july26.org

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By Monday, April 24, the public event at the First Baptist Church in Jamaica Plain supporting the IFCO/Pastors for Peace Caravan to Cuba had snowballed into a major occasion with four special presenters and attracted 80-90 attendees. Organizer Nancy Kohn sent out the following follow-up afterwards. Miguel Fraga’s portion of the program, recorded by Dave Goodman for IBIS Radio, can be heard here.

Thanks so much for coming to Pastors for Peace event.  What a great turnout Monday night!  Thanks for participating.

Jim McGovern shows there are still members of Congress with integrity. Diana Gutierrez could be a stand up comic and at the same time was heartfelt and full of information about ELAM [Medical School]. John Waller, staff person at Pastors for Peace, was analytical and compelling. [First Secretary] Miguel Fraga is the consummate diplomat and almost everyone stayed to the end because it is so rare to get to hear anyone speak from the Cuban Embassy. Continue reading →

A shortened version of the following was submitted as a letter to the Boston Globe:

I was struck by the recent article about the Juan Roberto Diago show at Harvard’s Cooper Galley, Cate McQuaid’s “Cuba sí, racism no!” (p. G2, April 7, 2017), first by the powerful graphic of Diago’s “Aquí Nadie Gana (Nobody Wins Here),” then by the article itself, its unfortunate stereotypical anti-government slant on Diago’s work, an over-the-top one at that.      Continue reading →

Posted by the National Network on Cuba on March 21, 2017

Amig@s – Please consider this warm invitation from Cuba to join with participants from over 30 countries in the 12th Int’l Solidarity Brigade to Cuba April 24th to May 8th (optional departure May 3rd)…

Trip includes discussions with leaders of Cuba’s Women’s Federation, Labor Federation, Student Federation, and the Cuban Federation of Small Farmers – plus participation in the Cuban peoples’ mass May Day mobilisation (first since Fidel’s death and the 50th anniversary of Che’s assassination) and the following day’s meeting with all international travelers in Havana for May Day, including governmental leaders and political parties. More information here.

The National Network on Cuba (NNOC) is hosting a webinar on Guantanamo, Sunday evening, March 19, 7:30-9:00 pm — more information here.

Transportation and housing information for Boston-area attendees for the March 24-26 NYC National Conference on Cuba available from info@july26.org.

The Pastors for Peace Caravan is coming through Boston and will be at First Baptist Church in Jamaica Pain on Monday, April 24th from 6:30 to 8:30 pm — more info here.

Today the International Committee and the National Network on Cuba published the just-released invitation and details to the V (5th) International Conference at Guantanamo, May 4-6, 2017; they are available here.

Plans for the National Conference on Cuba, March 24-26 in New York City are ongoing.  Boston’s participation and outreach for the region are on the agenda for the upcoming February 7th meeting at Encuentro 5, as noted on the calendar.

• The Cooper Gallery, 102 Mt Auburn St, Cambridge, MA
• On view February 2 – May 5, 2017
• Opening Reception, Wednesday, February 1st, 6:00 pm
• In Conversation with Curator Alejandro de la Fuente, Friday, Feb 3, 12:00 noon

Juan Roberto Diago is a leading member of the new Afro-Cuban cultural movement, which has …denounced the persistence of racism and discrimination in Cuban society. This exhibition of twenty-five mixed-media and installation artworks traces Diago’s vibrant career from the mid-1990s, when he began to construct a revisionist history of the Cuban nation from the experience of a person of African descent. It is a history of enslavement and cultural loss, but also of resilience and recovery, the kind of history that is required in this Afro-Cuban present.

Co-sponsored by the Cuban Studies Program, David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies. More information at drclas.harvard.edu/events/juan-roberto-diago-spring-exhibition.