On today’s show, host Allen Ruff speaks with three solidarity activists who recently returned from Cuba as part of a delegation to Santiago de Cuba called Levantate por Cuba. For decades, Cuba has been the target of a vindictive blockade, used as a punishment of the island’s people because they dared seize their own history and break free of neocolonialism from Washington DC and across the hemisphere. 

Jordan Muhammad is a recent graduate, activist, organizer, and substitute teacher based in Chicago. On the solidarity trip Muhammad spoke with many people representing the diversity of the community of La Magdalena, from a sports coach to a hairdresser and farmer. 

Neal Resnikoff is a longtime movement veteran with 70 years experience as an activist in New York City, Madison, and Chicago. He describes how he was a graduate student in Madison when Fidel Castro first rose to power and how he supported getting medical supplies and food into the country. Now, in addition to the blockade, Cubans face a lack of electricity, and electricity is rationed during the day.

Resnikoff and Muhammad discuss the anti-racist curriculum taught throughout Cuba, and how the country addresses systemic and ideological racism. They’re joined by Dr. Howard Ehrman, formerly Chicago Assistant Health Commissioner, and University of Illinois Assistant Professor of Family Medicine and Public Heath, who also describes the experience of participating in this year’s May Day parade. Ehrman says that though the Left has shrunk over the last 50 years, he’s seeing a resurgence in support for Cuba, and activists shifting to become younger and more racially and ethnically diverse. 

They also discuss how the Trump administration (and other US presidents) has addressed Cuba, how Cuba fared during the pandemic, and much more. 

Featured image: The Cuba State Capitol (El Capitolio) in Havana via WIkimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0).

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