CUBAN TRANSITIONS

Recent news coming out of Cuba shows promising signs for growth in Cuba’s economy. The two main markets that have been opened are in housing and car sales. This past November, Cuba lifted a half-century ban on the sale of used cars and the trading of properties on the island. The move by Raul Castro […]

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image link Staying connected to friends, family, the media and the outside world is easier and faster than ever. Some people even experience withdrawals when they leave their phones at home or can’t connect to the internet. The citizens of Cuba do not have that problem. As being one of the least-connected countries in the […]

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Despite the Special Period – a time marked by dramatic scarcity of resources, the rise of racial and social inequality, the emergence and normalization of black market activity, the exploitation of Cuban bodies and culture to attract and serve the tourist sector, censorship, limited mobility – one aspect of Cubanidad has survived and only seems […]

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Interestingly, in my research and thinking about Afro-Cuban women in art, W.E.B DuBois’s notion of “Twoness” continued to resurface and influence my thoughts. The notion refers to an African-American identity in which DuBois defines a struggle in consciousness between assimilating into white America and preserving African-roots. What DuBois’s discovered through this definition, was a greater […]

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In a new society where female workers were seen as invaluable to the revolutionary cause, Cuban women were faced with what Julia E. Sweig refers to as the doble jornada or the double day. Women were expected to work hard during the day at their jobs and then come home at night and take care […]

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Coral reefs are fragile, slow growing but complex communities containing great biodiversity and serve as a source of food and habitat for marine life. Corals are able to thrive in nutrient poor water along the equator because they, the animal, hold a symbiotic relationship with photosynthetic algae (yes, a plant lives inside an animal!!). The […]

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Religion transcends all barriers. We’ve known that for quite some time. Taking for example the religion of Santeria ( The Way of The Saints) (Alvarez, 1997). It was bought over by the slaves from Africa over to the New World. Majority of these slaves who were practicing this religion were shipped straight to the Carribean. Some of these followers […]

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Cuba’s political isolation and economic limitations have spelled success for its wildlife in the last 50 years. With Cuba’s limited ability to develop as other Caribbean nations have, and the continuing US embargo helping to keep Cuba in the past, Cuba’s natural resources have been preserved in a way not seen in most of the […]

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After Castro’s revolution overthrew Batista’s oppressive, fundamentally capitalist regime, one of the goals of the new order was to create a society where everyone were completely equal regardless of income, race, background, anything. It is understandable to see how these thoughts were generally accepted by Cuba’s new leaders. After all, as a Spanish colony and […]

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Public health is a facet of Cuban culture that the government has not hesitated to fully fund and support. It is especially important to focus on Cuba’s programs for HIV/AIDS treatment and prevention, which have been globally recognized for their success. Cuba rapidly responded to knowledge of the disease’s existence in 1983 with the establishment […]

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