Rhythms of Race

Charting the pre-Fidel Cuban diaspora in the United States

Did you know that there is a well-established Cuban community in Kentucky? It’s true. They’re in Louisville. And there’s even a name for these Bluegrass Islanders: Kentubanos. Apparently it’s the 12th largest Cuban population in the United States. I only learned of this recently. Absolutely fascinating.

I think most scholars have little pet projects. Little areas beyond their expertise that they dabble in because they have some sort of connection to it or maybe it’s the exact opposite of their work. Either way, for me it’s Cuban history.

Now y’all probably already know that due to my unyielding love of Cuban coffee or you’ve listened to the pod where we talked about Ybor City, from which my late father-in-law (a short white German dude) hailed. For the life of me I can’t figure out where this interest came from, though one of my mentors when I was a 22 year-old car salesman was a guy named Gil Vega, who took me under his wing a little bit. And of course, there is my favorite restaurant in the world, Havana, in West Palm Beach. Or maybe Jimmy Buffett’s “Havana Daydreamin’”, which I like to play when I’m in the kitchen. Or maybe it’s my friend Maruchy, who represents the amor that so many people from the island give freely to those around them. Either way, it’s a bit of a thing for me.

Talking about Cuban-American history in the US can be tricky. So much of what folks outside Florida or New York know about it is tied to Fidel Castro and the Revolution. It’s tied to the Cold War and memories of when Kennedy, Kruschev, and Castro nearly ended us all. Perhaps it’s tied to baseball and guys like Rafael Palmeiro, Jose Canseco, and others. Many remember the Mariel Boatlift depicted in Scarface; more recently the saga of Elián González.¹ But the similarities here are that all of these memories are tied to a post-Fidel Cuba, and usually to Miami.

Part of what I want to do with this platform is bring to you on occasion stories that I find personally riveting. In the movies, George Clooney would refer to this as “One for them (the producers), one for me (Clooney).” And while I generally enjoy the films scholars pick to talk about, in this case I sought out the topic, the author, and the film. I want to introduce our listeners to a Cuban diaspora in the US that existed before the Revolution. Much like when Sarah McNamara talked about Ybor City, I wanted to talk about a Cuban American United States that stretched beyond Miami, beyond Ybor, and beyond Florida. Three things gave us that opportunity: Christina Abreu, her book Rhythms of Race: Cuban Musicians and the Making of Latino New York City and Miami, 1940-1960, and the film The Mambo Kings.

The Mambo Kings came out in 1992, starring Armand Assante and a very young Antonio Banderas. It’s based on a Pulitzer Prize-winning novel that tells of two musician brothers who flee the island to eventually find stardom in New York City. Chances are you know the film. But if you haven’t, here’s the trailer:

The movie lined up perfectly with Christina Abreu’s work, which talks about how Cuban musicians built and defined Latino/a communities in the United States from 1940 to 1960. And her work is needed because it helps to expand the dialogue of Cuban history stateside well beyond that a Castro-centered narrative. So in this podcast, we get into Cuban-American history, Cuban music, and the representation of Cubans in film. We talk about the origins and characteristics of Cuban music, as well as the migration of Cubans to the United States in the 1950s. Christina also details the relationship between Cuban-Americans and other Latino groups, as well as the integration and segregation within Cuban-American communities. I even got Christina to give us a playlist Cuban music for new listeners to enjoy. Here’s a little piece of the conversation:

The Mambo Kings is available to rent on most of the streaming services if you’d like to check it out. And if you want to hear the pod, you can find it below:

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About our guest:

Christina Abreu is associate professor of history and director of the Center for Latino/Latin American Studies at Northern Illinois University. Her research focuses on the role of race, nationalism, and migration in the Cuban and Spanish Caribbean diasporic communities of the United States with a particular emphasis on popular culture.  Her first book, Rhythms of Race: Cuban Musicians and the Making of Cuban New York City and Miami, 1940-1960, examined the relationship between black and white Cuban musicians and the Cuban and broader Latinx communities of New York City and Miami in the 1940s and 1950s. In her second book, Patria over Profits: The Story of Afro-Cuban Boxing Champion Teófilo Stevenson, she offers a cultural history of the life and times of Afro-Cuban boxing champion Teófilo Stevenson, winner of three heavyweight boxing Olympic gold medals in 1972, 1976, and 1980. In detailing Stevenson’s triumphs in the ring, another more complex and interconnected story emerges about revolutionary Cuba and the island’s Afro-Caribbean connections, race and black athletic activism, Cuban exile culture and politics, and international sports celebrity. Patria over Profits is under contract with the Sport and Society series at the University of Illinois Press.

If you’re interested in here book, here’s an Amazon link, where you can get a sneak peek:

Or instead of paying $37.50 to Jeff Bezos, you can saunter over to the book page on UNC Press website and use the code 01HATM30 to get 30% off this and everything else.²

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HATM Sunday night

Alright, this week kicks off the start of baseball season so that means naturally we gotta return to the diamond. So join us this Sunday, March 31 at 8pm eastern for a movie you can watch with your family and one of the greatest baseball films ever made: Field of Dreams.

Alright, that’s enough for tonight. I hope you are off to a great start to the week. Big news coming soon. I think.

JWH

1. According to wikipedia he is now 30, meaning I am really damn old.

2. Friendly reminder that I do not receive anything for you using the code. I just asked UNC if they’d like to offer my readers and followers a discount and they said ok. So, enjoy!