Jauretsi: Word On The Street

All over Cuba, young people are rapping in their bedrooms in Cuba. It’s something we discovered throughout our travels in Cuba while making East of Havana. All the ideas, poetry, frustrations, joy, depression, and hope are bubbling out of the youths pores… causing a mild earthquake during this time of change.

This project, entitled “Ruido” (Noise) was created recently by an artist called Yoel Vazquez who was born in Havana in 1973. After studying at the Academia Nacional de Artes Plasticas de San Alejandro, he moved to Europe in 2004 and continues to create his art outside the island.

In terms of this project, Yoel captures urgent poetry from the bedrooms and kitchens of Cuba. He explains, “I am interested in working with the energies of these youngsters who with the power of their polemic rhymes defend the underground genre of the rap movement. Their rhymes are full of social denunciation, full of the most urgent preoccupations of a young generation.”

To see the art piece, go to: RUIDO.

In essence, this is rap in its purest form: “It is universal in the world of the poor and the marginalized” affirms Yoel. To see each individual video, go to Yoel Videos Sorted.
J

Wow. Just when you thought it couldn’t get more pathetic after the Panfilo incident this month in Cuba, the government just announced the island is going to be short on toilet paper for the rest of 2009. One of the humorous posts on the YouTube commentary board wrote: “I’m sure Fidel and his brother are not out of toilet paper.”

During my stays in Cuba, one of the most common views in peoples home bathrooms (in Alamar at least) was shredded newspaper by the toilet as a replacement for toilet paper. Lordy, you can imagine the jokes of wiping your ass with the State propaganda… I mean, you gotta laugh sometimes when things get so dire… and boy, Cubans know how to tell a good joke when the going gets rough.

Anyway, expect more Granma and Juventud Rebelde papers on standby at local toilets around the country now!
J

(No More Tractors!)

Below is a really well written article on Cuban agriculture, and how the localized farming industry was born out of the “Special Period” crisis after the Soviet Union dissolved and abandoned Cuba in the early 90’s. It’s the story of a country reaching rock bottom and coming up with tough hardworking decisions to create a sustainable society in order to feed its people again (and consequently, not be so reliant on foreign import/export). The neighborhood of Alamar is mentioned in this piece too.

Writer Bill McKibben poses some philosophical, political, and pragmatic questions towards all nations outside Cuba — and how would we respond to a “Special Period” occurring on a global level. Somehow, the Cuban model (as conflicted as they are within their own authoritarian paradigm) is an interesting experiment to observe.

The concept is too difficult to explain in a short paragraph so please do yourself a favor, and read the whole article at Harpers.org/The Cuban Diet.

J

The above video is the wife of a man named Panfilo. She is a scared woman. Harassed by her government. If you haven’t heard of the ruckus last week in Cuba, here are the broad strokes: Panfilo is a regular guy who got drunk one day, yapped about how hungry he was, somebody put it on You Tube, the video spread like wildfire, the government freaked out, and now he is sentenced to 4 years in prison with no criminal action having been done.

Anyway, in Cuba, there’s this ridiculous police charge called “Social dangerousness”. In short, it gives the government the right to arrest you BEFORE you commit any crimes. Nuts, huh? Sort of like Minority Report except there are no cognitive experts seeing the future. Only a paranoid government with military muscle calling the shots. Welcome to the Kafka-esque world of Cuba.

Yoani writes about the arrest in her blog too: “In a society marked by punishments against those who express their opinions, neither fools nor children say what they think, only drunkards.”

A guy named Pedro Martin aka “el general” posted a group page on Facebook for friends, family, admirers, and human rights organizations could to huddle and discuss updates of his prison sentence. Within 1 day, there were 800 members, Today, roughly a week later, there are 2,015 members and growing.

Facebook Group Page for his safe return is found at: Facebook/Free Panfilo

Behold the video that got this guy in trouble and spread fast as hell online: Panfilo Speaking His Mind On The Street. Sure he was on booze. But homeboy was being honest.

Yoani wraps up her thoughts by explaining the governments stance on making him an example: “If they don’t condemn him, who will prevent the corner alcoholics, the neighborhood drunks, from standing in front of a camera and starting to shout for everything we lack: Food! Future! Freedom!”.

The video you see above is Panfilo’s wife speaking about the situation getting worse before the arrest took place. “My kids are scared. In my home there is no food. That is the reality” she says.

Sad embarrassing day in Cuba, folks.
J

“Those who are fighting [injustice]; it doesn’t matter where…
They are our brothers.”
- Camilo Cienfuegos

Another essay by Yoani (Blogger/Journalist living in Cuba)…

(Berlin Wall)

A Generation Y reader sent me a piece of the Berlin Wall. The fragment of concrete has come to me, a person also surrounded by certain limits, not less severe for being intangible. The stone painted with remnants of graffiti suggests to me an impossible collection of what has contributed to the separation of Cubans. According to a Latin American writer it would be a list of “the things, all the things” that have intensified the division and tension among those of us who inhabit this Island.

You could put in this particular collection of objects a stretch of the wire fence that once surrounded the Military Units to Aid Production (UMAP*); a shard from the nuclear missiles* placed on our land which brought all of us to the verge of disappearing; one of those pages where millions signed—without having the option of marking “no”—that socialism would be irrevocable*; and a sliver from one of the clubs that cracked heads on Havana’s Malecón on August 5, 1994*. The display of samples would not be complete if I didn’t add a shell from the eggs thrown during the Mariel Boat Lift and some millimeters of ink from the reports and denunciations that have abounded in recent years. There would not be a museum capable of also housing the beings and situations that have acted like a great barrier of brick and cement among us.

Each Cuban could create his own repertoire of the walls that still surround us. What seems more difficult is to draw up the list of what unites us, of the possible hammers and picks with which we tear down the walls that remain. For that reason the gift of this frequent commentator has made me happy because I have the impression that our barriers and divisions will also—one day—be pieces valued only by the collectors of bygone things.

–Yoani

Finnnnally, the US decides to turn off their electronic news “zipper” on the fifth floor of the sea-front American Interest Section in the Cuban capital. If you don’t know about the beefing billboards between United States and Cuba over the last several years, it’s a childish battle of “one-upping” the other country by dissing the other nation on the public street of Malecon in front of the US Interest Section in Cuba. It’s sort of a childlike squabble between grown up men in government (Bush and Fidel — peas in a pod) trying to “one-up” eachother through the use of political propaganda.

( “Mr. Imperialists, We Absolutely Have No Fear of You ” reads Cuban Billboard. Looks like Schoolhouse Rock, eh?)

The American electronic ticker boasts alot of pro-democracy and human rights messages. Don’t get me wrong, I wholeheartedly side with anything freedom related, it’s just that these messages can sometimes come off as “holier than thou” and tends to rile up the Cuban government thus making them create retaliation billboards to defend their system. It’s a never ending dueling game, and its just silly.

(The news “zipper” on the American Interest Section Building in Havana)

Anyway, the Obama administration just recently turned off an electronic sign at the U.S. diplomatic mission in Havana. He just shut it down. A US spokesperson, Ian Kelly, said, “We’re trying to do all we can to promote the free flow of information between the U.S. and Cuba,” he said. Kelly also added that President Barack Obama’s decision in April to allow U.S. telecommunications companies to do business with Cuba would do more to boost the flow of information to the island.

(Cuban erected 2005 Billboard Criticising the US Government)

This type of olive-branch-extension only works when its both ways. Recently, Kelly pointed out that Cubans had dismantled “a few very negative billboards and graffiti” around that area. The US viewed the removal as “a positive gesture.”

Kelly says the American government is continuing it’s strategy of peace-building with the island nation. “We are looking for ways that we can do that in the best way possible. And we just felt that these dueling, disparaging — well, disparaging is the wrong word — but these dueling billboards, if you will, were not serving the interests of promoting a more productive relationship,” Kelly said.

A first step is a first step.
J

The outspoken Cuban blogger Yoani just wrote a funny post (actually its so sad, you gotta laugh) about some government homeboys that hang out in front of her house everyday watching her every move. Mind you, Yoani is a harmless girl blogger. She’s not a radical. She’s just an eloquent journalist who says it like it is.

To read her post, go to: Yoani Sends Thank You Note To Cuban Spies.
J

I won’t over explain this short film. It was created in 2005 and runs 19 minutes. It is about 2 sisters who reside in Cuba. Part of their routine is their weekly stroll to church — 25 KM (approx 15 1/2 miles). If you notice, it takes tremendous patience to stay “present” in the film. It’s an exercise in staying focused. A day in the life for these women is slowwwwww, simple, and raw. There is no dialogue. Just environmental noises, and probably alot of thinking time.

It reminds me of both the serenity and the madness of being so quiet during my stays in Cuba. Doing this for a vacation week is relaxing. Doing this for a whole lifetime can sometimes be numbing. Others would disagree. Nonetheless, 25 KM does not pound you with any messages. Instead, it allows you to take the ride and come to your own conclusions. This film is beautifully shot. It is subtle, powerful, and encapsulates the complicated state of existence on an island so removed from the rest of the world.

CLICK LINK BELOW TO SEE FILM…

25 km (2005) from CanalDocumental TV on Vimeo.

J

Aroldis Chapman is M.I.A. —- He is the pride and joy of Cuba now… considered to be the No. 1 left-handed prospect in the world (according to baseball scouts).

Anyway, he just landed in Netherlands last week. Roughly 1 hour after check-in, Aroldis ducked into a mystery car and, well….. no more Aroldis. He flaked and didn’t show up to the four-nation tournament in Rotterdam. Can you guess what happened?

The clueless Cuban delegation (government officials) who traveled with him offered only one quote — “We are waiting for information. We do not know anything.”

God bless the guy. He is 21 years old and he has his whole life ahead of him. This is what happens when you tell your people they can’t travel outside their country, and they can’t realize their dreams to the fullest. It really sucks that Cubans are forced to abandon their country this sad way.

We look forward to when Aroldis re-emerges and announces the major league baseball team he’ll play for.

We just want to say, “hang in there” to him and his family (whom he left behind in Cuba). He is a true champion and will probably create a glorious legacy for himself.
J