANtic AFricAN diAsPOrA WOmeN sHAre tHeir eXPerieNce

Descendants of the African Diaspora have encountered different challenges to well-being within their respective countries. In Cuba, it appears that while the Cuban Revolution attempted to level the outcomes for all citizens, Black Cubans remain marginalised and targets of discrimination. We, three African American and one Black Cuban women researchers, used a roundtable approach to analyse our experiences in Cuba. Using our individual reflections as data, the four of us sought to make meaning of cultural identity and expression within Cuba, and impact on well-being. Implications of this work can inform interventions for well-being of multiple African Diasporic populations in North and South America.

his paternal grandparents.The circumstances that made him leave Cuba are unknown but through a look at the lives of Black Cuban woman after Cuba's independence, any number of issues could have been likely, including an early death of his mother.My great grandfather was an absentee father in the life of my grandfather, so there was not much information passed down about him.Even so, as a genealogist and psychologist, I became very interested in tracking down what I could learn from my great grandfather's life and the events surrounding his birth during the independence movement in Cuba.
During my search, I came across a book in an antique store in Chicago that was published in 1899 called Neely's Photographs: Panoramic views of Cuba, Porto Rico, Manila and The Philippines by Frank Tennyson Neely.The book contains well over 75 images of the Spanish-American war with a substantial focus of the book covering Cuba.At the bottom of the photos, the author made captions that often explained the context of the pictures by telling the reader who was in the picture and/or where the picture was taken.However, at times the caption would be reflective of the author's personal opinions about the people in the pictures.What became significant for me about this book was my reaction to the images and the captions of these with Black Cubans.White Cubans in the book are referred to as Cubans, whereas Black Cubans are referred to as Negroes.To me this reflected that Neely, a person with an etic perspective, saw Black Cubans as not being citizens of Cuba nor as contributors to the fabric of Cuban society.My question is this: if they are neither citizens nor contributors to Cuban society, then for Neely what were they?
For one photo, an image of Black Cubans gathering in Havana on a Sunday, in their best clothes dancing likely to the rhythms that have contributed to music and dance across the world, he provided commentary that answered my question.In this photo, he stated, 'Negroes are children of the fun and sun.'I see several problems with this statement: (1) the photo captured adults engaging in a social affair, (2) the adults are being infantilised as they are called children, (3) they are referred to as Negroes and not Cubans, and (4) the comment was patronising and likely reflects the overall lack of respect for the human rights of Black people during this period.While I intellectually knew that Cuba's history with slavery and racism was very similar to that of the US, I was not ready to go through another version of this story; I felt in the moments of reviewing the book that I had undergone two different forms of historical trauma.Historical trauma can be defined as experiencing trauma due to historical loss (i.e., slavery, loss of culture, land, etc.) as a result of intergenerational transmission with devastating impact on emotional, psychological and behavioural well-being (Brown-Rice 2014).I realised that I was descended from another history due to the trans-Atlantic slave trade and that having some Cuban ancestry did not offer me an escape to the historical trauma of being African American; instead, it offered me another set of historical trauma to contend with.
Having this epiphany about my Cuban ancestry made me want to look deeper into the issues of race in Cuba and explore what racism looked like in Cuba historically and contemporarily.Cuba and the US have a shared history with respect to enslaving humans through the trans-Atlantic slave trade.This history has produced a legacy of racism in both countries.However, due to cultural, political and structural differences, how racism is perceived and addressed by and towards African descent populations varies across both countries and could have health impacts (Nazroo et al. 2007).I knew that by going to Cuba to study these issues, culturally as an African American but descendent of a Black Cuban, I would be investigating from an etic view (as an outsider) and through the use of an emic/indigenous psychology framework.Indigenous psychology can be defined as 'the scientific study of human behaviour or mind that is native, that is not transported from other regions and that is designed for its people' (Kim and Park 2007: 151).Thus, because of cultural, economic and social differences, I would be coming in with my American perspectives of race and racism towards people of Afro-descent as I may not understand the nuances or emic view of how racism is experienced by Cubans of African descent.However, I recognise that I share the same trans-Atlantic slave history with Black Cubans as I am of this ancestry, thus may have some emic views related to the study as well.

ethnography and methods
Understanding that race and culture are constructed and recreated through interactions (Nagel 1994), I wanted to explore various aspects of Black Cuban experience.As first author, I wanted to engage in this dialogue with two other women of African American trans-Atlantic descent.In order to better understand the issues of race in Cuba, we decided to utilise an ethnographic methodology.This would allow for the analysis of social interactions, behaviours and perceptions that occur within groups, organisations and communities within Cuba (Reeves et al. 2008).
The two African American women I engaged, Tiffany McDowell and Mildred Watson, were a part of the genealogy group and were interested in learning their own roots.In addition, they were highly engaged in the collective experience of Black Americans and issues related to resiliency.As a group we also wanted to understand the experience of historical trauma and resiliency on a trans-Atlantic trade level beyond just the African American experience.We decided to utilise multiple data sources to uncover parallel experiences of Black Cubans.Triangulating multiple forms of data and utilising multiple ethnographers allow for the generation of a complex range of perspectives to emerge (Denzin 1970).
We began the ethnographic study by delving into the literature on racism in Cuba and the US.We reviewed the history of both countries because we wanted to ground ourselves in the commonalities of being descended from the trans-Atlantic slave trade, which would be a beginning step by us moving towards developing an indigenous perspective in looking at the issues of race in Cuba.But we were also aware that because we did not grow up in the Cuban context, we needed to understand the nuances.We understood that we might view some of the experiences from our etic viewpoint.We engaged Caridad Morales Nussa, a Black Cuban woman who is an academic and activist who came to the US 12 years ago.We engaged her because we wanted to work with someone who has an emic perspective of the Black Cuban experience, and thus can challenge our African American perspective of the Black Cuban experience.This was highly important as it has been critiqued that many African American scholars have written on race or engagement in Cuba without working with Black Cubans to ground their etic perspectives.
We met as a team several times to discuss the literature and formed questions to guide the research.The overarching questions we asked were as follows: How are Black Cubans engaged by Cuban society?What are Black Cubans' perspectives about this engagement?and How does this engagement impact their wellbeing?Our goal was to use this information to gain a better understanding of what are the facilitators and barriers to engagement of Black Cubans that would support their health and well-being.In following along with an ethnographic approach, I wanted for us through journaling to seek our understanding of the issues related to racism in Cuba from the perspective of collectively understanding ourselves as African Americans and Black Cubans coming from the African Diaspora.Observations were taken from engaging with artists, filmmakers, solidarity groups and government-sanctioned organisations by three participant observers across three provinces in Cuba.Over the course of seven days, 21 field reports were made and transcribed.The coding of the transcripts was done independently by the four authors, of whom one is a Black Cuban and another is of Black Cuban ancestry, using phenomenological theory to analyse the data.These collaborative efforts of the various authors coupled with community engagement led us to garner a richer understanding of the Black Cuban experience.

shared History of slavery and racism in cuba and the Us
Cuba and the US share a history of extensive human rights violations.Both countries engaged in gruesome human rights violations at the expense of people of colour (Lopez-Levy 2011;Oldfield 2012).These violations are evident in both countries' involvement in the slave trade (Cowling 2011;Oldfield 2012).In 1492, Cuba's indigenous Tainos population was forced to endure harsh labour conditions and was massacred to near extermination by the Christopher Columbus regime (Canton 2000;Carew 1996).Declining slave numbers led the Spanish invaders to import Africans to fill labour needs (Carew 1996;Davidson 1988;McManus 1989).Similar to the atrocities in Cuba, the US government also played a major role in the rise of plantations in the 'New World', enslaving millions of Africans for rural labour in efforts to maintain their support for imperialist dominance and economic advancement (Klein 2010;Oldfield 2012).
At present, the Cuban government has been more willing to acknowledge how the atrocities endured during slavery have transcended and impacted Black Cubans' aims for advancement.In 1986, Castro expressed the importance of the governmental leadership resembling the true racial composition of Cuban citizens, acknowledging African descendants' integral role in Cuban society (Castro 1986, cited in Saney 2004), and addressed historical injustices referring to the slave trade (De la Fuente 2001).Whereas in the US, there continues to be a reluctance to fully apologise for slavery, with the government and other dominant entities adamantly taking a stance to excuse the US of any wrongdoings to avoid having to provide reparations, with states in fear of discussions referencing compensation for the past atrocities endured by African Americans in this country (Oldfield 2012).
During the 1950s, US occupation and support of the Cuban Republic was at its highest point.However, Black Cubans encountered a number of economic and social challenges during this time.Black Cubans were marginalised and assigned a second-class status (Arandia Covarrubias 1994).Black Cubans were often only employable in manual labour jobs working for affluent White Cubans in the 1950s (Arandia Covarrubias 1994).The 1959 Cuban Revolution reflected a time of liberation for Black Cubans due to some of the racial parameters being dismantled.Arandia Covarrubias (1994) expounded, The triumph of the Cuban revolution in 1959 eliminated the legal mechanisms that upheld racial discrimination.It also began a process of redressing claims by social groups historically denied their most elemental rights, including the Black population, which identified the Revolution as a vehicle for justice.The changes brought about in education, medicine, and culture are evident.Even the Cuban scholar Jorge Dominguez, in his prologue to Carlos moore's Castro, The Blacks and Africa, recognizes that Black Cubans have experienced a considerable improvement in their standard of living.(p.67) The 1960 US embargo that was implemented impacted Cuban human rights due to the US wanting the Cuban government to surrender the country to the US; Cuba did not comply with the US imperialist nature and capitalist society (Lopez-Levy 2011;Saney 2004).In the 1960s, many of the wealthy White Cubans left Cuba due to opposition to and rejection of policy changes, which allowed Black Cubans access to resources, employment and government positions attributed to the exodus of White Cubans (Lopez-Levy 2011;Rosenberg-Weinreb 2008;Saney 2004).This incident in history was quite similar to how successful African Americans after the abolition of slavery made attempts to develop their own communities because of segregation laws put in place by US government (Katz-Fishman and Scott 2002).White Americans were angry and threatened by the economic success of African Americans, which led to many lynchings in the South during the 1960s (Wells and Royster 1996).Ida B. Wells wrote that lynchings were related to White Americans' own sexual anxieties and fear of African Americans' economic progress, and were an act of terrorism and oppression (Wells and Royster 1996).These situations highlight the suppression of people of colour in the US and abroad, with racism being the catalyst.
The Cuban economic decline during the 1990s Special Period amplified existing racial inequities; Black Cubans encountered some economic disadvantages and hardships during this time (Armstead 2007;Rosenberg-Weinreb 2008).Although the 1959 revolution was thought to have created equality between Cuban racial groups, the Special Period led to a re-emergence of racial discrimination and oppression of Black Cubans, especially related to gaining and maintaining employment (i.e., tourism and hotel sectors; Armstead 2007;Rosenberg-Weinreb 2008).Additionally, many White Cubans had access to financial support from relatives who fled the country in the 1960s, thus weathered the economic downturn better than their Black Cuban counterparts (Rosenberg-Weinreb 2008;Saney 2004).Although the adoption of socialism by the Cuban government was an attempt to level the playing field, economic disadvantages influenced by race persisted (Saney 2004).

cuban Nationalist loyalty and Black cultural identity
The Cuban government has worked to create a national identity, minimising Black Cubans' protests regarding race and social-class issues (Armstead 2007;Rose 1994).Although there have been many instances of historical and structural racism within the Cuban government and systems, Black Cubans have outwardly displayed national loyalty.Upon deeper investigation, it appears that this allegiance may be connected to self-preservation.Rosenberg-Weinreb (2008) highlights a facet of Black Cuban loyalty to Cuba, often referred to as the Cuban regime's 'secret weapon'.This is linked to Black Cubans' fear that if the Revolution is overturned, White Cuban exiles will return, reverting some of the improvements that emerged during the 1959 Revolution and even more racism and poverty may surface.This fear has tied many Black Cubans to show support for the current government structure, regardless of the true outcomes (De la Fuente 1998).
Thus, questions remain about how Black Cubans are able to maintain wellbeing within these contexts.Although limited research exists regarding Black Cubans and African identity with regard to belonging and well-being, it appears that Black Cubans garner a similar sense of belonging through the celebration of their African ancestry through arts, music and literary work.There is an emerging body of literature detailing Black Cubans' exploration and exhibition of their cultural identity.In Cuba, valuing African identity seems to provide Black Cubans with a voice and sense of pride, which can be seen throughout the culture, religion, music and the arts (Armstead 2007;Ayorinde 2004;Mandri 2006).Some literary writers and artists have expounded on aspects of African identity with respect to guarding cultural memory within the Black Cuban community (Mandri 2006;Villagomez 2007).Mandri (2006) and Villagomez (2007) highlight the formation of African culture in Cuba's national identity, which has been expounded upon in several Cuban anti-slavery novels.Gilroy (1993) hypothesises, These artists engage in the discussion on slavery in their works to demonstrate the relationship between discursive practices and remembering.In this text the recuperation of the omitted history, which is central to the works of the Black artist, becomes the act of remembrance by  Due to this conflict with regard to the core issues impacting Black Cubans, many Black Cubans look to the arts as an outlet to address the political and cultural challenges within Cuba (Armstead 2007;Gilroy 1993;Rose 1994;Saunders 2012).The emergence of rap and various other forms of hip hop expression in Black Cuban communities has led to highlighting the poverty issues and injustices that Black Cubans endure, similar to the struggles of African Americans in the US (Armstead 2007;Saunders 2012).

roundtable discussion of trans-Atlantic African diaspora Women
In this section of the article, we will use a roundtable format.Nataka, Tiffany and Mildred will discuss the themes they observed in Cuba related to the overarching questions of Black Cubans' engagement in Cuban society and the impact of this engagement on well-being.Caridad will discuss her reflections of the themes observed from Nataka, Tiffany and Mildred and will provide her experience as a Black Cuban woman who was born and raised in Cuba.We chose the roundtable format to ensure that there is equal voice on this topic.The findings from each woman are compared to develop a broader and deeper understanding of how each of us views the issue.If the findings from the different evaluators arrive at the same conclusion, then our confidence in the findings would be reinforced.

Theme 1: Sense of belonging to national agenda: Invisible loyalty
Contextual family theory (Boszormenyi-Nagy and Spark 1973) explains how messages are transmitted intergenerationally, typically within families but can also be used to explain broader societal and systemic interactions.The foundation of this theory is that mutual trust, loyalty and sincerity are the key conditions of strong relationships and united systems, thus any interactions that do not meet these basic needs can impact individuals' views of one another.In fact, unresolved violations of trust occurring within a system can be passed down to future generations, resulting in what Boszormenyi-Nagy termed 'invisible loyalty' (Boszormenyi-Nagy and Spark 1973).Invisible loyalty occurs when an individual senses this trust violation but is so obligated to the relationship with the larger system that he or she remains loyal to that system, even while feeling hurt or marginalised.
This gives us the framework for which we found our themes.We identified among Black Cubans the importance to feel connected to the national agenda of Cuba.This appeared to us to be driven by an invisible loyalty to the revolution.The first three authors observed frequent discussion by Black Cubans, stating that they are thankful to the revolution to have the opportunities, skills and status that, as Blacks, they otherwise may not have.The following journal passages illustrate this theme: Nataka's Journal: At the co-op we met a Black woman veterinarian that said she is thankful to the revolution, as she may not have been a professional otherwise.This made me think about the debt owed to the revolution and all of what surrounds Cuba is patriotism.Perhaps Black Cubans feel that talking about profound racism is going against what they have all sacrificed and worked hard for to keep everything afloat from the revolution and the blockade as a form of anti-patriotism.A Cuban woman told me that the Cuban people feel proud that they survived the special period and fought for the gains of the revolution.Once again, we know Black people did gain from the revolution ... even if it was just their children to some degree through education.
Tiffany's Journal: I loved seeing a Black Cuban woman get up and say how because of the revolution she was now able to become a veterinarian, otherwise she may not have gotten an education at all.It struck me how proud of the revolution most Cubans have been and how much they feel indebted to the Castros for their leadership.
The first authors perceived that when it came to talking about racism in public, some Black Cuban women specifically had a difficult time stating that Black Cubans may be engaged by the larger Cuban society differently than White Cubans.We understood later, when we had private conversations with other Black Cuban women, that this may be because it would look anti-patriotic, although we did not understand this at first.We also recognised that due to our social, historical, and political differences with Black Cuban women we may have developed different ways of understanding and coping with institutionalised racism.This impasse of misunderstanding made for tensions between African American and Black Cuban women in discussing the phenomenon of what we both experienced but were making the meaning of that experience radically different.The following journal passages illustrate the tensions and difficulties of two groups of trans-Atlantic women discussing the impact of racism: Nataka's Journal: We then went to an organisation ... we talked to four women; one was White and three Black.In the meeting, we asked them about the pickaninny images and their thoughts on it as artists.The women said they had no problem with the images and we were shocked as Black American women because the images impacted us both and were a part of both of our histories but we saw the images so differently.We then discussed that our view of the pickaninny images was used to impact the mindset of African people to keep them subjugated.It was our belief that these images are still negative and can explain why Black women the world over have self-esteem problems.As one of our participants was talking, the women looked very disinterested in what the message was and were not bound to our liberation or our sentiments.The women stated that they understand why we may see it this way, but they do not see themselves that way and feel no offence towards the pictures.This truly upsets many of our Afro-American comrades.This situation ties into all of the other issues I have been observing, like the fact that the academics in Cuba are noticing these issues and trying to reconstruct Cuban history to explain how slavery mattered and continues to impact Black Cubans today.I left feeling very confused and wondered if my subjective feelings were a microcosm of the confusion that exists around these issues in Cuba.
Mildred's Journal: A woman from our group opened a dialogue during the group discussion about the images of the pickaninny (Caricatures) that she saw on some of the T-shirts being sold.Another Afro-American woman discussed how the images are similar to the Mammy in the US and when she sees these images in Cuba she feels similar emotions of frustrations/anger regarding the exaggerated stereotypical depictions of the Black women.The Cuban women on the panel appeared to reject the Afro-American woman's view and many of the other US women's experiences ... I felt a bit uneasy as she made the comment regarding these images of the Black women in a sexualised context/manner.She appeared to be oblivious to the internalisation of her own oppression.Her demeanour was one of rejection which was exhibited by her body language and facial expressions.Her tone was quite dismissive during the group discussion.I felt that her reaction was similar to how people try to use the N-word in a positive way, stating that they have turned the once negative word into a positive one.
This was particularly difficult for us to understand because we knew the literature stated that there were systemic racial disparities for Black Cubans.What we did not know at the time of this meeting is that publicly it may have been difficult for Black Cubans to discuss racism because it could look like they did not support the revolution.In addition, there was a White Cuban woman in the room who was a colleague of the Black Cuban women.Perhaps they did not feel comfortable having this conversation in front of her.We also had some experiences with being Black in Cuba of our own, which led us to know that there was indeed racism in Cuba.
Nataka and Mildred journaled about an uncomfortable interaction with the more visible White Cuban Americans on the plane coming to Cuba.Nataka and Mildred's assessment of the situation was that there was ambiguity with our nationality and from the mindset of the Cuban Americans we could have been Black Cuban Americans returning home for a visit.Either way, we were the only people of visible African descent on the plane.It was noted that when we boarded the plane, we were met with silent stares that may be indicative, at the interpersonal level, of the relationship between Black and White Cubans.Some of our noted experiences of dealing with racism in Cuba are illustrated below: Nataka's Journal: When it came time to board the plane, I found it interesting that many of the people on the plane had a look on their face of curiosity for me, Mildred and Tiffany.I noticed the privilege of who was able to travel to Cuba and who was not and the way we looked showed that in general Tiffany, Mildred and I are not the ones able to travel as Afro descendants.The people on the plane were White Cuban Americans.I felt a bit uncomfortable with the staring; I wondered if this was going to be my experience once in Cuba.
Mildred's Journal: On the plane, a racial element surfaced with the passengers who were mostly White Cubans; they appeared to interact with us in a peculiar way.They appeared to wonder why we 'women of colour' of a darker hue were travelling to Cuba.The White Cuban passengers seemed to be perplexed by our presence.The sign of White privilege was apparent.
Tiffany discussed in her journal about a Cuban policeman's reaction to us as women of African descent; the policeman did not know we were African American.The following quote is demonstrative of this experience.
Tiffany's Journal: So on our way back to get a taxi, we walked past a policeman who was socialising with some young people.As we were laughing and talking, the policeman immediately stopped and stared at us as if he was going to question us.I immediately felt threatened by him and wondered if this is what Some of the Black Cuban men we met were talking about.The policeman didn't say anything to us but stared as we walked away.It was definitely an uneasy feeling to end the day.
We noticed however that when we were in private discussions with Black Cuban women and with older women, they talked more freely of racism.The following is a journal entry that is demonstrative of this point: Nataka's Journal: Later in the evening, we talked with a group of elder Cuba women about engagement and race.The women talked extensively about their work, and two Black Cuban women talked about how they work to challenge negative images of Black women and to replace them with positive images.I then asked one of the elders her thoughts on the pickaninny images found around Havana.She stated that she was offended by the picture and could not believe that it was taken in Cuba.We talked with her about what happened in the afternoon with the Black women at the centre, and she was shocked.She stated that after the revolution, it was said that all Cubans are equal, so that message confused people but clearly that is not true.Black people are equal in health and education but not standards of living.She stated that this is the reason they are working hard to educate Black women because, of course, the images of the pickaninny are damaging to self-esteem.She asked me how I felt about the issues I have noticed in Cuba, and I shared with her that I was often confused.
We also heard from several Black Cuban men about their experience of race and racism in Cuba.We noticed that the men freely talked about their experience, but they often had to do this in either hushed tones or whispers.The following journal entries illustrate some of the discussions.
Nataka's Journal: We then were approached by another Black man (we were only approached by Black men, White Cuban men never approached us); the man stated that life was hard in Cuba and that there were no opportunities and no future for him in Cuba.He said that although he went to school as an engineer, he has never worked as an engineer.He whispered all of this in a low tone that made me wonder about political freedom of speech.
Tiffany's Journal: We were stopped by a young-ish man who shared with us our first bit of discontent with the Cuban government.He told us that he was out of work, and that it is very hard to get enough to eat in his current situation.He also said it is much harder for Blacks than White Cubans.It was interesting that he chose to share this with us, and I was struck by the thought that had we been with the others (the White women in our group) we might not have had this exchange.
Mildred's Journal: We met one Black Cuban male who spoke openly about his struggles as a Black Cuban male.He discussed that his aspirations are hindered and that he has limited resources even as an engineer.As he divulged his woes, an officer walked by and closely listened in on the conversation, which appeared to be a common theme in Cuba.He disclosed that he would be arrested if he were to walk up to White American, Cuban or Canadian women in this manner and speak so freely.But he disclosed that since we appeared to be Black Cuban, the authorities would not be concerned with our interaction.
In this section, Nataka, Mildred and Tiffany described the difficulty that some Black Cubans have in talking about racism in a public format.Some of these difficulties may be related to possible feelings of betraying the hard work of the revolution that increased Black Cubans' access to health care, housing and education.Therefore for Black Cubans, there may be invisible loyalties to the revolution and socialism that espoused the belief that race is secondary to class.It may be seen as being anti-patriotic to admit racism.This is interesting because for many Black Cubans, they were not considered equal citizens until the revolution; thus, the revolution is philosophically tied to citizenship for Black Cubans.This point ties back to the first author's experience of looking at Neely's Photographs and noticing in 1899, 10 years after the end of slavery in Cuba, Black Cubans were simply referred to as Negroes and not Cubans.We also noted that there may also be a generation gap in talking about racism.We noted in our journal reflections that older Cuban women had more wisdom, reflections and thoughts on issues of race in Cuba.As one journal entry reflected, an older Cuban woman commented that the younger generation is confused by the macro-level ethos that race is no longer an issue in Cuba.The older generation has an expanded perspective because they knew how things were before the revolution.As Mildred pointed out in her entry, this is not much different than African Americans who think that there is not much racism in the US and believe that it is socially acceptable to use the N-word.
The difference between African Americans and Black Cubans that should be more fully explored is that Black Cubans may have a stronger sense of belonging to Cuba.Although this may have consequences in being able to address and discuss racism publically, it may have positive consequences because there may be a reduced feeling of exclusion that African Americans often experience (Moore and McDowell 2014).Thus, we come to see that the sense of belonging and invisible loyalties may be a facilitator and barrier to well-being.It is clear to us that the Black Cubans we encountered felt a strong sense of belonging to the national culture, which appears to also provide a sense of satisfaction.However, these feelings of national loyalty also seem to keep some Black Cubans from being comfortable enough to speak against oppressive acts within their culture.Being unable to break patterns inherent to the Cuban nationalist culture might ultimately hinder Black Cubans from achieving full equity on par with their peers.
Caridad's Reflections: Personally, I believe racial discourse defies logic and how individuals approach racism today.Racism is a subject that is always changing not only in Cuba, but it is also in the awareness of individuals to the phenomenon of social freedom.Its contradiction stems from power, economic, political and social power that minorities still have to confront not necessarily in the same order.The order I have seen for racism in the United States goes from economic to political then social power.Since 1959 to the present time, Cuba has come from a political structure that until recently used to define social and economic power, but the economic changes in the twenty-first century have triggered what has always been known as racial discrimination.According to Morales Domínguez, Cuba is a living example that 'racism is a very complex, multidimensional and multi-causal matter that does not disappear solely through achievement of higher levels of social justice ' (2007).Indeed, the Cuban macrosystem issued anti-discrimination laws after the triumph of the revolution in 1959 (1992).Prior to that during the colonial period and republic period, Black Nationalism existed, but it was oppressed by the forces in power, like in 1912 when the members of the Independent Party of Colour were assassinated.In the Cuban society, Black Cuban engagement became massive after the overthrow of the administration of Batista followed by the wealthy Cubans, professionals, nationals in disbelief of the Revolution and unaccompanied children sent by their parents fleeing en masse to Europe and the United States.Many Black Cubans actively integrated to the new system.The new macro-system favoured education and health for minorities.They felt a sense of belonging to the national agenda; however, the micro-system of many of these individuals of low education and marginalisation remained in challenging settings, which progressively restrained or diminished further integration of themselves and their new generations to the new macro-system programmes and benefits that also faded with time.It also means that Black Cubans as individuals, community and institution have had to thrive under pressure, which still has a strong dichotomy in the global domination of Whiteness over Blackness.
My Cuban perspectives about racism lie in trouble waters.As a child, I can relate to Reyita's relatives (Rubiera-Castillo 2000) who were racist to their darkskinned relatives.As a way of advancement in life, I remember growing up with a lovely gorgeous light-skinned uneducated grandmother who encouraged her grandchildren to study and to avoid dark-skin relations due to her own personal biases by suffering domestic violence and abuse from my Haitian descent grandfather.I also recall a lovely teenage mother -a maid who was trying to catch up and get more education to better raise her two children; I light skinned and my brother dark skinned.Needless to say, I arrived to my young adulthood still unaware of my self-contradiction of being a racist Black sibling and a progressive, proud Black Cuban.Moreover, I was wrongly convinced that my brother's destiny was written due to 'genetic inheritance in ecological perspectives' (Bronfenbrenner 1986a(Bronfenbrenner , 1986b(Bronfenbrenner , 1988(Bronfenbrenner , 1989;;Bronfenbrenner and Ceci 1993).I have no personal memories of what happened in Cuba before Castro era, since I was born and raised within the revolution.Since I was an infant, I remember being involved in the changes that were allowing Black Cubans a certain level of social mobility, either by my mother's integration in the process or my grandmother's natural wisdom of the fact that education was/is/will be fundamental in 'human development' (Bronfenbrenner 1979).My grandmother died without learning about human development, or overcoming her personal issues and biases, which has affected my generation and the twenty-first century generation of my family.We are still a family in denial of issues of race, Whitening struggles and academic achievements.I reached down and was able to power myself up after being exposed to globalisation and gaining awareness of my own silences, then I have been able to focus on the pursuit of my personal, cultural and professional identity.
Currently, 'human development' (Bronfenbrenner 1979) as a combination of subsystems has failed in some Black Cubans who still are marginalised; therefore, the subsystems are not synchronised correctly, and opportunities can be missed and stereotypes might prevail.In the macro-system, it is still a challenge to look for partnership -without strong educational drive -among races when socioeconomic changes on one side and the privileges of political power on the other side have prevailed over minorities trying to power up.Cuba is not unknown to that even within the same race.There are differences due to the diverse skin complexion, meaning that there have been three social classes: White, Black and browns, which have each had their political and economic privileges and economic and social challenges.

Theme 2: Messaging in Cuba: Viva revolution … Viva equality
It was noted among the first three authors, Nataka, Tiffany and Mildred, that in the built environment there were nods to revolution, freedom and justice throughout Cuba.The first three authors noticed that there were little to no advertisements for consumption of material goods but there were statues, monuments and slogans everywhere underlying the message of revolution, which in essence is viva equality.We also noticed in Cuba that in many ways, much more than in the US, there seemed to be an acceptance and positive attitude towards Black Cuban cultural expression, whether through art or religion.Castro has been noted to say that Cuba is an Afro-Latin country (Saney 2004).We as participants were very interested in what this meant for Cubans, particularly Black Cubans, to push against injustices in a country that simultaneously promotes this push through affirmations of African expression but stifles this push for discussing that racism exists in a socialist context as a primary force not secondary to class.We also understand that this theme and the one before are related, and it is difficult to disentangle the two as they intersect and bi-directionally influence one another.The following journal entries illustrate the participant's observation about the nods towards revolution and fighting injustices in the built environment: Nataka's Journal: What was interesting was in the middle of the garden was a statue and a flag of Jose Marti.Jose Marti was the person who was the champion of the second war of independence, so he is respected and viewed like the father of Cuba.Once more, everywhere in Cuba there is a nod to revolution, freedom and justice ... even in a garden.
Tiffany's Journal: I especially noticed the socialist messages painted on the buildings ... After checking into the hotel we went out for a walk.We saw a monument to various social figures including MLK, Langston Hughes, etc.I was surprised to see the monument to the Chicago labour workers as well.
From our observation, the nods to revolution in the built environment, and the ethos that Cuba is an Afro-Latin country has had great impact on Black Cubans' ability to celebrate their religious and artistic expression in the open with pride and vigour.For Black Cubans, the art was a living celebration of the Black Cuban heritage, as was observed at Callejon de Hamel.In the same location, where art was abundant Santeria, a Black Cuban religion, was practised in the open for and by Black Cubans unapologetically.This was a way by which Black Cubans were engaged (spiritually and artistically) that impacted their sense of well-being and affirmation.This is important considering that there are not many places in the US that support African relics of cultural expression (i.e., the demonisation of Voodoo in the US).The following journal entries are demonstrative of our experiences at Callejon de Hamel: Nataka's Journal: We then headed to Havana where we were to learn a little about Santeria and Rumba.We headed to a community that had an art community centre named Callejon de Hamel, owned by an older Black Cuban artist who through money collected for his art put on weekly Sunday Santeria -for the community to engage with their culture through Santeria and Rumba.He also offers other events for the children in the community during the week.Can I just say, oh my what a blast of colours and rhythmic music!I instantly felt a connection to the experience and fell in love with the art space.Once again in Cuba, I was seeing the bringing together of community through art.When the people were dancing to the music, I saw them bring in a young girl to pass on the values to the next generation.I saw excitement in the looks of the Black Cubans and as our tour guide said, we are witnessing African cultural expression in action.We did not see Santeria and Rumba in a museum ... we saw the call and response of the crowd and the dancers; it was an organic experience.Once again, I saw community in a way that was uplifting, and using art not only as a way to pass on culture but also as prevention.I do not see examples so clearly like this in my community or the communities in which I work.We have festivals but they come annually ... this one is every Sunday, and it is for this community tied to Africanism and religion.What I thought was also fabulous as an African American was being able to see African religion being celebrated not only at the community level but recognised also at the national level and thus seeing how the acceptance of Black Cuban cultural expression has very strong mental health implications.People in Havana are living where part of their Africanness is affirmed and celebrated.I was talking with Tiffany and saying I cannot see on a national level the US accepting Voodoo beyond a touristy notion.Voodoo in the US is underground and still very much considered evil by the masses.So, once again, I am left wondering the role of changing cultural ethos at the macro-level.By making cultural relics acceptable at the macro-and community level for people to engage in the open impacts self-esteem and worth at the individual level.I understand that in the US, in working with our African American population, a cultural revolution needs to happen in the US where we understand and accept African American culture in not only a positive light but claim all of it as American culture.So much of what we do as African Americans comes from our ancestry.Also, I noticed that much of the dancing they do is not so different from the dancing we do as African Americans in the US, but in Cuba it is tied to religion where in the US. it is not tied to religion and it is left as being considered 'lewd' by the majority and thus by the term itself ... judgement is rooted in the word.
Tiffany's Journal: The next stop [on our tour] was the Santeria rituals.There were people everywhere, and this was the first time I saw a large number of Black Cubans.They were all shades and colours, very beautiful to see.We went to an artist studio and he was dressed in a white suit jacket smoking a cigar.I was drawn to his works because they were all about the Orishas of the Santeria faith ... I also noticed the beautiful way they had gathered old items: tubs, mannequins, etc., and pieced together their shrines to the Orishas.I especially noticed the socialist messages painted on the buildings.Art is very prevalent here.
Mildred's Journal: On this tour, I felt the culture and the Black Cuban presence due to the music, the artworks and the people.
We also noticed that the arts and cultural programming were used as a preventative measure often to decrease social exclusion in communities.Considering Cuba is a socialist country that finances the health care of its citizens in the midst of a blockade that stumps the country's economic growth, Cuba places priority in investing financial resources into increasing the overall well-being and connectedness within communities to reduce social isolation.The following journal entries are reflective of our observations in this regard: Nataka's Journal: What was interesting is that the government ensures that there are cultural programmes to reserve the culture once a week year round in most communities.This is amazing as this builds community, knowing your neighbour, reducing isolation and preventing mental health issues.How amazing; I wonder what this could do in our communities back in Chicago.We came literally at the very end of one of these events and found that older, middle age, younger people and children attended this cultural event enclosed in an indoor venue with music, dancing and singing ... We then went back to the conference for the opening ceremony children performed as part of the ceremony which was another great example of how everyone can enjoy the arts.
Mildred's Journal: Attended the non-violence event in which we listened to songs by several Cuban students of all ages, and hues.The importance of the arts in Cuba was witnessed by these talented children.They embodied a spirit of soulfulness and appeared proud of their talent and Cuban heritage.
The first three authors observed that although Black Cubans were able to celebrate their Africanness and had many opportunities to engage openly in their community spiritually and artistically, there were limits.We observed that some Black Cubans did not always feel comfortable using art to express themselves in a way that may critique the government or highlight the disparities between Blacks and Whites in Cuba.The following journal entry illustrates the first three authors' experience engaging with Black Cubans at an art demonstration.
Nataka's Journal: The event was open and free to enter and everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves!The artist of one room, a Black Cuban used his art as a form of engagement with White and Black Cubans around racism (Racismo).He painted a picture of esclavos (slaves) with metal pieces covering the mouth that for me was remnant of what happened in US slave history.One Black Cuban gentleman stated that the artist was brave ... courageous to paint these images.It made me wonder why this was considered brave in Cuba.Was it that he was pushing the envelope in Cuba to talk about race and thought that art was the method that could break down the defensiveness around the topic?
We noticed that some of the art displayed in tourist areas, however, are quite different than the art represented on Callejón de Hamel.The art in touristy areas displayed controlling images of Black Cubans (i.e., pickaninnies), and so we noticed that this was being accepted within Cuba as being normal or routine.This ties into the other theme where the women mentioned that the images did not bother them.Thus, could these issues be difficult to address because of invisible loyalties or because of desensitisation, or some other reason?The following entries are illustrative of our experience with art in tourist areas depicting Black people negatively: Nataka's Journal: On Sunday at breakfast, in the last hotel we stayed in we saw a pickaninny type mammy figure with a cigarette.It was very frustrating to be bombarded with this image again.They get exposed to these images so much in Cuba, maybe it does not on the surface bother them ... they are desensitised to the images, like so many Black Americans are desensitised to the 'N' word and say the 'N' word does not bother them.
Tiffany's Journal: While there, we saw some dolls that appeared in the mammy image.The woman selling them said that they represented the Santeria Orishas, but I was wondering why they had the exaggerated lips and eyes.The artists yesterday depicted Orishas as beautiful images, so it made me wonder how Black Cubans see these images and do they see positive images of people of colour often.
However, what we noticed is that in academia, scholars felt that they were indeed able and free to discuss the juxtaposition of socialism and racism in Cuba.Academia appeared to provide a space where people did not have to feel brave to discuss racism in a public space.At a conference we observed that there were a few themes related to racism from the perspective of Cuban academics.The following quotes are illustrative of the participants' observations: Nataka's Journal: We then went to the psychology building at the University of Havana for registration.While there, we had a chance to meet a Black Cuban professor.After a few minutes of talking, she shared with Tiffany and me that she was interested in racism and discrimination against Black Cuban women.I saw this as an acknowledgement of racism from my earlier experiences of talking to a young Black Cuban student who told me that racism does not exist because she is able to get an education, thus relegating the concept of racism only to the structural level of supposed equality ... Also, another woman in the sessions yesterday who would be considered 'White' said the same remark ... that even the Whitest Cuban women have some African ancestry.I appreciated that at the conference when this comment was made, a conference attendee stated in so many words that the colour of the skin in Cuba still matters and that they need to understand that skin colour has social implications regardless if White people are part African.
Mildred's Journal: The presenters disclosed similar stereotypical images (e.g., Mammy) that emerge from Cuban history of the Black Cuban reflecting the experience of African Americans in the US.

Tiffany's Journal:
The visibility of the Black presence in Cuba needs to be expanded; one way to do this is through academics, sharing with students who can then disseminate this work.
Although there are multiple forms of African expression in Cuba, these expressions seem to be offered within controlled contexts.All three of the African American authors noted the pride Cubans had in showing off their African flavour for themselves and for tourists who visit the island.Thus, while Afro-centric images are commonplace, they do not reflect the current state of Black Cubans today.To even use language to speak out about racism could be seen as antirevolution, especially with the constant messaging that equality was achieved through the revolution.At the same time when Black Cubans are celebrated for their heritage in building the country, they are shunned from seeking validation for contemporary efforts to address racism.Connection to ethnic identity and cultural heritage has been shown to be a protective factor for mental health and well-being, especially within ethnic groups in the US (Mossakowski 2003).In fact, ethnic identity and group membership can be an effective coping mechanism to mediate stress from perceived racial discrimination.If Black Cubans do not feel comfortable connecting with others through their shared experience as African descendants, they may not reap the benefits to their well-being.
Caridad's Reflection: As Morales Domínguez (2007) claims, Black Cubans' disguised inequality prevents them from understanding, on one hand, where they come from in society, the core value of what education makes an individual become and what they still struggle to achieve and on the other hand, the social dynamics, education processes and struggles to succeed and develop their own methodology and Black Cuban legacy.In my adulthood, I am aware and have been confronting my own reality of having been racist to my dark-skinned brother and father.I also have the perception that the plight of Black Cubans who were not deeply exposed to global education and instruction on issues of race makes some of them ride and accept the stereotypes many foreign individuals look for as evidence of racism regardless of the 'positive values and the phenomenon of collective unconscious' because it might be profitable to their immediate needs (Pérez Sarduy and Stubbs 2000).
In relation to a nod to equality and the revolution, Fidel Castro in his speech to intellectuals on 30 June 1961 stated that 'within the revolution everything, against the Revolution nothing' and many Cubans have avoided broaching the issue for fear of social, political and even self-censorship.In today's Cuban society, inequality is a fact, and how to approach it is a challenge to the combined macro-and micro-systems of each individual.In the US, when the 'We the People' constitution was written by White people in power, they never thought of Black people as their peers or even becoming the US Commander in Chief.Today beating the odds, the first Black president in the US is accomplishing his second mandate.It is a different story regarding the amended Cuban constitution of 1992; a more acceptable society embraced Black Cubans after 1959 but in the twenty-first century outcomes, how Black Cubans approach life in Cuba today is the key to the success of themselves and their future generations.Education is the key to that success regardless of political power in perpetuity.It is true, the generalisations that exist on Cuban issues have a strong foundation in the concept of Cuban and Cuban identity (Ortíz 1975(Ortíz , 1993) ) or 'racial democracy' (Arandia Covarrubias 1994, 2005).According to some experts, these interpretations are legitimate, whereas others oppose them; but regardless of the analyses, Cubans are seen as a nation and not for the individuality of the ethnic groups they belong to, their history, or complexity in life.Hence in many recent academic studies, the subject of Black Cubans has been little investigated, translated or published by Black Cuban scholars -individually or in team work -abroad or in Cuba.As former cultural minister Abel Prieto stated, it is evident that the Cuba of yesterday and today still speaks of the Cuban discourse that breeds nationality over race (Prieto 1994).Conversely, Black Cubans like economist and scholar Esteban Morales argue that ... 'Cuban society is a multi-social body' ( 2008), but in my research of the official data Cuba has posted through the last half of the twentieth century and beginning of the twenty-first century, I have seen recurrent general statistics rarely tally by ethnicity or race.Moreover, Morales Domínguez stated in his book on the racial problem in Cuba that the matter is totally 'absent from educational curricula, both in general education, from primary to high school, as in higher education ' (2007).This is not easy to say due to the lock in hands for unity on racism and nationalism in their pursuit of equality before the still US 'cold war' towards Cuba, but Cuban inequality carries the weight of many collective memories that still seek understanding national history redemption and social justice.

conclusion and Future implications
There are a few implications that we see emerging from this research.First, we see that this study can inform how health practitioners understand and address well-being with Black Cubans in relation to issues of race.We developed an understanding that while there are similarities to race in Cuba and the US, there are some notable differences as well that have disparate impacts on well-being of Black Cubans.The national sense of belonging and celebration of Africanness that was observed and supported by all of the authors as a facilitator of wellbeing for Black Cubans can be used to develop interventions for other African trans-Atlantic Diaspora people (i.e., African Americans, Afro-Puerto Ricans or Black Brazilians).
The other implication for the study was the importance of writing this article with Caridad Morales Nussa.We attempted to avoid previous research limitations of imposing an outsider analysis onto a Cuban cultural phenomenon by partnering with Caridad.This work can serve as an example of how outside researchers can work with indigenous researchers to ensure that there is an emic perspective in making meaning of the results of a study.Outside researchers have been criticised, particularly through the study of race in Latin America, for importing their etic perspective on their investigative observations.In addition, it has been noted that usually outside scholars from the US have had more opportunities to write and publish on these issues that influence the larger discussion on race in Latin America, and this work is rooted within an outsider's perspective.The implication of this is that the conclusions of the current study are supported by a member of Black Cuban culture.
Through this work, we uncovered areas where there were some disconnects between African American and Black Cuban women's views of racism and discrimination.At moments due to historical, cultural and political differences, we expressed different views on the history and transmission of racist themes in Cuba and the US.In our discussions of the emerging themes within this article, what transcended the analysis was our realisation that we were all women, descending from the African trans-Atlantic slave trade, who were attempting to understand our place and space within our respective countries.Thus, we recognised that although our views may differ at times, we are bound to one another by not only a similar history but also the process through which we are trying to make sense of that shared history on our current lives.Our transcendence came about through the use of the qualitative roundtable method of analysis.We look forward to continuing to use this form of enquiry and analysis to grow as researchers.