Cuba: First day for Afro

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Sarah More

SemMexico/SEMlac, Havana, July 04, 2022.- Dedicated to the Cuban poet Georgina Herrera (1936-2021), will take place in Havana, from July 18 to 25, the “First Day for Afro-Latin, Afro-Caribbean and Diaspora Women”, on the occasion of that day, which is celebrated internationally every July 25.

In keeping with the date, the meeting aims to make visible the Afro-descendant women in their advances and challenges, raise awareness of the need for public policies that contribute to improving their quality of life and eradicating racism and discrimination as barriers to the full well-being of this social group.

Convened by an articulation of Afro-feminist women and anti-racist activists, with the support of the National Program against Racism and Racial Discrimination, the day includes discussion panels, debate spaces, tributes, music and theater presentations, Afro-fairs, a fashion show, sale of Afro products and other initiatives that will be developed mainly in person, in various areas of the city, indicates the call.

The official opening will be on Monday, July 18, at the 23 and 12 cinema, in Vedado, at 2:00 in the afternoon, and will include some opening words to answer the question: who are Afro-descendant women? by the Afro-feminist researcher, journalist and activist Gisela Arandia and Diarenis Calderón Tartabull, curator, event manager, popular educator and co-founder of the Nosotrxs collective.

Dedicated to the contributions of African and Caribbean women, the second day will be held at the House of Africa, in Old Havana, a panel that will include the participation of ambassadors Rosalie Kama Miamayoua, from the Congo, and Regine Lamur, from Haiti. , who will speak about the leadership of African and Caribbean women, while a guest from Burkina Faso will speak about the feminist thought of Tomás Sankar.

Other scheduled activities are the panel «Cimarronas, women in resistance» and an Afro-aesthetic fair, in which the entrepreneurial projects BarbarA’s Power, Beyond Roots and Turban Queens, among others.

Also noteworthy is the 1st Colloquium «Women of African descent in Cuba», on July 21, at the Infanta multiplex, in the central municipality of Centro Habana, where tribute will also be paid to the women of the Cuban film industry.

Racism and anti-racism in current Cuban society; contribution of Afro-descendant women to history, culture and science in Cuba, The intersectional approach in social research on racial issues; Afro-descendant women and media; and Afro-feminist activism in Cuba are the themes that will be discussed at the colloquium.

Interested persons may register their works and must send by email (yuliajju@yahoo.es), until July 15, a file with the following information: name and surnames, title of the paper, a summary of no more than 200 words and organization or institution to which they belong. The Academic Committee will inform on July 17 the accepted works.

On Friday, July 22, there will be a tribute to the poet Georgina Herrera, who died in December 2021, in addition to a discussion with prominent women from culture, politics and science, at the Varona amphitheater of the University of Havana.

“This year we want to organize a day in which groups of activist, feminist and anti-racist women, academics from different scientific disciplines and various institutions participate in a coordinated manner,” Yulexis Almeida Junco, a member of the organizing committee, told SEMlac.

Almeida Junco recognized that the date of July 25, International Day for Afro-Latin, Afro-Caribbean and Diaspora Women, has been gaining importance and visibility in the Caribbean nation in recent years.

However, he considered that the actions of Afro-feminist activism groups, academics and various institutions need to be more articulated, to achieve the impact that the date deserves, in correspondence with the anti-racist, anti-patriarchal and humanist vocation of the Cuban social project.
Among the institutions and organizations involved in this first day, the sociologist and university professor mentioned the University of Havana, several research centers, the National Program against Racism and Racial Discrimination, the Federation of Cuban Women and the Ministry of Culture.

The program will include several moments for the enjoyment of art, such as the presentation of the work We are womenfrom the Macubá theater group, under the direction of Fatima Patterson, on July 23 at the National Theater; a concert on the night of July 22, at the Yara cinema, with several singers and musical creators, as well as the inauguration of the collective exhibition Roadson July 20, in the gallery of the National Council of Houses of Culture.

The day will close on July 25, at 10:00 in the morning, with the virtual panel «Cimarronage women and spirituality in an Afropolitical key», with Cuban and Venezuelan academics.