Cuba Converted Black Panther into a Patriotic American

 Afro Latino     black Latino     Cuba

 When I visited Cuba, it was not long enough to see what the real Cuba was like, and on my way back to the airport, I felt heart broken to leave so soon. I used to be in love with the island and was an admirer of Fidel Castro. The primary reason was while other Latin-American leaders sweep the racism in their countries under the rug, Castro spoke out against it, and made changes where blacks had educational and professional opportunities traditionally reserved for whites.

I felt so much at home on the island, considering my love for the diversity of its music that I felt tempted to defect and spend the rest of my life there. I thought Cuban refugees to the USA were overwhelmingly upper-class and had to leave Cuba to maintain their high standards of living and oppress the less fortunate like they did back home.

Upon my return to the US, I experienced hostilities from Cuban-Americans who felt I was supporting the Castro regime. One was a black women named Lydia Limeón who lashed out bitterly. After calming down, she recommended a book entitled Hijack by former Black Panther Tony Bryant who hijacked a plane to Havana, Cuba in the name of “revolution.” When the Cubans got through with him, he came back to the US a patriotic American with political views leaning to the right. This video will do a better job than I ever could to explain why.