July26.org
* * *MISSION: To oppose the U.S. government’s hostility toward the Cuban Revolution and to work toward normalizing relations:
• End the US Embargo against Cuba; Lift the Travel Ban & Trade Blockade.
• Return the Guantanamo Naval Base to Cuba.
• Respect Cuba’s Sovereignty; End “Regime Change” Policies and Practices.The Coalition was formed in 1989 to oppose the U.S. government's hostility toward the Cuban Revolution and to work toward normalizing relations and is affiliated with the National Network on Cuba (NNOC)
Our activities include public educational programs including video showings, talks from visiting Cubans, and report backs from those who have recently traveled to Cuba. We participate in humanitarian material aid campaigns including the FriendShipments and caravans organized by Pastors for Peace, and we support tours to Cuba where people from the US can see the island nation for themselves, including those that are affiliated with RESPECT.
Our interests include educating ourselves and others about the achievements of' the Cuban Revolution:
• in health care,
• in literacy and the right to education,
• in the lowering of infant mortality,
• in the rights of women,
• in the work to eliminate discrimination based upon race and class,
• in the arts, sports, and culture,
• in social and community relations,
• in solidarity with the struggles of the oppressed people of the world.We are committed to working to end the aggressive policies of the United States toward Cuba as well as toward other Caribbean and Latin countries.
We support the struggles of popular movements of the poor, working, and indigenous peoples of the Americas to obtain peace; economic, political, and social justice; and an end to environmental destruction.Meetings
Beginning in the fall of 2018, the July 26 Coalition will generally meet the second Wednesday of the month at 7:00 pm at Encuentro 5, 9A Hamilton Place, next to the Orpheum Theatre, across the street from the Park Street MBTA station. Please join us in this important work.
For More Information
Please call us at 617-566-2861 or email us: info(at)july26.org. We announce our events and related ones our list and on the Greater Boston Activists email list, Act-MA.
March Events Update
NYC Conference Postponed — Online Session(s) a Go
The long planned-for US-Cuba Normalization conference in NYC has been postponed and in-person activities for the weekend of March 21-22 are being replaced by teleconferencing of the main plenary and some of the panels — see updates as they’re posted at us-cubanormalization.org —
The Pastors for Peace events have been cancelled.
IFCO/Pastors for Peace has cancelled the whole tour. The 2020 International May Day Brigade has been postponed until the last half of November
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March Events and Upcoming Deadline
March: NY Conference Update and Pastors Caravan in Boston;
April 3 deadline for May Day Brigade
JL26.org has some major involvement in the upcoming renamed “International Conference on US-Cuba Normalization,” still at www.us-cubanormalization.org where updates first appear, Friday-Sunday, March 20-22, mostly at Fordham University Law School, 150 W. 62nd St., Columbus Circle/mid-uptown Manhattan. Free/low-cost housing is being arranged by US-Cuba solidarity groups in NY and NJ. July26.org is helping with transportation; for those in the area wishing assistance with travel to NYC and those driving who are able and interested in ride-sharing, contact info@July26.org.
Tuesday, March 31 — the Pastors for Peace Caravan, featuring Luis Barrios, is coming to Boston, 7:00-9:30, First Baptist Church Of Jamaica Plain, 633 Center Street. The Caravan travels to Cuba July 17-30! Mark you calendars for Tuesday evening.
Friday, April 3 — deadline for the 15th May Day International Brigade of Voluntary Work and Solidarity with Cuba, April 26-May 10, $725. Details in the announcement/call, including link to the application; program and scholarship application available.
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Second national US-Cuba Normalization Conference in March
Planning is now underway for the second national US-Cuba Normalization Conference — www.us-cubanormalization.org — to be held in New York City, March 21-23, 2020.
With the venue not yet finalized due to visa restrictions on Cuban visitors by the U.S. government, the conference will open with a Friday evening reception at the Cuban Mission. Saturday will feature:
• An opening plenary with a key Cuban speaker explaining the current impact and workings of the embargo/blockade and an organizing committee member on the political purpose of the conference and the schedule.
• Two sessions, each with three major panels and follow-ups — on ending travel restrictions; Cuba’s medical internationalism; the Canadian and US solidarity movement; the impact of the blockade on people in the US; Cuba, the Caribbean and Latin America; and municipal, state and national anti-blockade campaigns.
• An early evening rally at the Malcolm X Center.
Sunday will be dedicated to a Plenary Session to develop an Action Plan preceded by brief report-backs from panels on conclusions and proposals.
Updates will be posted on the conference web site as they develop.
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May Day Brigade Presents
Join us for an Eyewitness Account of
Life in Cuba in 2019 and
the Effects of the U.S. Blockade!
The July 26th Coalition of Boston is hosting
Representatives from this year’s Cuba May Day Brigade:
Judy Freiwirth, Bob Mulcahy, and Aba Taylor
Also hear about the results of the November international solidarity conference in Havana from Al Foster
Thursday, December 5, 2019, 7:00 pm
First Baptist Church Of Jamaica Plain
633 Center Street
Event flyer here.
Fall Program News and Notes
Cuban film at the 2019 Boston Latino International Film Festival, BLIFF.org –“Bakosó: Afrobeats of Cuba” –- Thursday, September 26, 8:00, Harvard University, Tsai Auditorium at CGIS, 1730 Cambridge St., Cambridge. Documentary by Eli Jacobs-Fantauzzi, 50 mins, that shows the technology, culture and landscape that shape this new genre of African-Caribbean fusion. Preceded by “Nowhere Bastards” by Mario González Jiménez, 11 mins, the story of three Mexican rappers who have found a shelter from adversity in hip-hop.
Music Workshop / Síntesis: Una visión de la herencia musical afro-cubana, Friday, October 4, noon, Harvard University, Library Theater in McKinlock Hall (Leverett House), 25 Mill Street, Cambridge. Síntesis, whose music pioneered the fusion of Afro-Cuban musical traditions with contemporary jazz and rock in the late 1970s, will be sharing their creative process. This Music Workshop will be held in Spanish with consecutive translation and moderated by Yosvany Terry, Senior Lecturer in Music and Director of Harvard Jazz Bands
Saturday afternoon, October 5, 4:00 — Dr. Jourdy James Heredia, Subdirector, Global Economy Research Center in Havana, “An Economy Under Siege: Building Socialism and Solidarity with Cuba Today.” Witness for Peace “Solidarity Collective” tour, Boston Nature Center, 500 Walk Hill St., Mattapan. For the full schedule, see the tour events page. Note that an audio of Dr. James’ talk is available on our web site here.
“Meet the Real Cuba: Travel for the Adventurous and Creative,” Laura Quincy Jones, Brookline Adult and Community Ed at Brookline High School on the Green Line, Thursday, October 10, 7:00-8:30, $6.00.
The National Network on Cuba (NNOC) is holding its annual conference Friday through Sunday, October 18-20, at the Institute for Policy Study with two additional days of Congressional visits and advocacy for those interested in meeting with elected representative and staff, especially around the new travel bills. Basic overview here; updates available in the NNOC mailings archive.
Cuba Exhibition at the Montserrat College of Art in Beverly — through October 12. Adrián Fernández Milanés built the massive multi-media installation “Pending Memories” over a recent two-week period.
“A Tuba to Cuba: The Preservation Hall Jazz Band, with Yusa and Special Guests,” Friday, October 25, 8:00 pm, Berklee Performance Center, 136 Massachusetts Ave, Boston, special program.
A few openings still available for the NNOC Oct. 30 to Nov. 5 trip to Havana for the Anti-imperialist Meeting of Solidarity, for Democracy and against Neoliberalism. Info on the conference, agenda, and costs and other ways to attend available here.
November/early December presentation by Boston reps of this year’s Cuba May Day Brigade. Details to follow.
Late 2019/early 2020 Witness for Peace “Solidarity Collective” trips to Cuba can be found here.
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Revolution Day 2019
The July 26th Coalition presents
The Cuban Revolution 60th Anniversary Celebration
Monday, July 29th, 7:00-9:00
Fenway Community Center
1282 Boylston St. at Jersey St.
a block south of Fenway Park, handicap accessible
Nalda Vigezzi and Wally Sillanpoa ; Mavis Anderson; Jessica Borges.
Program Introduction by Margaret Witham — Moderated by Nalda Vigezzi
Greetings from Rep. Jim McGovern
Jessica Borges, graduate student, Clark University; Policy Specialist, Cuba Ministry of Foreign Relations; Intern, Cuban Institute for Friendship with the Peoples, icap.cu: “Living and Working in Cuba as a Young Revolutionary”
Wally Sillanpoa, political activist, July 26th Coalition, 20+ years experience in Cuba: “LGBT Issues in Cuba: Personal Narrative of a Gay Northamerican Comrade”
Mavis Anderson, Senior Associate, Latin America Working Group, lawg.org: “A DC Strategy in the Current Era of U.S.-Cuba Relations”
Announcements
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