Often I am asked, Why Black and White?
Initially, I sought to differentiate myself from the numerous photographers photographing Cuba in colour. That B/W would be taken more seriously by the observer and not be lured by the beauty of colour. Then I thought that I would shoot in B/W until Fidel Castro dies and then go to colour. ( As in the movie The Wizard Of Oz, recall that the movie starts off in B/W until Dorothy's house lands on the wicked witche's sister in Munchkinland)
But then tonight I came across a speech by the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. A Knock At Midnight . In it Rev. King states: "At midnight colours lose their distinctiveness and become a sullen shade of grey." Read the speech and in many ways it's "medianoche" in Cuba.
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Dr. King did mention Cuba in his book WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE:
Chaos or Community.
There he explained that "Castro may have had only a few Cubans actually fighting with him, but he would never have overthrown the Batista regime unless he had had the sympathy of the vast majority of the Cuban people."
ESSENTIAL WRITINGS OF DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING, Jr. P. 592.
Nor would he have overthrown the Batista Regime if the vast majority of people knew the truth of Castro and what he had in mind. It is well documented that many that fought with Fidel in the mountains, when faced with the reality of his true colors tried to fight back...only to be jailed or killed in the process.
What amazes me is how naïve people can be. For example, I do not support violence, but do not deny its reality as it relates to revolutionary change. For example, the American revolution was not some non-violent struggle wherein the British simply decided to hand-over power. And too, ...there existed those colonists who were sympathetic to the British and who -themselves- were sumarily dealt with after the American success. And are we critical of this? I think not. It was a time of revolutionary change and no trator would stand in the way. I suppose the Cuban revolution felt the same yes? And what of what Castro had in mind, ... shit, if I were an Afro-Cuban pre 1959, anything was better than seasonal employment harvesting sugar cane and being excluded from beaches, univerities and other places of bublic accomodation (note: America was not doing too much batter toward its African poulation at that time as well). All the while, the best jobs for poor Cuban women, who again were mostly Afro-Cuban, was selling one's body for cold cash to foreign men. What did fidel have in mind then? Intergration? Free education for all? Health care for all? Nationalization of the economy and foreign businesses? You call that a theaft I bet? What was practiced by them was a theaft. What those Cubans who left Cuba lost was nothing more than what they stole by way of their class and race. Yes I know it hurts. But, to be honest with you, I -for one- as an American through and through, have grown too tired of the "poor me" whimpering of the American-Cuban. Get over it.
Poor me whimpering...Cubans all over the world are not wimpering...they are making something of their lives...living free...prosperous and hard working. At least if they choose to whimper they can and not live in fear of it. This Blog is about the reality of Cuba today...not 50 years ago...What does Fidel have in mind..if he still has one? Free education for those who play the "party" game...health care for those who have the $$ to get it done...and poor cuban women...of all races selling their bodies to foreign men...it's still a society of privilege and class. Only want for the Cubans in Cuba to be free to choose, to travel, to work hard and make a decent wage to support their families and enjoy life. No wimpering here...get over the past and look at the present.
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