Forging Diaspora: Afro-Cubans and African Americans in a World of Empire and Jim Crow (Envisioning Cuba)

288 Pages·2010·3.19 MB·English

by  Frank Andre Guridy

Forging Diaspora
FORGING
Afro-Cubans and African Americans
envisioning cuba Louis A. Pérez Jr., editor
envisioning cuba Louis A. Pérez Jr., editor
DI ASPOR A
in a world of empire and jim crow
Frank Andre Guridy
the university of north carolina press Chapel Hill
the university of north carolina press Chapel Hill
© 2010 Parts of this book have been reprinted with permission in revised
the university of form from “ ‘Enemies of the White Race’: Th e Machadista State
north carolina press and the UNIA in Cuba,” Caribbean Studies, Special Issue on
Garveyism in the Hispanic Caribbean, 31, no. 1 (January–June
All rights reserved
2003): 107–37; “From Solidarity to Cross-Fertilization: Afro-
Manufactured in the Cuban/African American Interaction during the 1930s and
United States of America 1940s,” Radical History Review, Special Issue on Black Trans-
Designed and set in national Studies, 87 (Fall 2003): 19–48; and “Feeling Diaspora in
Garamond Premier Pro Harlem and Havana,” Social Text 27, no. 1 (Spring 2009): 115–40.
with Electra Display Th e paper in this book meets the guidelines for permanence and
by Rebecca Evans durability of the Committee on Production Guidelines for Book
Longevity of the Council on Library Resources.
Th e University of North Carolina Press has been a member of the
Green Press Initiative since 2003.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Guridy, Frank Andre.
Forging diaspora : Afro-Cubans and African Americans in a
world of empire and Jim Crow / Frank Andre Guridy.
p. cm. — (Envisioning Cuba)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-8078-3361-2 (cloth : alk. paper)
ISBN 978-0-8078-7103-4 (pbk : alk. paper)
1. African Americans —Relations with Cubans — History —
20th century. 2. African Americans — Race identity —
History — 2 0th century. 3. Blacks —R ace identity —C uba —
History — 2 0th century. 4. African Americans — S ocial
conditions —2 0th century. 5. Blacks — C uba — S ocial
conditions — 20th century. 6. African diaspora. 7. United
States — Race relations. 8. Cuba —Race relations. I. Title.
E184.C97G875 2010 305.896073— dc22
2009044821
cloth 14 13 12 11 10 5 4 3 2 1
paper 14 13 12 11 10 5 4 3 2 1
To mi amor, Deborah
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Contents
Acknowledgments xi
Introduction:
Making Diaspora in the Shadow of Empire and Jim Crow 1
1 Forging Diaspora in the Midst of Empire:
Th e Tuskegee-Cuba Connection 17
2 Un Dios, Un Fin, Un Destino:
Enacting Diaspora in the Garvey Movement 61
3 Blues and Son from Harlem to Havana 107
4 Destination without Humiliation:
Black Travel within the Routes of Discrimination 151
Epilogue 195
Notes 205
Bibliography 235
Index 251
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Illustrations
Representatives of the diff erent nationalities in the
1908 class of Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute 19
Th e Club Atenas in Havana, shortly aft er it opened
in 1930 58
Garvey Women’s Brigade, 1924 92
Captain Joshua Cockburn, Pablo Herrera, and
Edward Smith-Green 95
Th e Black Star Line delegation with Cuban president
Mario García Menocal 96
Gustavo Urrutia 122
Rare visual evidence of racial segregation in leisure
practices in Cuba 128
Sketch of a Cuban woman by Miguel Covarrubias 130
Sketch of rumba dancers and musicians by Miguel
Covarrubias 131
Ben Frederic Carruthers with Angel Suárez Rocabruna
on the Cadena de las Américas radio program 179
Th e former Club Atenas building, July 2006 199
Ramiro de la Cuesta, July 2005 200
Nelio Danzie Cooper, July 2005 201
Barbara Danzie León, July 2005 202