I walk a tightrope with Cuba - Anthropologist Ruth Behar

[flamingdem]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2014/12/18/my-parents-are-cuban-exiles-heres-what-obamas-decision-means-to-us/

I’m a daughter of Cuban exiles who’ve pledged not to return until there is political change. Yet I’ve traveled to the island numerous times since the early 1990s; it’s the site of my research as a cultural anthropologist.

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When I awoke to the news of President Obama’s proposed U.S. policy changes, I immediately thought: Isn’t it amazing that this occurred on Dec. 17? It’s a day of great significance to Cubans, when thousands of them make an annual pilgrimage to the shrine of Rincón to mark the feast day of San Lázaro.

The shrine, on the outskirts of Havana, has an exact replica in Hialeah, Fla. Represented as a beggar, whose patrons are sick and poor, this popular saint in Spanish Catholicism is referred to as Babalu-Ayé in the Afro-Cuban religion known as Santería. Americans who remember the “I Love Lucy” TV show will recall Desi Arnaz belting out songs in honor of Babalu-Ayé. Once at Rincón, often getting there on bloody knees, Cubans call to San Lázaro and to Babalu Ayé, asking for relief from their pain and sorrow. It is a moving, wrenching experience to witness, as I have in years past.

Santeros will tell you: Nothing happens by accident; everything happens for a reason. All Cubans (even Jewish Cubans like me) share something of Santería in our cosmology, so I take it as significant that Obama made his announcement on that feast day. After decades of official U.S. hostility, Obama is asking Americans to open their hearts to Cuba, the island that has paid a price for daring to act against the will of the great power 90 miles to the north.


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Video about Rincon - an event to celebrate the Feast Day of Babalu Aye (San Lazaro) on December 17th - day of Obama speech

http://vimeo.com/31237209


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Ricky Ricardo's version of Babalu Aye

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Dance for Babalu Aye in the streets of Havana

[7wo7rees]

1. Thank you for posting this. n/t

[flamingdem]

2. You're very welcome!

[Judi Lynn]

3. Outstanding post. Lucky to see it. The young dancers in video #3 are astonishingly good.

I feel lucky in having been able to see it. They have kept the art alive.

Speaking of art, what about Ricky? So authentic!

Thank you.

[flamingdem]

4. So true, wonderful dancers

and Ricky ... well he knew how to cross over but you won't see an Afrocuban in his band!