After watching Afro Cuba Libre: A Mini Documentary on Race in Cuba, directed by Shaynah Ferreira and Katy Bartel, I have to say it got straight to the point. Dissecting such a topic can be difficult to explain in detail with only 9.5 minutes. In summary, the film is a short documentary about how racism is embedded within the everyday life of Cuba. What makes this film important is that historically, Cuba is a communist area. Meaning everything should be equal yet the idea of racism is still running rampant towards Afro-Cubans. I feel like it hit a few points considering that it was only 9.5 minutes long, However, I would also like to hear more examples in detail. I don't know if it had to be 9.5 minutes long, but I wish I could hear more. I think this video would be good to introduce the idea of racism in Cuba. I do wish that there was more in depth conversation and information though. In terms of the movie itself I do appreciate the personal statements and it being spoken in the native language. A lot of films would have them speak in their native language but have an English speaker do a voice over to translate. Leaving the voices alone and just putting subtitles makes the film still have its Cuban authenticity. The subtitles also were timed out perfectly and did not feel rushed. In terms of cinematography, Ferreira and Bartel did an amazing job in still bringing diversity in terms of the Cubans they showed in the camera frame. It was almost an emphasis that color may have in terms of racism.
A critique I would say is that in particular scenes, have the mic up closer to the speakers. Specifically close to 8:08, it seemed like the young lady's voice was super low and kind of hard to clearly understand the point she was trying to make. As a current student in COMM 300, African descendants aren't new to the idea of racism. After reading documents like Cuba:The Next Cuban Revolution, I learned how anti-blackness was always within Cuban history but they never really acknowledged it as a huge issue like Americans do. For example during the revolution, many leaders were fighting with white cubans, but if a Black Cuban rose to the top the racism would prevail. I mean much of the racism we see today is due to the Transatlantic Slave Trade. Europeans wanted to take those enslaved to different regions to divide them from their culture and economical purposes. Its like the longer the slave trade went on, the more and more Africans were divided from their original culture. Then depending on the region they were placed in, the racism and brutality they faced varied. The idea that everybody is Cuban was there, but the slight differences of being a lighter or darker skin Cuban is almost like a thing that is still on the low. Like people know that it's there but it's not at the forefront of Cuba’s issues. As mentioned previously, this film would be a great way to introduce Cuba and its racism, but not good if you are searching for heavy details on the issue at hand.
Citation: Ferreira, Shaynah, and Katy Bartel. “Afro Cuba Libre: A Mini-Documentary on Race in Cuba.” YouTube, 9 June 2017, youtu.be/G_OzkISsyDo.
Through these documentaries I'm finding out that Afro Cubans went through racism like Afro Americans did. So many similarities of the struggles of being non white. Skin tones were extremely important.
I liked that you took a further dive into Cuba. I liked how you highlighted the racism issue. People do tend to
look for higher emphasis of controversial topics. Noting that it was a good watch, but wasn’t fulfilling was interesting.
Hello Paige,
I thought about viewing this short documentary as well but jumped on Kweli TV which I knew nothing about and found myself surfing through all the black films. I found one on there that was on the list and got swept up in the documentary. However, the one I watched was also about the racism but "not racism" that exists in Cuba. The fairytale that racism does not exist is easy to want to believe, but like you observed, it is real and it is based on an actual color line and not on ethnicity.
Hi Paige.
I am learning so much about racism in Cuba, Brazil and others places in the African Diaspora. I had no idea racism was so prevalent in other parts of the world. Each video, lesson and reading has opened my mind to new views on just how in depth the TransAtlantic Slave Trade was in history. I am glad you learned from watching the short film. You mentioned the skin tone and other issues our people struggle with and that is a fact even today! The self hate runs so deep, it is really sad...