City University of New York (CUNY) CUNY Academic Works All Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects 2007 A Dream Derailed?: The English-speaking Caribbean Diaspora in Revolutionary Cuba Andrea Queeley The Graduate Center, City University of New York How does access to this work benefit ou?y Let us know! More information about this work at: https://academicworks.cuny.edu/gc_etds/3887 Discover additional works at: https://academicworks.cuny.edu This work is made publicly available by the City University of New York (CUNY). Contact: [email protected] A Dream Derailed?: the English-speaking Caribbean Diaspora in Revolutionary Cuba by Andrea Queeley A dissertation submitted to the Graduate Faculty in Anthropology in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy The City University of New York 2007 UMI Number: 3288748 Copyright 2007 by Queeley, Andrea All rights reserved. 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Box 1346 Ann Arbor, MI 48106-1346 ii © 2007 Andrea Jean Queeley All Rights Reserved iii This manuscript has been read and accepted for the Graduate Faculty in anthropology in satisfaction of the dissertation requirement for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. __________ Dr. Leith Mullings Date _________________________ Chair of Examining Committee Dr. Louise Lennihan ___________ _________________________ Date Executive Officer Dr. Don Robotham Dr. Marc Edelman Dr. Constance Sutton Supervisory Committee THE CITY UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK iv Abstract A Dream Derailed?: The English-Speaking Caribbean Diaspora in Revolutionary Cuba by Andrea Queeley Adviser: Dr. Leith Mullings This dissertation describes and analyzes the evolution of English-speaking Caribbean identity in Cuba. In seeking to explain why Cubans of English-speaking Caribbean descent moved to revitalize their ethnic institutions during the Special Period, it (1) evaluates the characteristics and social position of the English-speaking Caribbean communities prior to the Revolution, (2) explores the impact of the Revolution on individuals and communities, in particular their experience of social mobility and participation in revolutionary struggle, and (3) focuses on their experience during the Special Period in examining the relationship between cultural narratives among black immigrants and their descendants and shifting levels of social inequality. Using interviews with people of English-speaking Caribbean descent, archival and secondary sources, and participant observation in eastern Cuba, this research investigates how people who lay claim to this identity have negotiated the economic and political terrain of revolutionary Cuba. It argues that, across time, people of English- v speaking Caribbean descent have used “civilized blackness” to challenge ideologies of black inferiority that justify racial marginalization and exclusion. In addition, they have responded to social inequality and anti-black discrimination through participating in radical collective struggles for social justice. This research indicates that strategies have been evident in the revitalization of ethnic institutions by people of English-speaking Caribbean descent during the Special Period. It also suggests that black immigrant dreams of “a better life” have been derailed by the rising social inequalities in post-Cold War Cuba. vi Dedication and Acknowledgments I dedicate this to Nana, Ann Elizabeth “May” Daley, who left her home to make a life in this place: to bear and raise six children, learn of her parents’ deaths by telegram, build strong friendships, bury her husband, and live long enough to leave the memory of her voice, laughter, attitude, and adoration with me, her youngest grandchild. Her courage, independence, and all around fierceness have been an inspiration to me on this journey. I am so grateful to God and my ancestors for the blessings, guidance, and protection that have brought me to this point. In particular, I give thanks for the spirits of my maternal and paternal grandparents, for their strength in overcoming the adversities that swallowed so many and for their presence during this process. It really does take a village to write a dissertation so there are also many earthly beings whose support, feedback, and unconditional love have carried me through. Tremendous thanks are due to my parents: to my mother who identified and has always affirmed my tenacity, and my father who handed over his study to me during the writing process and whose intellectual curiosity I admire. I also am eternally grateful to all of the folks in Cuba who incorporated me into their lives, sharing their time, their stories, their analyses, and their homes with me. Their embrace is the thread that has sewn Cuba into my spirit. I am deeply grateful to all of the fierce, dynamic, generous, smart, courageous, hilarious women who made me believe that I could one day count myself among them. Thanks to vii my adviser, Leith Mullings, who opened the way and walked the talk and to my outside reader, Connie Sutton, who took me under her wing without hesitation. To my dear friends: Rachel, whose clarity and sense of fun got me through and whose generosity of spirit moves me to tears; Meredith, who survived and came back so we could again be thick as thieves; Anike, whose willingness to be vulnerable, take risks and sacrifice for her vision always inspires me to live my best life; and Chantalle, my Interad roomie- turned-ace, an unbelievably kind, loving friend and colleague of unwavering faith. Special thanks to D. D., whose creativity, organization, and joie de vivre never ceases to amaze me…you are indeed a bad b----; Ryan, my precious niece and fierce woman in training; Chavon, for craft night and carrying on, being a home base, and allowing me to be among the first to welcome her daughter into this world; and to Neesa who has always come in at just the right time. My gratitude also goes to Don Robotham who helped me to start somewhere and Marc Edelman for his obsessive-compulsive review of my nearly final draft. Thanks to Ellen DeRiso, the program’s manageress extraordinaire, and to Pedro and Rossy at the CUNY/Caribbean Exchange Program for helping me with the logistics of traveling to do field research. I thank Erin, Wasi, the BSA and ASG crews, Akemi, Michelle, Sophie, and all of the other Graduate Center folks, and my FIU Interad summer ’05 cohort for being with me in the trenches, providing intellectual sustenance and showing me where I’ve been and where I need to go. Special thanks to Khaled, who valued my opinions and made an investment in our friendship; to TJ, a dedicated scholar and phoenix whose faith and ability to flow outside the box has nurtured and fortified my own adventurous spirit; viii and to Evans, who I’ve now officially known for half of my life, and who has been a rock and the ultimate shoulder to cry on. Final shout outs go to all of those family, friends, and pets who, in sharing their joy, sorrow, time, money, storage space, advice, laughter, and much-needed companionship, taught me lessons that brought me to this point: my cousin Laura whose couch I slept on my first three months in New York; Aunt Bertie and Uncle Bill, the other PhDs in the family; all of the children who, during the course of my doctoral work have been born, grown hair, learned to walk, go in the potty, run and run off at the mouth, grown and lost teeth, gotten periods, and found their talents; James (and now James & Carmen & the house); the Angoleros of Greene Ave.; Lisa G., Suzi, Edee, Jennifer, Linda, Kim, and Nadg; Muziki, Ra, and all of my fellow Kalungan Angoleros; Bobbywoods!, the Kaiser o.b.s (plus Suparna), Chris & Wayne, Tamara and the whole Oakland crew; and last, but not least, those beautiful creatures who sat with me when no one else was around, taking the edge off of the solitude of writing: Bradley, Greta, Marley, and the spirits of Shelby and my Blu, the most handsome prince ever. Y ya. ix Tengo I Have (1964) by Nicolás Guillén Cuando me veo y toco When I see and touch myself Yo, Juan sin Nada no más ayer, Me, who yesterday was no more than John without Anything, y hoy Juan con Todo, and today am John with Everything, y hoy con todo and today with everything, vuelvo los ojos, miro, I turn my eyes around, I look, me veo y toco I see and touch myself y me pregunto cómo ha podido ser. and I ask myself how it can be. Tengo, vamos a ver, I have, let’s see, Tengo el gusto de andar por mi país, I have the pleasure of walking through my country, dueño de cuanto hay en él, owner of everything that is in it, mirando bien de cerca lo que antes looking up close at what before no tuve ni podia tener. I didn’t have nor could I have. Zafra puedo decir, Harvest, I can say, monte puedo decir, mountain I can say, ciudad puedo decir, city I can say, ejército decir, army [I can] say, ya míos para siempre y tuyos, nuestros, now mine forever and yours, ours, y un ancho resplandor and a wide brilliance de rayo, estrella, flor. of ray, star, flower. Tengo, vamos a ver, I have, let’s see, tengo el gusto de ir I have the pleasure to go yo, campesino, obrero, gente simple me, a peasant, worker, simple person tengo el gusto de ir I have the pleasure to go (es un ejemplo) (it’s an example) a un banco y hablar con el administrador, to a bank and talk to the manager, no en inglés, not in English, no en señor, not in sir, sino decirle compañero como se dice en español.