Hubbry Logo
Afro-CubansAfro-CubansMain
Open search
Afro-Cubans
Community hub
Afro-Cubans
logo
8 pages, 0 posts
0 subscribers
Be the first to start a discussion here.
Be the first to start a discussion here.
Afro-Cubans
Afro-Cubans
Afro-Cubans
View on Wikipedia
from Wikipedia

Afro-Cubans (Spanish: Afrocubano) or Black Cubans are Cubans of full or partial sub-Saharan African ancestry. The term Afro-Cuban can also refer to historical or cultural elements in Cuba associated with this community, and the combining of native African and other cultural elements found in Cuban society, such as race, religion, music, language, the arts and class culture.[2]

Key Information

Demographics

[edit]
Main article: Demographics of Cuba
Black Cubans 1953–2011
Year Population % of
Cuba
1774 50,249 Steady 29.28%
1792 94,380 Increase 34.45%
1817 221,766 Increase 40.10%
1841 490,305 Increase 48.66%
1899 234,738 Decrease 14.92%
1907 274,272 Decrease 13.39%
1919 323,117 Decrease 11.18%
1931 437,769 Decrease 11.05%
1943 463,227 Decrease 9.69%
1953 725,311 Increase 12.44%
1981 1,168,695 Decrease 12.02%
2002 1,126,894 Decrease 10.08%
2012 1,034,044 Decrease 9.26%
Source: Cuba census.[3]

According to the 2002 national census that surveyed 11.2 million Cubans, 1 million or 11% of Cubans identified as Afro-Cuban or Black. Some 3 million identified as "mulatto" or "mestizo", meaning of mixed race, primarily a combination of African and European.[4] Thus more than 40% of the population on the island affirm some African ancestry.

There has been much scholarly discussion about the demographic composition of the island. A study by the Institute for Cuban and Cuban-American Studies at the University of Miami estimated the proportion of people as having some black ancestry is more likely about 62%.[5] They note that complex attitudes toward racial identification, and the de facto racial hierarchy that has existed on the island, have influenced the lower figures of self-identification as black.[5][6]

In Cuba, there are many terms to classify Afro-Cubans of varying portions of African descent, related to the historic Spanish casta system. In addition, in current society, classification may simply be made based on visible attributes; thus, a person who looks white is likely classified as white, especially if educated and middle class.[5]

By contrast, in the contemporary United States, a 2010 Harvard study showed that the practice of hypodescent classification persists. That is, biracial persons are typically classified by others as belonging to the race or ethnicity with lower social status, even if their ancestry is majority European. They found that persons with up to 69% European ancestry and the remainder African or African-American were still being classified as 'black'.[7] [failed verification]

A DNA study in 2014 estimated the genetic admixture of the population of Cuba to be 72% European, 20% African and 8% Native American.[8]

Although Afro-Cubans can be found throughout Cuba, they comprise a higher proportion of the population in Oriente Province in Eastern Cuba than in other parts of the island. As the biggest city, Havana has the largest population of Afro-Cubans of any city in Cuba.[9]

In the 21st century, many native African immigrants have been going to Cuba, especially from Angola.[10] Also, immigrants from Jamaica and Haiti have been settling in Cuba. Most of them settle in the eastern part of the island, due to its proximity to their home countries, and further contributing to the already high percentage of ethnic blacks on that side of the island.[9]

The percentage of Afro-Cubans on the island increased after the 1959 Cuban revolution led by Fidel Castro, because there was mass migration from the island of the largely white (or ethnic European) Cuban professional class, who were subject to violence, takeovers and losing their businesses and property.[11]

A small percentage of Afro-Cubans left Cuba, mostly for the United States (particularly Florida). They and their U.S.-born children are known variously as Afro-Cuban Americans,[12] Cuban Americans, Hispanic Americans, and African Americans. Relatively few Afro-Cubans resided in the nearby Spanish-speaking country of Dominican Republic and the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico.

The Minority Rights Group International says that "An objective assessment of the situation of Afro-Cubans remains problematic due to scant records and a paucity of systematic studies both pre- and post-revolution".[13]

Afro-Cuban descendants in Africa

[edit]

During the 17th century, ex-slaves from Cuba and Brazil were transported to Africa to work for colonists as indentured servants or workers. They were taken largely to present-day Nigeria, the home of the Yoruba cultures, and Spanish Guinea (present-day Equatorial Guinea) home of the Fang and Bubi cultures.

In the 19th century, the former slaves were taken to Africa under the Royal Orders of September 13, 1845 (by way of voluntary arrangement). When there were an insufficient number of volunteers, the colonial government arranged a June 20, 1861, deportation from Cuba. In Spanish Guinea, the indentured servants became part of the Emancipados. In the area of present-day Nigeria, they were called Amaros.

Although the indentured workers were nominally free to return to Cuba when their tenure was over, most settled in these countries, marrying into the local African indigenous tribes.

Angola has had more recent immigrant communities of Afro-Cubans, known as Amparos. They are descendants of Afro-Cuban soldiers who were transported to serve as military in the country in 1975 as a result of Cuban involvement in the Cold War. Cuba's Prime Minister, Fidel Castro, deployed thousands of troops to the country during the Angolan Civil War to support a faction of society. As a result of this era, a small Spanish-speaking community formed in Angola of Afro-Cubans; they number about 100,000 persons.

Haitian-Cubans

[edit]
Main article: Haitian Cuban

Haitian Creole language and culture first entered Cuba with the arrival of immigrants from Saint-Domingue at the start of the 19th century. This was a French colony on the island of Hispaniola. The violence associated with the final years of the 1791–1804 Haitian Revolution resulted in a wave of ethnic French settlers fleeing to Cuba, and often taking numerous African slaves with them. These refugees settled mainly in the east, and especially Guantánamo. There the French later introduced sugar cane cultivation, and constructed sugar refineries. They also developed coffee plantations for another important commodity crop.

By 1804, some 30,000 Frenchmen were living in Baracoa and Maisí, the furthest eastern municipalities of the province. Later, Afro-Haitians continued to emigrate to Cuba to work as braceros (Spanish for "manual laborers") cutting cane in the fields and processing it during harvest. Their living and working conditions were not much better than under slavery. Although many workers had planned to return to Haiti, most stayed on in Cuba.

For years, many Haitians and their descendants in Cuba did not identify as such or speak Creole, which is based in French and African languages. In the eastern part of the island, many Haitians suffered discrimination among the majority Spanish speakers.

In the 21st century, classes in Haitian Creole are offered in Guantanamo, Matanzas and the City of Havana, in an effort to preserve the traditional language of the Afro-Haitians. There is also a Creole-language radio program.

Religion

[edit]
Santería icons at an open place of worship in Havana. Santería is a syncretism practiced by many Afro-Cubans

Afro-Cubans are predominantly Roman Catholic, with Protestant minorities. Afro-Cuban religion can be broken down into three main currents: Santería, Palo Monte and include individuals of all origins. Santería is syncretized with Roman Catholicism.[citation needed]

Music

[edit]
Main articles: Music of African heritage in Cuba and Music of Cuba § African heritage

Since the mid-19th century, innovations within Cuban music have been attributed to the Afro-Cuban community. Genres such as son, conga, mambo and chachachá combined European influences with sub-Saharan African elements. Cuban music evolved markedly away from the traditional European model towards improvisational African traditions.[14] Afro-Cuban musicians have taken pre-existing genres such as trova, country and rap and added their own realities of life in a socialist country and as black persons. Genres like Nueva Trova are seen as live representations of the revolution and have been affected by Afro-Cuban musicians like Pablo Milanes who included African spirituals in his early repertory.[15] Music in Cuba is encouraged both as a scholarly exercise and a popular enjoyment. To Cubans, music and study of it are integral parts of the revolution.[16] Audiences are proud of mixed ethnicity that makes up the music from the Afro-Cuban community, despite there being a boundary of distrust and uncertainty between Cubans and Afro-Cuban culture.[16]

African music and Afro-Cuban music mutually exchanged rhythmic patterns, melodies, and cultural elements, creating a dynamic musical interchange. African artists, particularly those from the Democratic Republic of Congo and Angola fused Afro-Cuban musical influences with their traditions, crafting distinct sounds. The result was an array of genres popular in West and Central Africa namely Congolese rumba, soukous, mbalax, semba, kizomba, and highlife. [17]

Afro-Cubans celebrating Carnival while incorporating preserved African cultural practices. (1850)

Afro-Cuban music can be divided into religious and profane. Religious music includes the chants, rhythms and instruments used in rituals of the religious currents mentioned above. Profane music includes rumba, guaguancó, comparsa (carnival music) and lesser styles such as the tumba francesa. Virtually all Cuban music is influenced by African rhythms. Cuban popular music, and much of the art music, combines influences from Spain and Africa in ways unique to Cuba. For example son combines African instruments and playing styles with the meter and rhythm of Spanish poetic forms.[18] While much of the music is performed in cut-time, artists typically use an array of time signatures like 6/8 for drumming beats. On the other hand, clave uses a polymetric 7/8 + 5/8 time signature.[19]

Afro-Cuban arts emerged in the early 1960s with musicians spearheading an amateur movement bringing African-influenced drumming to the forefront of Cuban music. For example, Enrique Bonne's drumming ensembles took inspiration from Cuban folklore, traditional trova, dance music, and American Jazz. Pello de Afrokan created a new dance rhythm called Mozambique that increased in popularity after his predominantly afro-Cuban folklore troupe performed in 1964. Afro-Cuban artists Mario Bauzá and Frank Grillo, known as Machito, were influential figures in shaping the Afro-Cuban community and its music. Bauzá, a trumpeter and composer, pioneered the fusion of Afro-Cuban rhythms with jazz, giving rise to the Afro-Cuban jazz movement which gained considerable popularity in the United States, Europe, and the Caribbean in the mid 20th century.[20]

Before the revolution, authorities considered Afro-Cuban religious music a lesser culture; religious drummers were persecuted and instruments were confiscated.[21] After the revolution, Afro-Cuban music could be practiced more openly, but authorities were suspicious due to its relation to Afro-Cuban religions. The first revolutionary institution created for the performing "national folklore" (Afro-Cuban artistic traditions) was Conjunto Folklórico Nacional.[14] Despite official institutional support from the Castro's regime, Afro-Cuban music was treated mostly with ambivalence throughout the second half of the 20th century. Audiences looked down on traditional and religious Afro-Cuban music as primitive and anti-revolutionary,[14] music educators continued pre-revolutionary indifference toward afro-Cuban folklore, and the religious nature of Afro-Cuban music led to criticisms of the government's whitening and de-Africanization of the music.[clarification needed] Religious concerts declined, musical instruments related to Santería were confiscated and destroyed, afro-Cuban celebrations were banned outright, and strict limits were placed on the quantity of religious music heard on the radio and television.[21] These attitudes softened in the 1970s and 1980s as the afro-Cuban community began to fuse religious elements into their music. In the 1990s, Afro-Cuban music became a mainstay of Cuba's tourism economy. Members of religious groups earned their living by performing and teaching ritual drumming, song, and dance, to tourists visiting the country.

Rap was adopted in 1999 and solidified with the rise of hip-hop group Orishas. Cuban hip-hop focused on criticism of the Cuban state and the global economic order, including racism, colonialism, imperialism, and global capitalism.[22]

Language

[edit]

Other cultural elements considered to be Afro-Cuban can be found in language (including syntax, vocabulary, and style of speech).

The Afro-Cuban religions all maintain some degree of use of African languages. Santería and Abakuá both have large parts of their liturgy in African languages (Lucumí and Ñañigo, respectively) while Palo uses a mixture of Spanish and Kikongo, known as Habla Congo.

Racial consciousness

[edit]
Main article: Racism in Cuba

According to anthropologists dispatched by the European Union, racism is entrenched in Cuba.[23] Afro-Cubans are systematically excluded from positions in tourism-related jobs, where they could earn tips in hard currencies.[23] According to the EU study, Afro-Cubans are relegated to poor housing, and African Cubans are excluded from managerial positions.[23]

Enrique Patterson, an Afro-Cuban journalist and former University of Havana professor of Marxist philosophy, describes race as a "social bomb" and says that "If the Cuban government were to permit black Cubans to organize and raise their problems before [authorities] ... totalitarianism would fall".[24] Esteban Morales Domínguez, a professor at the University of Havana, says that "The absence of the debate on the racial problem already threatens ... the revolution's social project".[24] Carlos Moore, who has written extensively on the issue, says: "There is an unstated threat, blacks in Cuba know that whenever you raise race in Cuba, you go to jail. Therefore the struggle in Cuba is different. There cannot be a civil rights movement. You will have instantly 10,000 black people dead. [...] The government is frightened to the extent to which it does not understand black Cubans today. You have a new generation of black Cubans who are looking at politics in another way."[24] Barack Obama's victory has raised disturbing questions about the institutional racism in Cuba.[23] The Economist noted: "The danger starts with his example: after all, a young, black, progressive politician has no chance of reaching the highest office in Cuba, although a majority of the island's people are black"[25]

In the years between the triumph of the revolution and the victory at Playa Girón the Cuban government was one of the world's most proactive regimes in the fight against discrimination. It achieved significant gains in racial equality through a series of egalitarian reforms early in the 1960s. Fidel Castro's first public address on racism after his rise to power was on March 23, 1959, at a labor rally in Havana, less than three months after he defeated Fulgencio Batista. He is quoted as saying: "One of the most just battles that must be fought, a battle that must be emphasized more and more, which I might call the fourth battle – the battle to end racial discrimination at work centers. I repeat: the battle to end racial discrimination at work centers. Of all the forms of racial discrimination the worst is the one that limits the colored Cuban's access to jobs. "[26] Castro pointed to the distinction between social segregation and employment, while placing great emphasis on correcting the latter. In response to the large amount of racism that existed in the job market, Castro issued anti-discrimination laws. In addition, he attempted to close the class gap between wealthy white Cubans and Afro-Cubans with a massive literacy campaign among other egalitarian reforms in the early and mid-1960s.[27] Two years after his 1959 speech at the Havana Labor Rally, Castro declared that the age of racism and discrimination was over. In a speech given at the Confederation of Cuban Workers in observance of May Day, Castro declared that the "just laws of the revolution ended unemployment, put an end to villages without hospitals and schools, enacted laws which ended discrimination, control by monopolies, humiliation, and the suffering of the people."[28] Although inspiring, many would consider the claim to be premature."[29]

Research conducted by Yesilernis Peña, Jim Sidanius and Mark Sawyer in 2003, suggests that social discrimination is still prevalent, despite the low levels of economic discrimination.[30] After considering the issue solved, the Cuban government moved beyond the issue of racism. His message marked a shift in Cuban society's perception of racism that was triggered by the change in government focus."[29] The government's announcement easily allowed the Cuban public to deny discrimination without first correcting the stereotypes that remained in the minds of those who grew up in a Cuba that was racially and economically divided. Many who argue that racism does not exist in Cuba base their claims on the idea of Latin American Exceptionalism. According to the argument of Latin American Exceptionality, a social history of intermarriage and mixing of the races is unique to Latina America. The large mestizo populations that result from high levels of interracial union common to Latin America are often linked to racial democracy. For many Cubans this translates into an argument of "racial harmony", often referred to as racial democracy. In the case of Cuba, ideas of Latin American Exceptionalism have delayed the progress of true racial harmony.[31]

In spite of all the promises and speeches by government leaders, racial discrimination against Afro-Cubans[32][33] continues to be a major Human Rights issue for the Cuban government,[34][35][36] even resulting in riots in Central Havana, a mostly black neighborhood in the capital.[37]

Most of the Latin population of Tampa in the 1950s was working class and lived in restricted areas, ethnic enclaves in the vicinity of Tampa's hundreds of cigar factories. African Cubans were tolerated to an extent in the Latin quarter (where most neighborhoods and cigar factories were integrated). Ybor City and its counterpart, West Tampa, were areas that bordered on other restricted sections-areas for U.S. blacks or whites only. In this Latin quarter, there existed racial discrimination despite its subtleness.[38]

Afrocubanismo

[edit]
Main article: Afrocubanismo

During the 1920s and 1930s Cuba experienced a movement geared towards Afro-Cuban culture called Afrocubanismo.[39] The movement had a large impact on Cuban literature, poetry, painting, music, and sculpture. It was the first artistic campaign in Cuba that focused on one particular theme: African culture. Specifically it highlighted the struggle for independence from Spain, African slavery, and building a purely Cuban national identity. Its goal was to incorporate African folklore and rhythm into traditional modes of art.

History of the movement

[edit]

The movement evolved from an interest in the rediscovery of African heritage. It developed in two very different and parallel stages. One stage stemmed from European artists and intellectuals who were interested in African art and musical folk forms.[40] This stage paralleled the Harlem Renaissance in New York, Négritude in the French Caribbean, and coincided with stylistic European Vanguard (like Cubism and its representation of African masks). It was characterized by the participation of white intellectuals such as Cubans Alejo Carpentier, Rómulo Lachatañeré, Fortunato Vizcarrondo, Fernando Ortiz and Lydia Cabrera, Puerto Rican Luis Palés Matos and Spaniards Pablo Picasso and Roger de Lauria. The African-inspired art tended to represent Afro-Cubans with cliché images such as a black man sitting beneath a palm tree with a cigar.

Poems and essays by Afro-Cuban writers began to be published in the 1930s in newspapers, magazines and books, where they discussed their own personal heritage. Afro-Cuban and Afro-Cuban heritage artists such as Nicolás Guillén, Alberto Arredondo and Emilio Ballagas brought light to the once-marginalized African race and culture. It became a symbol of empowerment and individuality for Afro-Cubans within the established Western culture of the Americas.[41]

This empowerment became a catalyst for the second stage to be characterized by Afro-Cuban artists making art that truly reflected what it meant to be Afro-Cuban. Beginning in the 1930s this stage depicted a more serious view of black culture like African religions and the struggles associated with slavery. The main protagonist during this stage of the movement was Nicolás Guillén.[42]

Results of the movement

[edit]

The lasting reputation of the Afrocubanismo movement was the establishment of a New World art form that used aesthetics from both European and African culture.[43] Although the actual movement of Afrocubanismo faded by the early 1940s, Afro-Cuban culture continues to play a vital role in the identity of Cuba. It has been the Cuban Revolution that opened up a space for extended research of African ethnic roots in Cuba.[44] The rhetoric of the Revolution incorporates black history and its contribution as an important stratum of Cuban identity. The Revolution has funded many projects that restore the work of Afro-Cubans in an effort to accommodate an African-driven identity within the new anti-racist Cuban society.[45]

Notable Afro-Cubans

[edit]

Arts and entertainment

[edit]

Music

[edit]

Politics

[edit]

Science

[edit]

Sports

[edit]

See also

[edit]

Footnotes

[edit]

Further reading

[edit]
Revisions and contributorsEdit on WikipediaRead on Wikipedia

Afro-Cubans

View on Grokipedia
from Grokipedia

Afro-Cubans are persons of full or partial sub-Saharan African ancestry residing in , whose forebears were forcibly transported as slaves during the transatlantic slave trade, primarily from West and Central regions including Yoruba, Congo, and Bantu territories, to labor in and from the early until slavery's abolition in 1886. This population has shaped 's demographic, cultural, and social landscape, with official 2012 census data indicating that 9.3% self-identify as black and 26.6% as or mixed-race, comprising roughly 36% of the total populace, though informal estimates suggest broader African genetic influence due to historical intermixing. Afro-Cubans' cultural imprint is profound, evident in syncretic religions like —blending Yoruba orishas with Catholic saints—and musical traditions such as , conga, and , which fuse African polyrhythms, percussion, and call-and-response patterns with European elements to form foundational genres of Cuban identity exported globally. They also contributed disproportionately to Cuba's 19th-century independence struggles, with figures like General exemplifying military leadership against Spanish colonial rule. Post-1959 revolutionary policies ostensibly eradicated racial hierarchies through and healthcare, yet empirical analyses of census and survey data reveal enduring disparities, including Afro-Cubans' overrepresentation in (with extreme deprivation disproportionately affecting those of African descent) and the prison system (estimated at 70% of inmates), patterns intensified by the 1990s and limited private sector opportunities favoring lighter-skinned individuals. Such outcomes challenge official narratives of equity, highlighting causal factors like preferential in the pre-crisis era and subsequent market reforms that exacerbate inherited inequalities absent robust anti-discrimination enforcement.

History

Origins and Transatlantic Slave Trade

Afro-Cubans trace their origins predominantly to the millions of Africans captured and transported across the Atlantic Ocean as part of the transatlantic slave trade, which supplied labor for Cuba's colonial economy under Spanish rule. Enslaved individuals were primarily deployed in labor-intensive sectors such as , , and plantations, where the island's tropical climate and fertile soils enabled large-scale . This influx began modestly in the , shortly after Columbus's arrival in and the subsequent Spanish conquest, but remained limited until the economic boom triggered by the in 1791 shifted production to Cuba. The scale of the trade escalated dramatically in the , with emerging as a primary destination after the decline of imports to other colonies. Estimates place the total number of Africans imported to at approximately 800,000, significantly more than the roughly 400,000 brought to the . Between and alone, around 600,000 slaves arrived, despite Britain's 1807 abolition and Spain's 1817 commitment to end the trade, which was widely evaded through under the Spanish flag and involvement of U.S. and other foreign vessels. Peak imports occurred from to , totaling about 543,882 individuals, fueling 's position as the world's leading exporter by the . The trade's persistence reflected economic incentives, as enslaved labor generated immense wealth for Spanish and contributed to 's demographic shift, where slaves comprised up to one-third of the population by the mid-. Enslaved Africans originated from diverse regions across West and West Central Africa, with embarkation points including the , , Gold Coast, and Angola-Congo areas. The supplied over one-quarter of arrivals in certain periods, followed closely by the Gold Coast, while West Central Africa dominated later shipments. Major ethnic groups included Yoruba peoples from the (known as in Cuba), Igbo and Efik (Carabalí) from the Biafra region, Akan from the Gold Coast, and Bantu-speaking groups such as Kongo and from . These origins influenced the development of distinct cabildos—ethnic mutual aid societies—and cultural retentions, despite the brutal conditions of the , where mortality rates often exceeded 10-20% due to overcrowding, disease, and malnutrition. The trade's cessation, effectively by the amid international pressure and internal revolts, marked the end of direct African influx, leaving a legacy of genetic and cultural admixture that defines Afro-Cuban identity.

Participation in Wars of Independence

Afro-Cubans played a prominent role in the Ten Years' War (1868–1878), Cuba's initial bid for independence from Spain, enlisting in significant numbers following Carlos Manuel de Céspedes' Grito de Yara on October 10, 1868, which included the emancipation of slaves on his plantation and encouraged broader slave participation. Many Afro-Cubans, including former slaves and free blacks, formed a substantial portion of the insurgent mambí forces, drawn by promises of abolition and equality, with people of color comprising nearly half of the enlisted ranks across the independence struggles. Key figures emerged from these ranks, such as Antonio Maceo, a mulatto from Santiago de Cuba born in 1845, who joined as an infantryman in 1868 and rapidly advanced to lieutenant general by war's end due to his tactical prowess in eastern campaigns. Similarly, Quintín Bandera, born enslaved in 1834 near Santiago, participated from early skirmishes in 1851 and attained generalship, leading black infantry units in prolonged guerrilla actions. The war's inconclusive Paz del Zanjón treaty in 1878, granting limited reforms but preserving Spanish rule, prompted Maceo's Protesta de Baraguá on March 15, 1878, where he rejected the terms, insisting on full independence and abolition, symbolizing Afro-Cuban commitment to uncompromising liberation. Bandera echoed this defiance, continuing minor operations in the subsequent Guerra Chiquita (1879–1880) before exile. Afro-Cuban veterans, hardened by the conflict's attrition—which claimed over 200,000 lives total—provided crucial experience for the renewed push. In the Cuban War of Independence (1895–1898), Afro-Cubans again dominated the Liberation Army's ranks, with estimates indicating they formed the backbone of the mambí guerrilla forces that employed against Spanish columns. Maceo, returning from , co-led the invasion of western Cuba in late 1895 with , capturing key towns like Mariel and advancing to within sight of by January 1896, showcasing integrated command where around 40% of officers were men of color. Bandera rejoined as a division general under , commanding Afro-Cuban contingents in central campaigns until Maceo's death in ambush on December 7, 1896, at Cacahual, which galvanized continued resistance leading to Spanish capitulation in 1898. Their disproportionate sacrifices—amid a force totaling about 40,000 at peak—underscored Afro-Cubans' resolve, though post-independence racial tensions persisted, as evidenced by Bandera's assassination in 1906 amid political unrest.

Republican Period and Early 20th Century

The establishment of the Cuban Republic in 1902 brought initial optimism among Afro-Cubans for , given their disproportionate contributions to the independence wars, yet systemic persisted, including informal segregation in public spaces and barriers influenced by U.S. occupation policies from 1898 to 1902 that mirrored American racial hierarchies. Afro-Cubans, comprising about one-third of the population per 1907 census data, were largely relegated to low-wage manual labor in sugar plantations and tobacco factories, with limited access to positions or higher education, as elite networks favored lighter-skinned or white applicants. This exclusion fueled grievances, evident in urban Afro-Cuban communities in and , where economic marginalization compounded social prejudice. In response, Afro-Cuban veterans of the independence struggles founded the Partido Independiente de Color (PIC) on August 7, 1908, the first independent black political party in the Americas, led by Evaristo Estenoz and Pedro Ivonnet, aiming to address racial disenfranchisement through electoral participation and land reform without separatism. The PIC garnered support from thousands of disenfranchised blacks but faced opposition from mainstream parties fearing racial division; in 1910, a law banned organizations based explicitly on race or religion, prompting the party's marginalization. Tensions escalated into the 1912 uprising (known as the Guerrita del Doce) in Oriente, where PIC members protested exclusion; the government's brutal suppression, involving army units under José Miguel Gómez, resulted in an estimated 2,000 to 6,000 Afro-Cuban deaths, with Estenoz and Ivonnet executed, effectively dismantling organized black political activism for decades. The 1912 repression entrenched a pattern of state intolerance toward explicit racial advocacy, framing it as a threat to national unity, while Afro-Cubans continued informal mutual aid societies (sociedades de color) for community support and cultural preservation. By the 1920s, amid economic booms from sugar exports, some Afro-Cubans achieved modest upward mobility in trades or as musicians, but residential segregation in Havana's solares (tenements) and discriminatory policing persisted, with lynchings and mob violence occasionally targeting blacks perceived as agitators. U.S. interventions, such as Marines deployed in 1912 to safeguard property during the unrest, underscored foreign influence on domestic race control, prioritizing stability over equity. These dynamics highlighted causal links between post-slavery economic structures and entrenched hierarchies, where formal independence masked de facto racial subordination.

Cuban Revolution and Socialist Era

The Cuban Revolution of 1959, under Fidel Castro's leadership, explicitly outlawed through constitutional reforms and social programs aimed at eradicating class-based inequalities presumed to underpin racial disparities. campaigns, universal healthcare, and land redistribution initially expanded opportunities for Afro-Cubans, who had been disproportionately marginalized in pre-revolutionary , with early surveys showing 80% approval among black in versus 67% among . The mass exodus of white middle-class following nationalizations further opened professional and educational slots, contributing to measurable gains in Afro-Cuban access to higher education and urban employment by the 1970s. The regime's Marxist framework, however, subordinated racial issues to class struggle, dissolving independent Afro-Cuban organizations like mutual aid societies and prohibiting explicit discussions of racism as counterrevolutionary. This colorblind policy, while ideologically promoted as eliminating prejudice, obscured persistent informal discrimination in daily life, including biased policing, housing access, and workplace promotions, where Afro-Cubans faced stereotypes associating them with criminality or lower status. Political underrepresentation compounded these issues, with Afro-Cubans—despite forming about 35% of the population—holding few top Communist Party or military roles, reflecting elite preferences for lighter-skinned or white loyalists. Economic crises intensified disparities, particularly during the "" after the 1991 Soviet collapse, when dollar-based remittances and private enterprises favored those with overseas ties, disproportionately whites, leaving Afro-Cubans overrepresented in poverty and informal labor. State repression extended to racial advocacy, with dissenters facing imprisonment or exile, as documented in reports on arbitrary detentions disproportionately affecting black communities. In the , underground hip-hop and rap scenes emerged as outlets for critiquing unspoken , challenging official narratives despite risks. By the 2000s, limited official acknowledgments, such as UNEAC discussions on racial inequality, signaled cracks in the , though systemic reforms remained absent.

Demographics

Population Estimates and Self-Identification

According to the 2012 Cuban national , the most recent official data on racial self-identification, 9.3% of the population identified as , 26.6% as or mixed-race, and 64.1% as , with these categories based on self-declared skin color. The , conducted by 's National Office of Statistics and Information (ONEI), surveyed approximately 11.2 million residents, yielding an estimated 1.04 million self-identifying as and 2.98 million as . When aggregating and self-identifications, Afro-descendants comprise about 35.9% of the total population under official metrics. These self-identification figures have remained the standard reference in subsequent demographic estimates, including those from the U.S. Agency's World Factbook, which applies the proportions to 's projected of around 11 million as of 2022. No updated national with racial breakdowns has been published since , despite ongoing declines due to and low birth rates, leaving the proportions unadjusted in official projections. Self-identification in Cuban relies on respondents' subjective perception of their own skin color rather than ancestry or , a method that aligns with historical Spanish colonial classifications but may introduce variability influenced by cultural factors such as colorism or social desirability. Comparisons with genetic studies highlight potential discrepancies in self-identification; a autosomal DNA analysis estimated average Cuban ancestry at 72% European, 20% African, and 8% Native American, suggesting broader African genetic contributions than census figures indicate, particularly if lighter-skinned individuals with partial African heritage opt for white or categories. Some analysts, drawing from ethnographic observations, contend that official self-identification underrepresents Afro-Cubans due to lingering racial hierarchies post-slavery and incentives under state narratives of equality to minimize visible disparities, though such claims lack direct empirical refutation from ONEI data. Nonetheless, the remains the primary verifiable source for self-reported demographics, emphasizing declared over inferred descent.

Geographic Distribution and Urban Concentration

Afro-Cubans, defined as those self-identifying as or mulato (mixed African and European ancestry) in official censuses, exhibit uneven geographic distribution across , with concentrations highest in the eastern provinces where the transatlantic slave historically deposited larger numbers of Africans for plantations. According to the 2012 national census conducted by Cuba's Oficina Nacional de Estadísticas e Información (ONEI), Cubans comprised 9.3% of the population and mulatos 26.6%, totaling approximately 35.9% Afro-descended nationally. Provinces in the southeast, such as , , and Granma, report Afro-descendant proportions exceeding 40%, reflecting legacies of plantation economies and limited post-slavery migration patterns. In , the epicenter of Afro-Cuban density, 14.2% identified as black and 60.2% as mulato, yielding over 74% Afro-descended—far above the national average and indicative of sustained demographic patterns from 19th-century imports of enslaved labor from West and Central Africa. Western provinces like and , by contrast, have lower shares, often below 30% combined, due to greater European settler inflows and dilution through intermarriage. This east-west gradient persists despite internal migrations, as eastern regions retain higher birth rates among Afro-descended groups and less out-migration to whiter urban centers. Urban areas dominate Afro-Cuban settlement, mirroring Cuba's overall rate of about 77% in 2012, with disproportionate presence in economically marginalized neighborhoods. , as the capital and largest city with over 2 million residents, hosts the greatest absolute number of Afro-Cubans despite a provincial proportion closer to the national average (around 35%), driven by historical rural-to-urban labor flows for ports and services. , the second-largest city and provincial capital, exhibits the highest relative urban concentration, where Afro-descendants form majorities in many districts, sustaining cultural enclaves amid infrastructural neglect. Such patterns underscore causal links between slavery-era geographies, limited , and contemporary housing constraints under centralized planning.

Ancestry and Genetic Studies

Genetic studies of the Cuban population, including those identifying as Afro-Cuban, reveal a history of admixture primarily from European, African, and Native American sources, with autosomal DNA analyses estimating average contributions of 72% European, 20% African, and 8% Native American ancestry across the island. These proportions vary regionally, with eastern provinces such as (39% African) and (40% African) showing elevated African admixture compared to western areas like Mayabeque (lower overall non-European input). In , individuals classified as exhibit approximately 57-59% European and 41-43% West African autosomal ancestry, indicating substantial African genetic input among mixed-ancestry groups often encompassed under Afro-Cuban identification. Uniparental markers highlight sex-biased admixture patterns reflective of colonial-era dynamics, where European male migration exceeded female, leading to higher non-European maternal inheritance. (mtDNA) studies report 38.8-45% African maternal lineages in , alongside 33-34.5% Native American and 22-26.7% European, with African haplogroups predominantly tracing to (e.g., haplogroups L1-L3) and some Northern African influences (e.g., E3b2). In contrast, Y-chromosome analyses show only 17.7-20% African paternal lineages (e.g., E1, E2, E3a haplogroups of Western African origin), with 81.8% European and negligible Native American (0.5%). This asymmetry—higher African contribution maternally—aligns with historical records of enslaved African women partnering with European men, resulting in diluted African paternal signals over generations. African ancestry in Cubans derives mainly from West African populations transported via the transatlantic slave trade, with additional inputs in eastern Cuba from Jamaican and Haitian migrations carrying Bantu and other sub-Saharan elements. Genome-wide data from 860 individuals across provinces confirm these patterns, with no evidence of recent large-scale African post-19th century, underscoring the legacy of admixture stabilization under subsequent isolation. Self-identified Afro-Cubans, concentrated in eastern regions, correspondingly display the highest African autosomal fractions (up to 40%), though pervasive admixture means even this group averages significant European components, challenging strict racial categorizations. These findings, drawn from peer-reviewed autosomal, mtDNA, and Y-chromosome analyses, emphasize empirical genetic continuity rather than discrete ancestries.

Cultural Contributions

Religious Practices and Syncretism

Afro-Cubans have preserved and adapted West and Central African religious traditions through with Roman Catholicism, a process necessitated by colonial-era prohibitions on non-Christian practices. Enslaved from and , arriving in from the late onward, equated their orishas—deities governing natural forces and human affairs—with Catholic saints to conceal rituals, such as identifying the thunder god Changó with Santa Bárbara. This blending formed , or Regla de Ocha-Ifá, which emphasizes , herbal healing, music, dance, and to honor orishas during initiations and ceremonies. Similarly, Bantu-derived traditions from the Congo region evolved into Palo Monte, focusing on ancestral spirits (nfumbe) and nature spirits (mpungu) bound to ritual objects like , with less overt Catholic overlay but incorporating elements like crosses and saints in some variants. These practices emerged prominently in the amid Cuba's , which imported over 780,000 Africans between 1790 and 1867, concentrating Yoruba and Congolese adherents in urban centers like and . enabled underground continuity despite Inquisition-era persecutions, with cabildos—ethnic mutual aid societies—serving as ritual hubs until their suppression in the early . Post-1959 Revolution, initial atheistic policies marginalized Afro-Cuban religions, but economic crises from the onward spurred resurgence, as practitioners sought spiritual solutions to material hardships. Surveys indicate widespread adherence among Afro-Cubans, with an estimated 70% of 's population engaging in some Afro-Cuban religious practice, including , often alongside nominal Catholicism; this syncretic participation is particularly pronounced in Afro-descended communities, where initiations (asentamientos) mark social and spiritual status. Palo Monte, practiced mainly in eastern and rural areas, complements by emphasizing sorcery (brujería) and protection against malevolent forces, reflecting Congolese cosmological views of a vital force animating the dead and natural world. These traditions underscore Afro-Cuban agency in cultural resistance, prioritizing empirical ritual efficacy over doctrinal orthodoxy, though remains contentious under modern concerns.

Music, Dance, and Performance Traditions

Afro-Cuban music traditions emerged from the fusion of West and Central African rhythmic structures, particularly Yoruba and Bantu influences, with European harmonic elements introduced during the colonial era. Enslaved Africans from regions including , , and the preserved polyrhythmic patterns and call-and-response vocals, which formed the percussive foundation of genres that defined Cuban soundscapes. These elements, adapted in urban settings like and , emphasized and communal participation over notation-based composition. Rumba, a secular complex originating in the late among working-class in western , exemplifies this synthesis through its reliance on percussion ensembles and narrative song. It comprises three primary styles: yambú, a slower form evoking elder rituals; guaguancó, characterized by flirtatious chase dynamics between dancers; and columbia, a vigorous solo male dance mimicking hunting or fighting. Performed with conga drums (tumbadoras), (struck sticks marking the foundational 3-2 or 2-3 rhythm), and boxes as substitutes for banned drums, served as both and subtle resistance expression in solares (tenement yards). Conga music, tied to carnival processions, derives from Bantu-speaking Congolese slaves arriving in from the onward, featuring barrel-shaped conga drums tuned in descending sizes for layered ostinatos. These ensembles, often comprising quinto (lead), tres dos (middle), and tumba (bass) drums, propelled street parades with repetitive bass patterns and vocal chants, influencing broader Latin rhythms. Batá drums, hourglass-shaped instruments from Yoruba traditions, added sacred undertones when secularized, their complex techniques simulating speech in performances. Afro-Cuban dances integrated these sounds with grounded, hip-centric movements reflecting African cosmologies, where footwork evoked earth connection and upper body gestures narrated stories. In guaguancó, partners employ rumba clave synchronization, with males initiating advances parried by females using a vaccination slap gesture. Columbia demands acrobatic spins and pelvic isolations, rooted in male bravado displays. These forms extended into folkloric repertoires like yuka and palo, preserving Congo-Angola circular dances. Performance traditions thrived in cabildos de nación, ethnic mutual-aid societies formed by slaves from the , which hosted drum circles and dances sustaining African identities amid suppression. By the 19th century, these evolved into comparsas—carnival troupes in and carnivals—where conga lines snaked through streets from July 21-24, blending percussion with costumed processions and satirical verses critiquing authorities. Such events, peaking in the Republican era before state oversight, underscored Afro-Cubans' role in national festivity while navigating racial hierarchies.

Linguistic Influences and Oral Traditions

Afro-Cubans, primarily descendants of enslaved Africans from West and transported to between the 16th and 19th centuries, introduced linguistic elements from languages such as Yoruba, Kikongo, and other Bantu tongues into . These influences manifested in lexical borrowings, phonological shifts, and syntactic features, particularly through the speech of bozales—newly arrived slaves who spoke rudimentary Spanish variants known as . , a Spanish-lexified or creole with Kikongo substrates and admixtures, emerged in the and featured simplified , such as reduced conjugations and invariant forms, before fading by the early 20th century as speakers assimilated into standard . Specific enriched Cuban vocabulary, especially in domains like , , and daily life; examples include guaguancó (a style and term from Bantu roots), calalú (a from Yoruba calalu), and chévere (meaning "excellent" or "cool," derived from chébere, a term denoting valor in the society's ). In Afro-Cuban religious practices, —a register adapted from Yoruba—preserves tonal elements and phrases used in ceremonies, such as invocations to orishas, influencing broader Cuban esotericism without native speakers today. These borrowings, documented in ethnographic studies from the early onward, reflect substrate interference rather than full , as retained core Romance structures. Oral traditions among Afro-Cubans sustained African cultural continuity amid slavery's disruptions, emphasizing mnemonic transmission of history, ethics, and cosmology through proverbs, chants, and narratives embedded in secret societies like , founded in in 1836 by Calabar-origin migrants. Abakuá lore, orally conveyed via ecobios (narratives) and ceremonial nánigos (chants), encodes myths of origin from the Cross River region of Nigeria-Cameroon, using esoteric languages like Efík-derived ñekue to preserve initiatory knowledge exclusive to male members. These traditions influenced Cuban popular culture, with proverbs and storytelling motifs appearing in lyrics and décimas (extemporized verses), serving as veiled critiques of oppression while embedding moral axioms akin to African practices. In religious contexts, such as Regla de Ocha (), oral patakíes—sacred Yoruba-derived stories recounting orisha exploits—function as didactic tools, recited during divinations to impart causal lessons on fate and behavior, often interwoven with proverbs for emphasis. This oral emphasis, resistant to literacy suppression under colonial cabildos (ethnic associations), ensured intergenerational fidelity, with variations documented in 20th-century ethnographies revealing syncretic adaptations to Cuban realities. Empirical analyses of these traditions highlight their role in fostering communal resilience, distinct from written European .

Social and Economic Realities

Education, Employment, and Occupational Disparities

Despite the Cuban government's emphasis on universal access to education since the 1959 revolution, independent analyses indicate underrepresentation of Afro-Cubans in prestigious institutions. For instance, black students face low admission rates at elite schools such as the Lenin Vocational School and the University of Havana, reflecting informal barriers beyond formal policy. Official censuses from 1981, 2002, and 2012 report comparable educational attainment levels across racial groups, with limited gaps in years of schooling completed; however, these metrics do not capture qualitative differences in educational quality or outcomes influenced by socioeconomic factors disproportionately affecting Afro-Cubans. In employment, Afro-Cubans experience higher rates, with a 2024 survey of island residents finding 15% unemployment among Afro-Cubans compared to 12% overall. This disparity stems partly from restricted access to the sector, where physical appearance biases limit opportunities for darker-skinned individuals, confining many to low-wage government positions. Post-1990 economic reforms exacerbating a dual economy—state versus emergent private sectors—have widened racial gaps, as whites disproportionately benefit from remittances (2.5 times higher than for blacks) and entrepreneurial roles requiring capital or networks often inaccessible to Afro-Cubans. Occupational distribution reveals Afro-Cubans overrepresented in manual and low-skilled labor, comprising the majority in such categories within the traditional state sector, while underrepresented in managerial and positions—only about 5% in the emergent . data from the 1980s show 13% of in high-status roles versus 7% of blacks, with similar patterns persisting into the despite official ; income reflects this, with 95% of Afro-Cubans reporting annual earnings below CUC 3,000 compared to 58% of . These trends, documented in independent surveys rather than state statistics, underscore how market-oriented changes have eroded prior gains in racial equity, prioritizing empirical measures over ideological claims of uniformity.

Poverty Rates and Economic Marginalization

Afro-Cubans experience higher levels of economic marginalization compared to white Cubans, particularly since the economic reforms following the Soviet Union's collapse in , which introduced market elements and reliance on remittances and private enterprise where racial disparities in access have reemerged. Independent surveys indicate that these reforms have disproportionately disadvantaged people of African descent, who are less likely to benefit from foreign capital inflows or pre-revolutionary assets convertible to economic advantage. While official Cuban statistics report low overall around 1.5% as of 2024, dissident and international analyses highlight underreporting and structural barriers, with Afro-Cubans facing elevated joblessness and concentration in low-wage state sectors. Field research on Cuban household incomes reveals stark racial gaps, with white respondents averaging $125 USD monthly total , compared to $68 for mulattos and $57 for black or Afro-Cuban respondents. A nationwide survey of over 1,000 individuals found 95% of Afro-Cubans reporting annual s below 3,000 Cuban convertible pesos (CUC), versus only 58% of s in the same low bracket, reflecting limited participation in lucrative private businesses or tourism-related activities. affects 15% of surveyed Afro-Cubans, exceeding the 12% overall rate in the same study, compounded by overrepresentation in precarious informal work and underrepresentation in emergent sectors like . These disparities stem causally from uneven access to remittances—primarily from emigrant networks in the U.S. and —and inherited advantages for s, enabling in post-reform opportunities such as private enterprises, where 81% of remittance-receiving owners were in a 2014 analysis. Afro-Cubans, historically less migratory abroad due to earlier exclusion from elite networks, remain more dependent on depreciating state salaries, exacerbating amid Cuba's broader rate of 89% in 2024, which impacts them most severely through food insecurity and substandard . Cuban government sources deny such racial patterns, attributing inequalities to class rather than , though empirical data from independent researchers contradicts this by demonstrating persistent ethno-racial stratification.

Family Structures and Health Outcomes

Afro-Cuban family structures often reflect matrifocal patterns inherited from the era of , where disruptions to formation led to female-centered households supported by extended kin networks, particularly emphasizing mother-daughter bonds. Historical analyses of urban Afro-Cuban solar (tenement) communities in the mid-20th century documented high rates of female-headed families, with approximately 33% of households led by women and prevalent consensual unions (arrimados) rather than formal marriages. These structures persist in contemporary Afro-Cuban communities, influenced by economic pressures and cultural norms that prioritize collective female resilience over patriarchal models, though comprehensive recent census data disaggregated by race remains limited due to state policies emphasizing racial uniformity. Post-revolutionary healthcare expansions have narrowed racial health disparities, achieving near-parity in between whites and non-whites by the 1980s, with non-whites trailing by roughly one year—a marked improvement from pre-1959 gaps exceeding several years. Overall Cuban stands at approximately 78 years, with at 4.3 per 1,000 live births as of 2018, attributed to universal access; however, independent studies in reveal persistent differences, as non-whites exhibit lower healthy life expectancies (e.g., fewer years free of ) despite equivalent healthcare provision, linked to socioeconomic factors like urban poverty concentration among Afro-Cubans. These outcomes challenge official claims of complete equity, as empirical data indicate subtle but measurable lags in morbidity for darker-skinned groups, potentially exacerbated by unaddressed environmental and nutritional stressors in marginalized neighborhoods.

Racial Dynamics and Discrimination

Historical Persistence of Prejudice

Despite the abolition of slavery in 1886, which marked Cuba as the last nation in the Americas to end the institution, deep-seated prejudices rooted in centuries of enslavement persisted, manifesting in social exclusion and economic barriers for Afro-Cubans. Under the interim "patronato" system from 1880 to 1886, former slaves remained bound to former owners through debt and labor obligations, effectively prolonging exploitation and reinforcing racial hierarchies. Into the early 20th century, Afro-Cubans encountered widespread negative stereotyping, with societal norms viewing them as inferior, limiting access to education, property ownership, and intermarriage. In the Republican era (1902–1959), formal and informal discrimination intensified these legacies, including segregated public facilities such as beaches, parks, and social clubs, where Afro-Cubans were often barred or relegated to inferior spaces. was rampant, particularly in the and professions; Afro-Cubans, comprising roughly 30% of the population, held fewer than 10% of high-level government positions by the , reflecting entrenched biases in hiring and promotion. The 1912 suppression of the , an Afro-Cuban political group advocating against racial inequities, resulted in thousands killed, underscoring violent backlash against perceived threats to white dominance. Following the 1959 revolution, the government enacted to dismantle institutional , including desegregation and affirmative integration into state institutions, with publicly condemning prejudice in March 1959. However, empirical evidence reveals the persistence of informal biases; surveys in the 1990s and 2000s documented ongoing racial slurs, residential segregation in Havana's urban spaces, and familial resistance to interracial relationships, with Afro-Cubans reporting higher rates of perceived than official narratives admit. Structural factors, such as the concentration of jobs favoring lighter-skinned individuals, perpetuated disparities, as noted in independent studies highlighting how pre-revolutionary attitudes endured amid economic scarcity post-1990s. While and emphasize equality, data from sources like the 2012 national indirectly affirm underrepresentation in leadership, suggesting that cultural prejudices, unaddressed by top-down decrees alone, have shown resilience over generations.

Official Narratives vs. Empirical Evidence of Inequality

The Cuban government has long asserted that the 1959 revolution eradicated racial inequality, with Fidel Castro declaring in 1961 that racism and discrimination were eliminated through socialist reforms providing universal access to education, healthcare, and employment. Official statements maintain there is no institutionalized or structural racial discrimination, as enshrined in the 1976 Constitution, which prohibits discrimination based on race, and data from state-controlled censuses indicate limited racial stratification in areas like education attainment, occupational distribution, and leadership roles from the 1980s to 2010s. Cuban authorities attribute any observed differences to class factors rather than race, dismissing claims of persistent bias as counterrevolutionary propaganda, while promoting programs like the 2020 national initiative against racism as preventive measures in an already equitable society. Empirical studies, however, reveal socioeconomic disparities disproportionately affecting Afro-Cubans, particularly after the Soviet Union's collapse in 1991 intensified market-oriented reforms and the "Special Period" of scarcity. Independent surveys from 1996–2002 across Havana, Santiago de Cuba, and Santa Clara found blacks and mestizos overrepresented in low-wage traditional sectors and underrepresented in the emerging hard-currency economy, such as tourism, where they comprised only 5% of managers, professionals, and technicians despite possessing relevant skills. Housing data similarly shows concentration of blacks and mestizos in depressed urban tenements, with over 50% of residents in Havana's Carraguao neighborhood (studied in 1995) being black or mestizo and living in substandard conditions, while whites predominate in desirable areas. Remittances, a key income supplement, favor whites, who receive 2.5 times more than blacks and 2.2 times more than mestizos, exacerbating gaps as family networks abroad are racially skewed. These patterns indicate a resurgence of race-linked inequalities in private and informal sectors not fully captured by official metrics, which emphasize state-provided universal services but overlook skin-color-based preferences in customer-facing jobs and access to . Single-mother households, more prevalent among blacks and mestizos, compound vulnerabilities through limited , with blacks engaging in informal hustling (e.g., reselling rationed goods) at rates 2.1 times higher than mestizos to offset shortfalls. While early revolutionary policies reduced overt gaps in and basic , post-1990s has racialized outcomes, with Afro-Cubans facing heightened exclusion despite official denials.

Controversies in Racial Policy and Denialism

The Cuban government, following the 1959 revolution, officially outlawed formal and proclaimed the eradication of , with declaring in 1961 that racial prejudice had been eliminated through socialist policies. This narrative positioned Cuba as a model of , attributing any lingering disparities to pre-revolutionary remnants rather than systemic issues, and criminalizing overt acts of under legislation that promised equal pay and opportunities regardless of race. However, controversies arose as contradicted these claims, revealing persistent racial inequalities in areas such as , , and incarceration, where Afro-Cubans remained overrepresented—for instance, comprising a disproportionate share of prison populations despite official denials of structural bias. Racial denialism intensified under the revolutionary regime, which discouraged open discussions of race to avoid undermining the unity narrative, often labeling such critiques as or imported from U.S. . The government has historically lacked comprehensive, disaggregated data on racial outcomes, hampering verification of equality claims; for example, post-revolutionary censuses and surveys rarely tracked race-specific metrics until limited admissions in the , yet even then, officials maintained that had resolved inequalities. In interactions with international bodies like the UN Committee on the Elimination of (CERD), has denied the existence of , asserting constitutional protections suffice without explicit definitions, prompting CERD recommendations for reforms that rejected as unnecessary. Scholars and independent reports highlight how this policy of denial perpetuates informal through mechanisms like personal networks (padrinos) favoring lighter-skinned individuals in job allocations and remittances distribution, exacerbating economic marginalization for darker Afro-Cubans amid the "" economic crisis of the 1990s. Analyses of available census data from the to indicate that while overt segregation diminished, racial gaps in professional occupations and persisted, with Black Cubans facing higher rates and lower social mobility compared to whites, challenging the official view that disparities stem solely from class rather than intersecting racial factors. Critics, including Afro-Cuban intellectuals, argue that suppressing race-conscious policies—such as targeted —has allowed subtle hierarchies to endure, as evidenced by underrepresentation of Afro-Cubans in elite political and military roles despite their demographic weight. This tension fueled activism, with groups like the Cuba Center documenting exclusion and repression of Afro-Cuban voices protesting these policies as late as 2017.

Political Engagement

Role in Independence and Revolutionary Struggles

Afro-Cubans constituted the majority of fighters in the Cuban Liberation Army, or Mambi, during the wars of independence from , with estimates indicating they formed 80% to 92% of the roughly 40,000 insurgents by the War of Independence (1895–1898). Many were formerly enslaved individuals who joined after rebel leaders like proclaimed emancipation in 1868, swelling the ranks amid the Ten Years' War (1868–1878) and subsequent conflicts. This disproportionate involvement stemmed from both the promise of freedom and the insurgents' need for manpower against Spanish forces, though creole leaders often harbored reservations about arming large numbers of blacks, fearing potential racial upheaval post-victory. Prominent Afro-Cuban generals exemplified this martial prominence. (1845–1896), a mulatto of Haitian descent, emerged as a key commander in the Ten Years' War, achieving rank despite racial prejudice from white officers. In 1878, he issued the Protest of Baraguá, rejecting the Pact of Zanjón that ended the war without abolishing slavery—full emancipation came only in 1886—insisting on total independence and racial equality. During the 1895–1898 war, Maceo co-led the eastern campaign and spearheaded the invasion of western Cuba, sustaining the insurgency until his death in battle on December 7, 1896, near . Similarly, Quintín Bandera (1834–1906), a black Cuban, fought in all three wars, rising to general under Maceo and , commanding infantry units critical to guerrilla tactics against Spanish troops. In the 1959 Revolution against Fulgencio Batista's dictatorship, Afro-Cubans contributed to the 26th of July Movement's guerrilla forces, particularly in urban sabotage and rural columns. (1927–2009), an Afro-Cuban bricklayer, participated in the 1953 Moncada Barracks assault, survived the Granma expedition's 1956 landing, and commanded the Santiago Column in the , earning the title Commander of the Revolution for his role in key victories like El Uvero on May 28, 1957. Despite such figures, the revolutionary directorate and high command were overwhelmingly white, with Castro brothers, , and Ernesto Guevara dominating strategy; black fighters bolstered the ranks but lacked proportional influence in decision-making, reflecting pre-revolutionary socioeconomic barriers. Batista's regime, conversely, drew support from some Afro-Cubans through patronage, complicating unified racial alignment.

Integration into Socialist Institutions

Following the 1959 , the socialist government emphasized through policies granting Afro-Cubans access to institutions such as the Revolutionary Armed Forces (FAR) and the (PCC), with many former guerrilla fighters from Afro-Cuban backgrounds integrated into military ranks and party structures at mid-levels. This integration aligned with the regime's class-based rhetoric, which subsumed racial distinctions under proletarian unity, enabling broader participation in state employment and education but often prioritizing loyalty to the revolution over ethnic representation. Despite these formal mechanisms, Afro-Cubans—comprising approximately 36% of the population per the 2012 census—remained underrepresented in elite political bodies. As late as the early , only four recognizably members sat on the PCC's 21-member Political Bureau, reflecting entrenched networks favoring white revolutionaries in top decision-making roles. In 1985, publicly called for increased black representation at the Third PCC Congress, acknowledging disparities, yet substantive shifts were limited until later leadership transitions. Under Raúl Castro's reforms in the , modest advancements occurred, including the promotion of Afro-Cubans to visible positions: by 2018, , an Afro-Cuban, became president of the , and served as first vice president of the , with half of its six vice presidents being black. However, these changes have been critiqued as symbolic rather than transformative, with the political elite retaining a white-majority composition and Afro-Cubans facing barriers in and state industries due to informal preferences and historical socioeconomic gaps. In the FAR, Afro-Cubans filled significant enlisted roles, mirroring their overrepresentation in lower socioeconomic strata, but officer corps and strategic commands exhibited racial imbalances, with pre-revolutionary white dominance persisting through patronage systems. Empirical analyses indicate that while mitigated overt segregation, causal factors like educational legacies and intra-party favoritism sustained underrepresentation, contradicting official narratives of achieved equality.

Contemporary Activism and Protests

In the , Afro-Cuban has increasingly manifested through cultural expressions and public demonstrations challenging persistent racial inequalities amid Cuba's economic crises. Cuban rap and hip-hop artists, often Afro-Cuban, have used their platforms to highlight and demand systemic change, with movements gaining traction since the by addressing issues like and overlooked by official narratives. For instance, the concept of "cambio" (change) in works by artists like X Alfonso has symbolized calls for reform, inspiring protests against the revolutionary status quo. The July 11, 2021, protests (known as 11J) marked a pivotal moment, with thousands of , including disproportionate numbers of Afro-Cubans, taking to the streets in over 60 locations to protest shortages, blackouts, and government mismanagement exacerbated by the and U.S. sanctions. Afro-Cubans, facing higher and rates, led many demonstrations, chanting slogans like "" to reject the regime's authority and demand freedoms, reflecting decades of unaddressed disparities despite claims of racial equity. Youthful Afro-Cuban participation underscored generational frustration with economic marginalization, as evidenced by the protests' origins in eastern provinces with large black populations. Government response involved mass arrests, with estimates of 5,000 to 8,000 detentions following 11J, many targeting Afro-Cuban protesters through beatings, arbitrary , and forced . Repression has intensified racial targeting, including slander against Afro-Cuban activists who invoke constitutional anti-discrimination clauses, leading to ongoing harassment and denial of basic rights. Groups like Afrocubanas, formed around 2019, have sought to foster dialogue on black women's challenges, including within the revolution, though participants face and . Four years after 11J, as of July 2025, discontent persists with sporadic smaller protests met by heightened state control, including internet blackouts and political trials resulting in sentences up to 25 years for demonstrators. This activism reveals a gap between the regime's insistence on racial harmony and empirical indicators of inequality, with bearing the brunt of repression while cultural dissent via music continues as a safer, albeit limited, outlet.

Intellectual and Artistic Movements

Afrocubanismo and Early 20th-Century Revival

Afrocubanismo emerged in the as a literary and artistic movement in that sought to incorporate elements of Afro-Cuban folklore, rhythms, and urban black culture into national artistic expression, representing a deliberate revival of suppressed African influences after the abolition of slavery in 1886. This period coincided with broader efforts by Cuban intellectuals to forge a post-colonial distinct from Spanish heritage, drawing on the syncretic cultural contributions of Afro-Cubans who comprised over one-third of the population by the early 20th century. The movement paralleled international trends like the but was uniquely rooted in Cuba's urban black experiences, including son music and religious practices, to challenge Eurocentric aesthetics. Central to Afrocubanismo was the work of anthropologist Fernando Ortiz, whose 1920s studies on Afro-Cuban music, such as La música afrocubana (1950, based on earlier research), documented and elevated African-derived instruments like the yuka drum and secular rhythms, arguing for their integration into Cuban cultural synthesis through his concept of transculturation—a process of mutual cultural exchange rather than mere assimilation. Primarily advanced by white criollo intellectuals, including Ortiz, the movement often romanticized Afro-Cuban elements for nationalist purposes, yet it provided a platform for authentic voices; poet Nicolás Guillén, of mixed African descent, contributed Motivos del son in 1930, employing Afro-Cuban dialect, son rhythms, and themes of racial oppression to portray the lived realities of black Cubans, as in poems evoking tobacco workers and urban poverty. Guillén's follow-up Sóngoro cosongo (1931) expanded this by blending negrista poetry with social critique, influencing subsequent generations to recognize African heritage as foundational to cubanidad. The revival extended to visual arts and performance, with figures like sculptor Teodoro Ramos Blanco incorporating African motifs into sculptures exhibited in the 1930s, though literary output dominated, peaking through journals like Revista de avance (1927–1930) that published negrista works. By the late 1930s, Afrocubanismo waned amid economic crises and rising political radicalism, but it laid groundwork for acknowledging Afro-Cuban contributions amid persistent socioeconomic disparities, where black Cubans faced higher illiteracy rates (over 50% in some rural areas per 1930s surveys) and urban marginalization despite cultural valorization. This movement's emphasis on empirical cultural documentation over ideological imposition distinguished it from later politicized interpretations, fostering a realist appraisal of Cuba's tripartite Spanish-African-Indigenous roots.

Post-Revolutionary Cultural Suppression and Revival

Following the 1959 , the government under promoted and viewed religious practices, including Afro-Cuban traditions derived from Yoruba beliefs such as (Regla de Ocha), as incompatible with socialist ideology, leading to their suppression. Practitioners faced discrimination, with religious affiliation barring membership in the until 1991 and often resulting in exclusion from sensitive jobs or ideological positions. Afro-Cuban religious ceremonies were driven underground, as public expressions were stigmatized or prohibited, intertwining with broader restrictions on all religions where church properties were confiscated and curtailed in the 1960s. This policy reflected the regime's emphasis on a unified over ethnic or racial distinctions, perceiving separate Afro-Cuban cultural assertions as potentially . While secular music forms like rumba and conga—rooted in Afro-Cuban traditions—were institutionalized through state-sponsored ensembles and promoted as national heritage, their performance was regulated to align with revolutionary themes, limiting spontaneous or religiously infused expressions. Underground persistence of Santería involved syncretism with Catholicism to evade detection, with initiates (santeros) conducting rituals discreetly amid risks of arrest or social ostracism during the 1960s to 1980s. The regime's campaigns against "superstition" further marginalized these practices, though they survived through oral transmission and family networks, embedded in everyday Cuban life despite official disdain. Revival accelerated in the 1990s amid the economic crisis following Soviet collapse, prompting policy shifts for pragmatism and tourism revenue. In 1991, the Congress removed the clause from its statutes, permitting religious believers to join the party. The 1992 constitutional amendment declared a secular rather than atheist state, enabling greater tolerance. This facilitated public initiations (asentamientos) and festivals, with practitioner numbers surging; estimates suggest over 70% of engaged with Afro-Cuban religions by the , blending them openly with Catholic elements. Tourism-driven "santurismo" commodified rituals and performances, boosting visibility and economic incentives for santeros, though raising concerns over authenticity amid commercialization. By the , state media and officials, including in later speeches, acknowledged Afro-Cuban contributions to , contrasting earlier denialism and aiding cultural resurgence through festivals, academic studies, and diaspora exchanges. groups proliferated in Havana's solares (tenements), gaining recognition in 2016 as , symbolizing reclaimed Afro-Cuban agency within constrained socialism. Despite lingering restrictions on independent religious organizations, this revival marked a partial of state ideology, driven by material necessities and global influences rather than ideological reform.

Global Influence and Diaspora Connections

Afro-Cubans form a significant portion of the Cuban , particularly in the United States, where migration waves since the 1959 have included substantial numbers of Black Cubans despite initial waves being predominantly white. Between 1959 and 1980, over a million Cubans emigrated, with Afro-Cubans increasingly represented in later exoduses like the 1980 , which brought approximately 125,000 refugees, many of whom were Black and faced heightened discrimination in housing, employment, and in . In cities like Tampa and , earlier 19th-century Afro-Cuban migrants contributed to cigar-making industries and preserved cultural practices, establishing communities that blended with local African American populations. The has facilitated the global dissemination of Afro-Cuban religious traditions, notably (Regla de Ocha) and Palo, which originated from Yoruba and Congo spiritual systems syncretized under Spanish colonial Catholicism. These practices spread through migration to the U.S., where they evolved in urban centers like New York and , sometimes undergoing "purification" efforts to remove Catholic overlays among African American adherents. 's rituals, emphasizing worship and drumming, have influenced broader spirituality, with practitioners maintaining healing and divination knowledge transmitted via oral and musical traditions. Afro-Cuban musical elements, rooted in rhythms from enslaved Africans' cults, underpin genres like , , and conga, which have profoundly shaped international music. These polyrhythms and the clave pattern, derived from Yoruba beats, permeated U.S. in the 1940s via figures like collaborating with , and extended to salsa, mambo, and even , transforming soundscapes across and beyond. The fusion of sacred batá drums with secular forms preserved amid oppression, exporting resilience through performances that blend African heritage with innovation.

Notable Figures

Politics and Military

Antonio Maceo (1845–1896), a general of Afro-Cuban descent born to a Venezuelan father of African origin and a Cuban mother, rose to prominence as a key leader in Cuba's independence struggles against Spain. He commanded mambí forces predominantly composed of Afro-Cubans during the Ten Years' War (1868–1878) and the Cuban War of Independence (1895–1898), earning renown for his guerrilla tactics, including the 1895 invasion of western Cuba on horseback. Maceo rejected racial discrimination in the independence movement, famously protesting the Pact of Zanjón in 1878 for failing to abolish slavery, and continued fighting until his death in combat near on December 7, 1896. Juan Almeida Bosque (1927–2009), an Afro-Cuban of dark-skinned heritage, participated in the 1953 Moncada Barracks assault and became a commander in Fidel Castro's during the 1956–1959 . As one of the few black officers in the rebel army, he led operations in the and was promoted to Commander of the Revolution, symbolizing the movement's emphasis on racial unity amid Batista's discriminatory regime. Post-1959, Almeida headed the Cuban Air Force, served as vice minister of the Revolutionary Armed Forces, and held the position of vice president of the until his death on September 11, 2009. Guillermón Moncada (1834?–1895), an Afro-Cuban mambi general, fought alongside Maceo in eastern during the independence wars, commanding troops in battles such as Jigüe in 1873 and contributing to the recruitment of black soldiers against Spanish colonial forces. His highlighted Afro-Cuban agency in the push for abolition and independence, though limited by post-war racial barriers under subsequent Cuban governments.

Arts, Literature, and Entertainment

In Cuban literature, Afro-Cubans have contributed works that document slavery, folklore, and cultural identity, often drawing from oral traditions and African diasporic experiences. Juan Francisco Manzano, born into slavery around 1797, authored an autobiography detailing brutal plantation conditions, first published in English as Poems by a Slave in 1840 after gaining freedom through purchase. Gabriel de la Concepción Valdés, known as Plácido and born in 1809 to a free Black mother, produced poetry critiquing racial hierarchies and social inequities, such as in his 1838 collection Poemas, before his execution in 1844 amid a suspected slave conspiracy. Lydia Cabrera, born in 1899 to a prominent family but immersed in Afro-Cuban communities, compiled ethnographic texts like El monte (1954), preserving Santería rituals, herbal knowledge, and narratives from practitioners, based on decades of fieldwork in Havana slums. Visual arts by Afro-Cubans frequently incorporate Yoruba symbolism, abstraction, and critiques of racial marginalization, influencing both national and international scenes. Manuel Mendive, born in 1944 in , pioneered performance and sculptural works blending Afro-Cuban spirituality with contemporary forms, such as his 1970s installations using natural materials to evoke ritual dances and animal-human hybrids, exhibited globally including at the 1980 . Guido Llinás, born in 1923, co-founded the group Los Once in 1953, producing abstract paintings that integrated African motifs with Cuban landscapes, as seen in his Paris-period series from the 1960s onward after emigrating in 1963. Contemporary artist María Magdalena Campos-Pons, born in 1959 in La Pampa, creates multimedia installations exploring matrilineal Afro-Cuban lineages and migration, earning a 2023 MacArthur Fellowship for pieces like When Every One is Someone Else's Other (2020), which layer photography, textiles, and video to address historical silences. In entertainment, particularly film and theater, Afro-Cubans have shaped narratives reclaiming histories against state-sanctioned or commercial stereotypes. Director Sergio Giral, born in 1937 in , directed The Other Francisco (1974), a ICAIC production adapting a 19th-century to contrast revolutionary versus liberal views on slavery, drawing from archival research and starring Afro-Cuban actors to highlight exploited labor dynamics. Afro-Cuban ritual elements, including drumming and possession trances from and societies, have influenced theatrical expression since the mid-20th century, as explored in works integrating these into dramatic structures to disrupt linear narratives and evoke communal catharsis, per analyses of post-1959 plays. These contributions, while prominent in state institutions like the Instituto Cubano del Arte e Industria Cinematográficos after 1959, faced earlier censorship under pre-revolutionary regimes that favored lighter exoticism over substantive racial critique.

Music and Performance

Afro-Cuban music derives primarily from the rhythmic and percussive traditions of West and Central African ethnic groups, including Yoruba and , transported via the transatlantic slave trade and fused with Spanish melodic and harmonic elements during the colonial period. These influences manifest in complex polyrhythms, call-and-response vocals, and percussion ensembles featuring instruments like congas, batá drums, and , which underpin genres such as and . By the early , these forms had evolved into secular street performances among Havana's Afro-Cuban communities, serving social, competitive, and ritual functions. Rumba, originating in the late in working-class neighborhoods of and , exemplifies Afro-Cuban performance traditions through its integration of music and dance. Performed with de tapeo (box drum), palitos (sticks), and conga drums, rumba features improvisational vocal battles (decimas) and dances like guaguancó, characterized by flirtatious pursuit between partners mimicking a rooster and hen. Columbia, another rumba variant, emphasizes acrobatic solos by male dancers, rooted in Congolese influences, while yambú adopts slower, more sensual movements. These performances historically occurred spontaneously in solares (tenement courtyards), fostering communal expression amid socioeconomic marginalization. Son cubano, emerging in eastern Cuba around the 1890s, represents a foundational Afro-Cuban genre blending African-derived percussion with Spanish guitar (tres) and lute-like instrumentation. The clave rhythm, a two-bar pattern central to son and later adopted widely, structures interlocking cross-rhythms that propel the music's danceable syncopation. Arsenio Rodríguez, a blind tres player of Afro-Cuban descent born in 1911, revolutionized son in the 1940s by incorporating conga drums and multiple trumpets into larger ensembles, influencing the development of son montuno and mambo. Religious performances within (Regla de Ocha), a syncretic faith blending Yoruba worship with Catholicism, feature sacred ensembles to invoke deities through specific rhythms and dances. These ceremonies, performed by Afro-Cuban practitioners, maintain African-derived , with groups like Yoruba Andabo preserving folkloric repertoires since the 1960s. Secular extensions appear in carnival conga lines, where Afro-Cuban drummers lead processions with tumba francesa rhythms from Haitian influences. Afro-Cuban musicians significantly shaped global genres, particularly . (1915–1948), a conguero and composer from 's solares, collaborated with in 1947, introducing authentic Afro-Cuban percussion like the tumbadora and compositions such as "Manteca," which fused with and rhythms. Similarly, (1925–2003), an Afro-Cuban vocalist, rose in the scene before defecting in 1960; her powerful delivery in salsa and , drawing on and roots, earned her international acclaim, including multiple . (Francisco Grillo, 1908–1984), leading the Afro-Cubans orchestra in New York from 1940, pioneered big-band mambo and influenced jazz innovators through his brother's arrangements. These figures underscore Afro-Cubans' pivotal role in exporting rhythmic innovations despite post-revolutionary cultural constraints.

Science, Sports, and Other Fields

Arnaldo Tamayo Méndez, an Afro-Cuban military officer and cosmonaut, became the first person of African descent to reach space on September 18, 1980, aboard the Soviet Soyuz 38 spacecraft as part of the Intercosmos program, spending seven days conducting experiments on the . In sports, Afro-Cubans have excelled in Olympic boxing and athletics, reflecting their disproportionate representation on Cuba's national teams in combat and track events. , an Afro-Cuban heavyweight, secured gold medals at three consecutive Summer Olympics (Munich 1972, Montreal 1976, Moscow 1980), defeating formidable opponents including and defeating Mircea Simion in finals, amassing over 300 professional wins with only 21 losses. , an Afro-Cuban track athlete known as "El Caballo," achieved the rare feat of winning both the 400-meter and 800-meter golds at the 1976 Montreal Olympics, setting world records in the process and establishing Cuba's dominance in middle-distance running. Other fields show fewer prominent Afro-Cuban figures due to Cuba's centralized institutional structures favoring state-directed paths, though contributions persist in applied sciences like and precursors to Tamayo's mission.

References

  1. https://minorityrights.org/communities/afro-cubans/
  2. https://afrocubaweb.com/history/History.htm
  3. https://www.indexmundi.com/cuba/demographics_profile.html
  4. https://cubaheatmusic.com/insights/preserving-cultural-heritage-through-afro-cuban-music
  5. https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/du-bois-review-social-science-research-on-race/article/puzzle-of-racial-inequality-in-cuba-1980s2010s/DFF6923CAAF7CC66AD8C88D427CC2810
  6. https://www.refworld.org/reference/countryrep/mrgi/2008/en/61715
  7. https://raceandequality.org/resources/in-cuba-extreme-poverty-mainly-affects-people-of-african-descent-on-the-island/
  8. https://www.tracesofthetrade.org/guides-and-materials/historical/cuba-and-the-slave-trade/
  9. https://hutchinscenter.fas.harvard.edu/cuba-us-slave-trade
  10. https://history.berkeley.edu/sites/default/files/schneider_routes_into_18c_cuban_slavery_published.pdf
  11. https://blogs.shu.edu/americanhistory/project/slavery-in-cuba/
  12. https://doi.org/10.12987/yale/9780300134360.003.0006
  13. https://academic.oup.com/book/3034/chapter/143763731
  14. https://slaveryandremembrance.org/articles/article/?id=A0002
  15. https://www.persee.fr/doc/outre_0300-9513_1975_num_62_226_1820
  16. https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/history/cubas-ten-years-war
  17. https://read.dukeupress.edu/hahr/article/66/3/509/148244/Politics-Peasants-and-People-of-Color-The-1912
  18. https://1898exhibition.si.edu/node/55
  19. https://www.encyclopedia.com/history/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/bandera-quintin
  20. https://worldhistoryconnected.press.uillinois.edu/12.3/britto.html
  21. https://www.latinamericanstudies.org/1868/Ten_Years_War.pdf
  22. https://read.dukeupress.edu/hahr/article/102/4/643/319057/Another-Country-Cuban-Communism-and-Black-Self
  23. https://blackpast.org/global-african-history/partido-de-independiente-de-color-cuba-1908-1912/
  24. https://www.britannica.com/place/Republic-of-Cuba-1902-1959
  25. https://www.jstor.org/stable/24485704
  26. https://cri.fiu.edu/us-cuba-relations/chronology-of-us-cuba-relations/
  27. https://ecommons.cornell.edu/bitstreams/292ca04c-fef6-4038-99a7-0aaec6a4079d/download
  28. https://www.npr.org/2016/12/03/504274605/fidel-castros-legacy-on-race-relations-in-cuba-and-abroad
  29. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10999949.2020.1736941
  30. https://www.sapiens.org/culture/anti-blackness-cuba/
  31. https://oxfordre.com/politics/display/10.1093/acrefore/9780190228637.001.0001/acrefore-9780190228637-e-1702
  32. https://cri.fiu.edu/_assets/docs/racism-fuente.pdf
  33. https://www.cetri.be/Revolutionary-Racism-Afro%25E2%2580%2591Cubans
  34. https://sdonline.org/issue/29/recreating-racism-race-and-discrimination-cuba%25E2%2580%2599s-%25E2%2580%259Cspecial-period%25E2%2580%259D
  35. https://www.hrw.org/news/2016/11/26/cuba-fidel-castros-record-repression
  36. http://cubastudygroup.org/blog_posts/race-and-heredity-in-contemporary-cuban-society/
  37. https://www.thoughtco.com/population-of-cuba-4774420
  38. https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/about/archives/2022/countries/cuba/summaries
  39. https://worldpopulationreview.com/countries/cuba
  40. https://www.afrocubaweb.com/census2002.htm
  41. https://www.redalyc.org/journal/3238/323868053014/html/
  42. https://havanatimes.org/features/santiago-de-cubas-experience-with-racism/
  43. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6065444/
  44. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4109857/
  45. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/24312787_Admixture_estimates_for_the_population_of_Havana_City
  46. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC2492877/
  47. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-018-29851-3
  48. https://scholar.library.miami.edu/emancipation/religion1.htm
  49. https://pluralism.org/%25E2%2580%259Csanter%25C3%25ADa%25E2%2580%259D-the-lucumi-way
  50. https://sacredart.caaar.duke.edu/religions/cuban-santeria-ocha-and-palo/
  51. https://chss.wwu.edu/santeria-decoded-approach-understanding-formation-afro-cuban-religion
  52. https://cuba.miami.edu/arts-culture/afro-cuban-religion-surviving-and-thriving-underground/index.html
  53. https://oxfordre.com/latinamericanhistory/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780199366439.001.0001/acrefore-9780199366439-e-721
  54. https://www.uscirf.gov/publication/factsheet-santeria-tradition-cuba
  55. https://media.icamiami.org/2019/10/5912bbd2-juncker.-religious-pluralism-and-art.pdf
  56. https://thegroundtruthproject.org/tracing-yoruba-influence-cuban-music/
  57. https://pages.stolaf.edu/americanmusic/2023/09/20/afro-cuban-music-and-its-spread-through-latin-american-music/
  58. https://worldmusic.net/blogs/guide-to-world-music/cuba-son-and-afro-cuban-music
  59. https://www.libertyparkmusic.com/cuban-music-rumba-introduction/
  60. https://www.congachops.com/blog-articles/2021/1/1/a-brief-history-of-the-conga-drums
  61. https://reverb.com/news/the-origins-of-6-afro-cuban-percussion-instruments
  62. https://dancespirit.com/learn-the-ins-and-outs-of-afro-cuban-dance-technique/
  63. https://havanatimes.org/other-galleries/cubas-african-cabildos/
  64. https://www.lifestyleandtravel.com/cuban-carnival/
  65. https://brilliantmindscollective.org/bozal-spanish-and-other-african-language-variations-thrive-in-latin-america/
  66. https://www.afrocubaweb.com/ivormiller/miller-language-2011.pdf
  67. https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/full/10.1086/714378
  68. https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/african-studies-review/article/secret-society-goes-public-the-relationship-between-abakua-and-cuban-popular-culture/063036C269C264BB64CAB1D8495A0258
  69. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/265225506_A_Secret_Society_Goes_Public_The_Relationship_Between_Abakua_and_Cuban_Popular_Culture
  70. https://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1841&context=etd
  71. https://sdonline.org/issue/52/race-and-inequality-cuba-today
  72. https://d-nb.info/1236406583/34
  73. https://www.giga-hamburg.de/en/publications/refereed-articles/racial-inequalities-return-assessing-restratification-cuban-society-60-revolution
  74. https://www.giga-hamburg.de/en/research-and-transfer/projects/return-race-based-inequalities-contemporary-cuba-analysing-impact-migration-current-reforms
  75. https://tradingeconomics.com/cuba/unemployment-rate
  76. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/362622103_INCOME_INEQUALITY_IN_TODAY%27S_CUBA_-_FIELD_RESEARCH_ON_THE_CUBAN_PEOPLE%27S_QUALITY_OF_LIFE_AND_INCOME_STRUCTURE
  77. https://www.americasquarterly.org/article/how-a-changing-economy-is-leaving-afro-cubans-behind/
  78. https://english.elpais.com/international/2024-07-29/almost-90-of-the-cuban-population-lives-in-extreme-poverty-according-to-new-study.html
  79. https://www.jstor.org/stable/271148
  80. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/227956322_The_Matrifocal_Family_and_Patriarchal_Ideology_in_Cuba_and_the_Caribbean
  81. https://academic.oup.com/heapol/article/33/6/755/5035051
  82. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6397105/
  83. https://escholarship.org/content/qt5ck8x307/qt5ck8x307.pdf
  84. https://chicagounbound.uchicago.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1000&context=international_immersion_program_papers
  85. https://academic.oup.com/book/5537/chapter/148467455
  86. https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2018/08/committee-elimination-racial-discrimination-considers-cubas-report
  87. https://cuba50.org/2020/03/13/government-presents-national-program-against-racism-and-racial-discrimination-on-tv/
  88. https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.7249/mg111rc.11
  89. https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2011/02/committee-elimination-racial-discrimination-considers-report-cuba
  90. https://nacla.org/resurgence-racism-cuba/
  91. http://www.columbia.edu/cu/ccbh/souls/vol1no2/vol1num2art9.pdf
  92. https://raceandequality.org/resources/cuba-denies-existence-of-racial-discrimination-to-the-un-cerd-commitee/
  93. https://cubacenter.org/news/2017/10/30/the-denial-exclusion-and-repression-of-afro-cubans-58-years-after-the-revolution/
  94. https://www.afrocubaweb.com/history/warsofliberation.htm
  95. https://www.pbs.org/crucible/tl1.html
  96. https://afrocubaweb.com/eugenegodfried/cubacaribbean.htm
  97. https://read.dukeupress.edu/hahr/article/99/4/681/140620/Poder-Negro-in-Revolutionary-Cuba-Black
  98. https://www.encyclopedia.com/history/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/almeida-bosque-juan
  99. https://cuba-solidarity.org.uk/cubasi/article/116/juan-almeida-bosque---hero-of-the-revolution
  100. https://escholarship.org/content/qt5sb9d392/qt5sb9d392.pdf
  101. https://www.aaihs.org/antiracism-and-the-cuban-revolution/
  102. https://afrocubaweb.com/News/whyblackcubans.htm
  103. https://hoodcommunist.org/2021/02/11/cuba-and-black-resistance/
  104. https://hbcuconnect.com/content/231552/afro-cubans-and-the-castro-revolution
  105. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/22/world/americas/cuba-leaders-black-officials-raul-castro.html
  106. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13569325.2025.2485096
  107. https://www.hrw.org/report/2022/07/11/prison-or-exile/cubas-systematic-repression-july-2021-demonstrators
  108. https://www.npr.org/2021/07/25/1020342843/afro-cubans-come-out-in-droves-to-protest-government
  109. https://penntoday.upenn.edu/news/what-you-need-know-about-protests-cuba
  110. https://dplfblog.com/2021/07/29/afro-descendant-activism-takes-center-stage-in-cubas-july-protests/
  111. https://www.american.edu/centers/latin-american-latino-studies/cuba-after-the-july-11-protests-bustamante.cfm
  112. https://www.state.gov/reports/2021-country-reports-on-human-rights-practices/cuba
  113. https://global.uconn.edu/2020/09/28/afrocubanas-with-devyn-spence-benson-and-jane-gordon/
  114. https://raceandequality.org/resources/cuba-warning-about-the-escalation-of-repression-against-activists-and-human-rights-defenders-four-years-after-the-11j-protests/
  115. https://www.aei.org/op-eds/black-lives-matter-except-in-cuba/
  116. https://www.encyclopedia.com/history/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/afrocubanismo
  117. https://oxfordre.com/latinamericanhistory/display/10.1093/acrefore/9780199366439.001.0001/acrefore-9780199366439-e-343
  118. https://anthurium.miami.edu/articles/10.33596/anth.362
  119. https://anthrosource.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jlca.12590
  120. https://aaregistry.org/story/afro-cuban-national-poet-nicolas-guillen/
  121. https://blackpast.org/global-african-history/guillen-nicolas-1902-1989/
  122. https://journals.flvc.org/athanor/article/download/125517/124501
  123. https://www.essence.com/lifestyle/discovering-afro-cuban-culture/
  124. https://uknowledge.uky.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1378&context=gradschool_diss
  125. https://scholar.harvard.edu/files/jill/files/goldenziel_sanctioning_faith_2009_1_1.pdf
  126. https://faculty.tnstate.edu/tcorse/mcpap.htm
  127. https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.5406/blacmusiresej.33.2.0177
  128. https://lux.lawrence.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1131&context=luhp
  129. https://muse.jhu.edu/article/686013/summary
  130. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/santeri-grows-popularity-cuba-less-stigma-economic-changes-rcna78985
  131. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/312376127_SANTURISMO_THE_COMMODIFICATION_OF_SANTERIA_THE_TOURISTIC_VALUE_OF_AFRO-CUBAN_RELIGIONS_IN_CUBA
  132. https://assets-us-01.kc-usercontent.com/f7ca9afb-82c2-002a-a423-84e111d5b498/6c8f369b-33f2-4c7d-a608-36ba833c31be/978-1-4780-3133-8_601.pdf
  133. https://anthurium.miami.edu/articles/10.33596/anth.462
  134. http://www.russellsage.org/research/grants/black-migration-white-city-power-privilege-and-exclusion-cuban-america
  135. https://exhibits.uflib.ufl.edu/cubanamericandream/
  136. https://revista.drclas.harvard.edu/template-cuba-today-single-language-article/
  137. https://festival.si.edu/blog/2016/filosofia-caribena-transmitting-afro-cuban-sacred-traditions-through-song/
  138. http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1191/the-origins-of-cuban-music-and-its-cultural-and-spiritual-importance-within-the-cuban-diaspora-community
  139. https://www.thoughtco.com/antonio-maceo-4688532
  140. https://guides.loc.gov/world-of-1898/antonio-maceo
  141. https://www.historyofcuba.com/history/funfacts/am-short.htm
  142. https://themilitant.com/2024/03/22/juan-almeida-exemplary-leader-in-cubas-socialist-revolution/
  143. https://www.workers.org/2009/world/juan_almeida_1001/
  144. https://face2faceafrica.com/article/6-key-afro-cubans-who-fought-during-cubas-liberation-struggle/7
  145. https://www.aaihs.org/cuban-literature-in-the-age-of-black-insurrection-a-new-book-on-afro-cuban-writers-and-diaporic-religions/
  146. https://aaregistry.org/story/afro-cuban-lydia-cabrera-writer-and-activist/
  147. https://www.lovecuba.com/blog/cubas-most-famous-artists-and-their-exhibitions/
  148. https://amlatina.contemporaryand.com/editorial/guido-llinas-the-incredible-story-of-an-afro-cuban-artist-in-paris/
  149. https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2023/10/04/1203301602/macarthur-genius-makes-magical-art-that-conjures-up-her-afro-cuban-roots
  150. https://abernathymagazine.com/sergio-giral/
  151. https://panthernow.com/2019/11/11/researcher-to-discuss-how-afro-cuban-culture-impacts-theater-and-artistic-expression/
  152. https://www.theelephant.info/analysis/2021/04/23/the-african-roots-of-cuban-music/
  153. https://www.pbs.org/buenavista/music/a_rumba.html
  154. https://www.urbanmovementarts.com/blog/leilanos-afro-cuban-legacy
  155. https://medium.com/the-dao-of-dance/salsa-dancing-with-the-gods-28f07ee64e78
  156. https://www.jazzhistorytree.com/latin-jazz/
  157. https://latinjazznet.com/artist-profiles/tribute-to-the-masters/tribute-to-the-masters-celia-cruz/
  158. https://havanamusictours.com/all-posts/cuban-music-history/
  159. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Arnaldo-Tamayo-Mendez
  160. https://starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/StarChild/space_level2/world2.html
  161. https://www.drclas.harvard.edu/event/patria-over-profits-story-afro-cuban-boxing-champion-teofilo-stevenson
  162. https://muse.jhu.edu/article/930637/pdf
  163. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Alberto-Juantorena
Add your contribution
Related Hubs
User Avatar
No comments yet.