301 p., Throughout the 20th century, various Cuban regimes have tried to eliminate the practice of religions of African origin by combining repressive legislation and coercive social practices that stigmatized practitioners as culturally backward, socially deviant, and mentally deficient. Religious practitioners, however, used the state apparatus to continue worshipping their African deities, sometimes challenging government officials' excessive application of the law or devising ways to evade their scrutiny. Through an analysis of archival documents, newspapers, works produced by practitioners, oral history interviews and published ethnographies, this dissertation examines the strategies practitioners of Ocha-Ifá - also known as Santería - employed as they continued practicing the religion of their ancestors and participating in the national projects of the twentieth century. Focusing on the period after the 1959 revolution, this dissertation argues that revolutionary policies that were designed to discourage the practice of religions of African origin actually facilitated its continued practice and development in unintended ways.
African American Research Center, Library, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Notes:
292 p., Definitive information on the identity and status of the emancipados who were a special group of Africans in Brazil, Cuba and Latin America. The author establishes that the peculiar nature of the introduction of the emacipados into Brazil and America made them free Africans, both de jure and de facto, thereby setting them apart from freed Africans or slaves in Brazilian and Cuban societies. Emancipados held a much better status within these societies.
African American Research Center, Library, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Notes:
126 p., Contents: La lucha contra la discriminación racial y las acciones afirmativas -- La identidad del afrocubano y el movimiento hip-hop -- Marcus Garvey desde la visión de Gustavo E. Urrutia -- El término "afrocubano" : una contribución olvidada de Fernando Ortiz -- La yorubización en el candomblé y la santería -- Importancia de la fundación del Partido Independiente de Color : amplitud y trascendencia de su programa.
