When the Spanish eradicated Cuba’s Taino population and forcefully brought enslaved Africans onto the Caribbean island in the 16th century, the colonizers unknowingly planted seeds of camaraderie and revolution– seeds that sprouted when Malcolm X and Fidel Castro met in Harlem’s Hotel Theresa in 1960.
In commemoration of this famed meeting— which formed a strong connection between Cubans and African Americans— and in celebration of Malcolm X’s centennial, the Embassy of Cuba hosted “X100: Celebrating the Legacy of Resistance” on May 30. The event featured a plethora of speakers, presentations, and musical performances, all of which highlighted the relationship between Cuba and Africa and honored the experiences that unite the African diaspora.
“The history of the African people, the diaspora, we have a common and very painful history. We have an extraordinary history of resilience and enslavement,” Monica Gray, CEO of the YWCA National Capital Area, told The Informer.
The celebration piqued her interest, as she spent a portion of her childhood in Puerto Rico during the 1960s, where she had Cuban neighbors who had fled during Castro’s revolution and wanted to return home.
“This is a great opportunity to connect here in the capital,” she said. “I think the more we connect and the more interconnected we become, with one another as well as our African motherland, the stronger we are as a people.”
The event took approximately five months to plan under the partnership of the Cuban Embassy and Sadiki Educational Safari. This educational organization utilizes domestic and international travel to empower under-resourced youth and expose them to African art, history and culture.
Originally, the celebration was meant to be educational and for an adolescent audience, but its organizers decided to shift and encompass the entire community in their planning, truly bringing together different cultures, experiences and generations to reflect on the efforts made by ancestors and the work still necessary to achieve true equity and justice for all.
“That connection, and the transfer of people from Africa to Cuba, was significant, so the meeting of the minds to bring people together is always important,” Sadiki board member Karen Daniels told The Informer. “There [have been] times when freedom was fought for and overcome, which makes it a tremendous effort in exposing and promoting culture.”
Converging for a Shared Vision
The historic meeting between Castro and Malcolm X occurred a little more than a year and a half after the Cuban leader successfully staged a coup against Fulgencio Batista, claiming the former president was a corrupt tyrant, and was appointed as the prime minister of the island.
With the Cuban Revolution, Castro outlawed discrimination and systemic racism against Afro-Cubans.
Soon after, Castro took control of the U.S. businesses that had been established in Cuba during his predecessor’s rule, sparking a hostile relationship between the two nations.
He traveled to New York in September 1960 for the UN General Assembly and intended to stay at the Shelburne Hotel, but because of the declining relationship between the U.S. and Cuba, Castro and his entourage were refused service if they didn’t pay a $10,000 cash fee. This prompted Malcolm X to invite the prime minister to the Hotel Theresa, a nucleus for Black culture and society in Harlem.
“We have a clear, concise example of the society that Malcolm was trying to build because we have Cuba. We have Africans in Cuba who are part of the Cuban Revolution and who are showing us that the people united can defeat imperialism,” said Rafiki Morris, activist and member of the All-African People’s Revolutionary Party, during the embassy’s celebration.
As two revolutionary leaders seeking freedom from imperialism and a prosperous, self-determined future for their people, this meeting was a key moment in the fight toward decolonization, especially as Cuba supported various African nations like Angola, Guinea-Bissau and Mozambique in their liberation from Portuguese rule.
Morris told the audience to keep Malcolm X’s lessons alive, encouraging them to recognize that unified activism against all oppression is more effective than an individual fight against a singular cause.
He urged attendees to familiarize and align themselves with socialism and its principles, stating that the philosophy, which supports common or public ownership of resources and property to ensure a more equal society, is vital in the fight toward justice.
“The people united can defeat capitalism. The people united can fight for their liberty, and not only fight for their liberty, but… for the liberty of all humankind,” Morris said. “Cuba is Africa, and Africa is Cuba.”