[Marxism] Fidel's meeting with US House Black caucus members: outreach to US Blacks

["Fred Feldman" <ffeldman@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Castro re-emphasizes his belief that the election of a Black President has
been a highly significant event in US politics. His exchanges with Bobby
Rush, a founder of the Chicago Black Panther Party who served six months in
prison  for his activities, was particularly interesting to me, in
particular his response to Rep. Rush's appeal to Fidel to "help" Obama.

In my opinion, the Black population in the United States still tends to play
close attention to how national and international figures are responding to
the Obama election. Reaching in their direction is wise because sympathy, on
various political levels, with the Cuban revolution has long been  fairly
widespread in the Black community.
Fred Feldman


Reflections by Comrade Fidel
THE MEETING WITH BARBARA LEE AND OTHER MEMBERS OF THE BLACK CAUCUS

The morning was stormy, damp and cold.  Strong winds were blowing and the
sky was dark.  This was no spring day, not warm. 

Barbara wanted to visit the Latin American School of Medicine where 114
young Americans are dedicated to studying medicine. 

The official plane that had brought them to Cuba had pushed forward their
trip by 24 hours and it would be leaving at two in the afternoon of Tuesday,
instead of on Wednesday.  

I did not attempt to meet with all of them since I don?t have enough room
for the seven of them, plus the translator and the minister accompanying
them.  I asked that she visit me with two other legislators, as assigned by
the group.  Thus I was able to meet with her again.

On this occasion, circumstances had changed considerably. The Legislative
Black Caucus represents a sector that carries a lot of weight in the United
States.

The long struggle for equality and justice was illuminated by the life and
example of Martin Luther King whose thinking and work today enthrals
millions of people in the world and who was the reason, in my view, why a
black citizen, at a moment of deep crisis, reached the U.S. presidency.

As a result, a new meeting with the Black Caucus would take on, for me
personally, a special significance.  I learned about their stay in Cuba from
the comrades who looked after them during their visit, the basic ideas of
the congressional organization and the opinions held by its members.

Raul had also communicated to me the magnificent impression they had made on
him during his meeting with them which had extended for almost four hours
last night, on Monday.

When Barbara Lee arrived at the house, accompanied by Bobby Rush, Democratic
Congressman for Illinois, and Laura Richardson, Congresswoman for
California, together with José Miyar Barrueco, the Minister of CITMA, who
for many years was secretary of the Council of State, it was 11:35 a.m.; the
skies had cleared and radiant sunshine filled the courtyard.  I was really
happy to see Barbara once again and to have the possibility of personally
greeting Bobby and Laura, two people whose names were by now familiar
because of their words spoken at the meetings with Raul,  Alarcón, Bruno,
Miyar and the relatives of the Cuban Five. 

Their meeting with me lasted 1 hour and forty-five minutes, by the clock;
in reality, it took half a minute if I were to judge by the speed with which
it took place and my desires to listen to them.

I briefly told them about my experiences during two years and seven months
of medical care and the activities to which I now dedicate myself.  I
explained to them all I have learned in this period of enforced confinement,
especially my great interest in all that is happening in the world and
especially in the United States, collecting news and concentrating on study.
I recalled that I had invited them so I could listen to them and I began to
forget what most interested me:  to hear their opinions.  Their interest and
the depth with which they were expressing their points of view, the
sincerity and warmth of their simple and profound words were comforting.
The three of them were reflecting transparency, pride in their work, their
organization, their struggle and their country.  It is clear that they know
Obama and they radiate confidence, certitude and sympathy with him.  

Barbara is proud of presiding over the Black Caucus, of participating
actively in her country?s politics with new verve and optimism, of her son
who had not yet been born at the time of the Cuban revolution, and of her
five grandchildren.  She had cast her sole vote against Bush?s genocidal war
in Iraq.  It was unbeatable proof of political courage.  She deserves every
honor.

She particularly remembers Dellums who brought her to Cuba for the first
time when she was his assistant and they spent many hours conversing with me
on a cay.  He is no longer a legislator, she tells me, but a mayor in
Oakland, looking after a population of 400,000 inhabitants; she also tells
me about the former congresswoman who visited Cuba with Dellums and who is
now 98 years old and sends warm greetings. 

Laura is California congresswoman for Long Beach and she speaks with special
pride about the California port which, she says, ?is the third in the
world?.  In truth I couldn?t hold back my desire to joke and bearing in mind
that she is an active defender of the environment I told her: ?Laura, if the
Antarctic polar ice cap melts, your third port in the world will be
underwater?.  In the ambience created there, she wasn?t upset in the least
and she continued telling me interesting things.  

Rush spoke next; he is the oldest and most experienced of the legislators
and he was a radical activist in his youth.  His life has been a
never-ending crescendo of political and human knowledge.  He is member of
the Trade and Energy Committee and of the Communications and Internet
Sub-Committee.  I listened to him without interrupting for a period of 15 or
20 minutes.  He explained that in his youth he read the works of important
modern revolutionary thinkers who were the starting point for his later
political maturity through observation and meditation about what was
happening in his country and in the world.   He mentioned Mandela, Che and
other extraordinary persons by name, people who sacrificed themselves for
others.  As a general characteristic among the leaders of the Black Caucus,
he quotes verses from the Bible like Martin Luther King used to do, backing
up his points of view.  ?The word justice is mentioned in the Bible two
thousand times, almost as many times as the word love?, he tells me.  He
spoke of his health, the battles he has waged to preserve it and to survive
from cancer.

He personally knows Obama, having dealt with him closely for years, at times
even as an adversary; he expressed a high and sincere concept of him; he
describes him as an honest and good person who wants to help the American
people. 

He expressed admiration for the health services provided in Cuba for the
people and for the research centers that are dedicated to the war against
disease. 

I could listen to him for hours as a never-ending fountain of knowledge and
maturity. 

I asked him about the meaning of his statement: ?Obama can improve relations
with Cuba, but Cuba should help Obama?.  We have never been aggressors nor
do we threaten the United States.  Cuba would not have the possibility to
take the initiative.  From the beginning we had had the certainty that his
words were sincere and we said it publicly before and after his election.
At the same time we expressed the opinion that, in the United States, the
objective realities were more powerful than Obama?s sincere intentions.

Finally, I asked him about which of the books published in English in the
U.S. about Martin Luther King were the best and whether they were translated
into Spanish.  The three of them spoke to me about Taylor Bretch?s trilogy,
as the most interesting among them, and of: ?Letters from Birmingham Jail?.
They were not sure about their translation into Spanish and they promised to
send me the pertinent material. 

It was an excellent meeting. 

 

 

 

Fidel Castro Ruz

April 7, 2009

6 :31 p.m.




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