By Pedro Pérez Sarduy, Associate Fellow Caribbean Studies Centre, London Metropolitan University.
Organized by the Cuba-Caribbean Working Group
Organized by the Cuba-Caribbean Working Group
Monday, April 16, 2007
3:00 PM - 5:00 PM
Rolfe Hall 4302
UCLA
Los Angeles, CA 90095
According to the 2002 census figures released late 2005, 65% of the population on the island of Cuba is white, 10% black, and 24,9% mulato or mixed. As a result, white Cubans have been saying “I told you, we're the majority”; others celebrate the growing mulato population. The 'one drop' rule obviously does not apply in this Caribbean nation, as blacks are becoming more of a minority. What does this mean? Are blacks being rendered invisible? To what extent has the revolution made a difference? To what extent is that difference true today? What is it like to be black Cuban?
These are key questions addressed by Pedro Pérez-Sarduy in his multimedia presentations.
Pedro Perez-Sarduy -2004 Charles McGill Fellow in International Studies at Trinity College, Hartford, CT- is an Afro-Cuban poet, writer, journalist and broadcaster resident in London. He co-edited with historian Jean Stubbs AFRO-CUBA: An Anthology of Cuban Writing on Race, Politics and Culture (Ocean Press/Latin America Bureau, Melbourne/London, 1993 --the original Spanish version was published in 1998 by Editorial de la Universidad de Puerto Rico, San Juan; and co-authored AfroCuban Voices: On Race and Identity in Contemporary Cuba, a book based on interviews with Afro-Cubans currently living and working in the island and discussing race issues (University Press of Florida, 2000). He co-authored the Introduction to No Longer Invisible: Afro-Latin Americans Today (London 1995). He has completed Journal in Babylon, a series of chronicles on Britain (unpublished) and his first novel, Las Criadas de La Habana -The Maids of Havana-, Puerto Rico, 2001 and La Habana, 2003). Malecón Sigloveinte (La Habana, 2005) is his latest book of poetry. His work is also featured in The Oxford book of Caribbean Verse (Oxford University Press 2005)
Cost : Free and open to the public
Robin Derby
derby@history.ucla.edu www.international.ucla.edu/lac/
Sponsor(s): Latin American Institute