Jackson 1 (2752 words) Essay Example For Students

Jackson 1 (2752 words) Essay Jackson 1 What impact did the Cuban revolution have on Afro-Cubans and race relations in Cuba? Describe the experience of African American radicals and nationalists in Cuba. In March 1959,two months after the conquest of state power, Castro broke the conspiracy of silence on racism in Cuba by confronting it head on. His first step was to abolish the old private school system and establish a well-funded public school system that was completely integrated.Economic and social conditions for Blacks improved dramatically when the revolutionary government decreed the Agrarian Reform and Urban Reform Laws, which gave the land to small farmers, and lowered rents in the cities by 50 percent. Laws were enacted and enforced prohibition discrimination in jobs, schools, housing, and medical care. In Cuba, race prejudice would be a punishable offense. Official Cuban census figures say black and mixed-heritage people are about 35 percent of the islands population, but a quick stroll around any Cuban town will provide visual confirmation of just how many Cubans of color deem themselves white. That may not be surprising, given that race is not an objective scientific ca tegory, but rather an organizing principle of political power both before and after the revolution that brought Fidel Castro to power. Cuba(pre-Fidel)had been a place where multiracial alliances coexisted with persistent, entrenched racism and vast racial inequality. The last pre-revolutionary president, Fulgencio Batista, was a mulatto who may have hadsome Chinese and Indian blood. While he may have firmly ruled that system of inequality, he was, demographically speaking, more inclusive than were the white revolutionaries who overthrew him.But once the rebels won and tens of thousands of the wealthiest whites fled to Florida, Castro emphasized independence from American capitalism, improvements in healthcare, and literacy drives and he also told Jackson 2 American journalists in January 1959 that his new government would work to erase racial discrimination once and for all. In 1962, a North American survey found that 80 percent of black Cubans were wholly in favor of the revoluti on, compared to 67 percent of whites.The ensuing years saw visiblegains towards social equality. The entire country was literate, regardless of color, and the 1980s, sawa generation of young black Cubans whose parents had been sugarcane and service workers enter the workforce as doctors, engineers and professionals. Still, despite major economic and social gains, black Cubansremained unrepresented in the political leadership. In the years between Castros ascendance and the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union, race was an issue kept under the rug. During the Black Power Movement, the African American organization that established the most significant relations with Cuba was the Black Panther Party. The BlackPantherPartywas a radical Marxist organization which was inspired by the Cuban revolution. Huey P. Newton, cofounder with Bobby Seale of the Black Panther Party, wrote in his autobiography: For Castro guerrilla warfare was a good form of propaganda. Walking armed through Richmond was our propaganda. For many Black Panthers,Cuba symbolized a perfect example of how a socialist system could succeed in offering equal opportunities to all its citizens. Socialist Cuba also became a safe place for those panthers who wanted to escape from the illegal activities of John Edgar Hoovers Counter Intelligence Program,and starting from 1967-68 many membersoftheBlack Panther Partymembers went into exile in Cuba. Among the African Americans in exile in Cuba there were some of the most prominent leaders of the Black Power Movement such as Eldridge Cleaver, Huey P. Newton and Assata Jackson 3 Shakur. Cleaver came to Cuba in 1968 to avoid arrest and spent eight months on the island. His story is particularly interesting because, as the Minister of Information of the BlackPantherParty, he had high expectations from the alliance with the Cuban government: he hoped that the Cubans would organize a military camp for the training of African American revolutionaries. The project failed because the Cubans decided not to transform their political support for the African American liberation struggle into a military one. Huey P. Newton went into exile in Cuba in 1974 after being charged with the murder of a prostitute in Oakland.Even though Newton withdrew himself from public life in the town of Santa Clara, he continued to lead the BlackPantherPartythrough his daily telephone conversations with the new leader of the organization Elaine Brown. Assata Shakur, a former BlackPantherPartymilitant and Black Liberation Army member, also escaped from prison in 1979 and reached Cuba five years later, in 1984, when she was given political asylum by the Castro government. During the Black Power struggle, other activists went to Cuba as official guests of Fidel Castro. This was the case of the Black Power advocateStokelyCarmichael, who was the only non-communist African American to receive an official invitation by the Cuban government after 1965. InJuly 1967,Carmichael attended the Organization of Latin American Solidarity Conference, an international meeting which celebrated Guevara and praised Guevaras activities as a source of inspirationfor Third World revolutionaries and alsofor Black Power advocates. Finally, the communist party member and black freedom fighterAngela Davis toured the island after being released from jail in 1972 to demonstrate hersolidarity with the revolution. Her trip to Cuba, where the previous year hundreds of thousands of people had supported the Free Jackson 4 Angela Davis campaign, was a hugesuccess and helped to confirmDavis as one of the most prominent figures of the black freedom movement worldwide. Jackson 5 What are the main struggles of Black neighborhood activists inGamboadeBaixoand Salvador, Bahia? Discuss Perrys theoretical and methodological approach to research on Black politics. Comparison on Making Polite Requests in English an Essay Jackson 8 Based on your reading of Harris, which contemporary Afro-Christian tradition (social gospel/liberation theology or the prosperity gospel) serves African Americans better? What impact has the Obama presidency had on Black people? Social gospel- Christian faith practiced as a call not just to personal conversation but to social reform. Prosperity gospel-Referred to as prosperity theology, the health and wealth gospel is a religious belief among some Christians who hold that financial blessings and physical well-being are always the will of God for them and that faith. The social gospel is defiantly a better practice for Black people because it offers them a chance to get out in the world and to absorb so much more that this practice has to offer. It embodies the characteristics that the faith takes the poor and transforms them whether its from a community-based or active point of view. The social gospel birthed the theological worldview, meaning that the righteous people should not only concern themselves with salvaging sinners, but also entertain the displacement of them here on Earth. Most urban churches placed their focus on saving souls and making the lives of their congregation richer by building schools, orphanages, hospitals, and mutual-aid and burial societies. Unlike the prosperity gospel, the social gospel definitely did not thrive on incorporating monies to live a better life. The social gospel also was responsible with advancing thecivil rights by enhancing the motives for groups such as the Urban League and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. Even Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. sided with the social gospel and often Jackson 9 referred to it in many of his speeches. He believed that the freedom of Blacks was inevitable, whether he reached it with them in the Promised Land or not. Kings social gospel faith really mapped many of his ways of handling situations in a nonviolent/ turn-the-other-cheek philosophical way. Social gospel,in its own right,sympathizes and empathizes with its followers and unequivocally gives them a sense of hope and a path of unforsaken faith. AlbertCleagewrote in his book the Black Messiah that not only did God side with the oppressed, but that Christ, because of the suffering he endured, was black. (Harris pp. 85) The leading theologian of black liberation from then until now is James Cone, who strictly ad opts the theories and viewpoints of Black Nationalism. His influences have produced an array of ministers at traditionally black churches throughout the country. Social gospel isarguably the best religion to portray Christianity, due the understanding that money isnt important to live a prosperous life. Money is important in certain situations, but there is not a necessity for it to prosper and gain personal faith to move along in life under the guidelines of the social gospel. The founders of the movement initially reflected on middle-class Protestants, Catholics and Jews, however on down the line the social gospel became vastly lead by urban black clergy. It ultimately legitimized the involvement and support of the civil rights movement. Socialgospel gave a sense of freedom to those that believes in it and gave them a means to understand their oppression and struggle. It revealed hope and faith without denial and also provided a faith where peers werent judgmental or hypocritical at all. President Barack Obama had a special impact in my life personally, because I was on crack cocaine for many years leading up to his presidency. November 07, 2008 was a very important day, when a Black man was announced as the president of the United States of Jackson 10 America. This is also the day that my God took the taste of crack cocaine out of my mouth. Still to this day I have not relapsed through the grace of God. I can remember that day as if it were yesterday. Looking at the television saying Im don with using drugsbecause a black man has made it to be president. History was made for Barack Obama, and myself Stone Jones. Barack Obama has also made a huge impact in the black community with health insurance. Blacks couldnt afford health insurance if they were not employed. Barack Obama also has shown the black race that we can overcome any obstacle thrown our way. He has also shown the blacks how to put back into our communities and to buy back our own land. He provided a way for us to be first time homeowners with the $8,000 home owners loan. He impacted the black community on showing us how to be proud of being black again. Wow! A black man ran for presidency of the U.S. and served for two consecutive terms, totaling eight years. Many white presidents have not done this. History has definitely been made on November 8, 2008, the first black man lead our country through good and bad times. Even the first lady, Michelle Obama, showed black women how to become strong, independent women in todays society, where women still have a hard time being treated equally as men.