José Antonio Maceo and Cuban Evolution of Blackness

In the world of African Diaspora, it seems like African descendants always find a way to rise above the tribulations. In a world that turns their back on them they turn the tribulations to triumph. It's almost a common theme amongst people of African descent.  After reading Cuba: The Next Cuban Revolution this past week, I was intrigued on one of Cuba's mightiest heroes, José Antonio Maceo. Though his story is unforgettable and iconic, it is a part of history that sculptures the idea of being a successful Black man in a society that may not welcome you with open arms.

 José Antonio Maceo was born 1845 in Santiago, Cuba. His father was a freed mixed man, and his mother was an Afro-Cuban. His combat story starts at the Ten Years' War in 1868. In that era, he fought as a common soldier and quickly was promoted to general. Then later he was promoted to major general only at the age 32. Maceo just like many other Black Cubans were accused of trying to create another Haiti. What makes this an amazing story as an American as well to other scholars is that Cuban's had their first Black general in the 1870's. America on the other hand had their first Black general in 1940. As his journey as a combat hero, he faced more and more discrimination and effects of White fear. In a sense that there would be a Black dominated society. However, he gained companions like José Julian Marti. Marti insinuated that Maceo wanted to free all of Cuba. Though Maceo's life ended in 1896, his story carries on.

All of this to say that only 3 years after his death, anthropologists opened his body to see how black or white he was. What makes the emphasis of his story so important is that many wouldn't believe that a man like Maceo would be able to overcome and obtain so much as a Black man. In times where white Cubans tried to hold him down, he arose above. The fact that only 3 years later people dissected his body just to see how black or white he was to me is foul. So much to the point where they even tried to change his characteristic to make Maceo appear more European. This brings out African Diaspora in a sense that people are trying to erase Black history in every way shape and form. The fact that people doubted a Black man, so much to the point where they tried to scientifically prove he was white, shows how far people will go in order to erase African decedents as a whole. But as I mentioned African descendants always find a way to turn the tribulations to triumph

Louis Gates Jr., Henry. Black in Latin America. Cuba: The Next Cuban Revolution ed., New York, New York, New York University Press Classics, 2011, pp. 179–222, file:///C:/Users/kenda/Downloads/Cuba-The%20Next%20Cuban%20Revolution%20(1).pdf. Accessed 23 Feb. 2024.

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