New York meeting on July 26
Overflow crowd celebrates with Cuba
Was it really 50 years ago that Fidel Castro
and a group of young heroes, many to become martyrs that day,
took up arms against the dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista in
Cuba? For some in the audience at a New York event on the
anniversary of that great revolutionary action of July 26,
1953, it still seemed like yesterday. But many others in the
packed Martin Luther King hall--provided by the 1199 Health and
Hospital Workers Union--had not yet been born when that daring
attack on the Moncada army barracks surprised the world.
The 500 or so people who packed the hall, and the 200 more
outside who couldn't even get in, participated in a solidarity
evening that demonstrated the great love all oppressed people
have for Cuba. Speakers and artists representing many struggles
had words of praise in English and Spanish for the socialist
island and its leaders.
Bringing the house down at the beginning of the program was
a joyful singing group from South Africa led by Junior Mambazo
and Cosbie Mbele. Cuba's help in South Africa's struggle
against apartheid was acknowledged, as was its close
relationship with those fighting for sovereignty and justice in
Puerto Rico and Venezuela. Rafael Cancel Miranda, a revered
veteran Puerto Rican leader for independence and long-time
political prisoner, added a special passion to the meeting.
A message from the imprisoned Cuban 5 was read by Teresa
Gutierrez, and a solidarity tape was played from Black
revolutionary Mumia Abu-Jamal. Amiri Baraka, whose deeply
political writing has won him the post of Poet Laureate of New
Jersey over the objections of racists and reactionaries, read
his powerful poem, "Somebody Blew Up America." Luis Miranda
brought greetings from Casa de las Americas, long a progressive
haven for Cubans living in New York.
Cuba's Ambassador to the United Nations, Bruno Rodriguez,
reviewed recent hostile actions taken by the Bush
administration against Cuba and its responses. He made it
perfectly clear that the Cuban people are ready to fight to
defend their sovereignty and their socialist system if the U.S.
government dares commit aggression against them.
Co-hosts for the program were Rosemari Mealy and Frank
Velgara.
--Deirdre Griswold
Reprinted from the Aug. 7, 2003, issue of
Workers World newspaper
This article is copyright under a Creative
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