A Promising Reality

Reflections on Race, Gender, and Culture in Cuba

Venessa Ann Brown, Menah Pratt-Clarke, Rochelle Brock, Menah Pratt-Clarke, Venessa Ann Brown

• Publisher: Peter Lang Inc., International Academic Publishers
• Year: 2018
• Print ISBN:
  9781433133084
• eBook ISBN:
  9781453918722
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Higher Education

A Promising Reality: Reflections on Race, Gender, and Culture in Cuba is a compilation of the reflections of a group of chief diversity officers, faculty, and educators from the United States about Cuba. As part of the National Association of Diversity Officers in Higher Education delegation to Cuba in July, 2015, A Promising Reality represents a collection of voices, experiences, and perspectives about issues of race, gender, cultural identity, and the African experience in Cuba. Key themes explored include Cuban culture, the Cuban Revolution, politics, economics, education, equity, and social change. Utilizing narrative inquiry, some of the reflections are comparative with the United States, and some reflections focus exclusively on Cuba. The book takes readers on a journey of thought-provoking stories that reflect the excitement, uncertainty, complexity, and promising possibilities on the cusp of changing diplomatic, political, economic, and social relationships between the United States and Cuba. A Promising Reality seeks to broaden the perspectives of its readers regarding US-Cuban relations. This book is ideal for courses on international relations, international studies, international affairs, comparative cultures, political science, education, politics, sociology, history, race, gender, and social justice. It is a must-read for anyone traveling to Cuba as part of study-abroad, professional development, or personal adventure.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Table of Contents
• Illustrations
• Foreword (Benjamin D. Reese, Jr.)
• Acknowledgments
• 1. Introduction (Venessa Ann Brown / Menah Pratt-Clarke)
• 2. An Overview of Race, Class, and Culture in Cuba (Venessa Ann Brown / Sarah Walker-Leard)
• 3. International Cultural Exchanges as Professional Development Opportunities for Diversity Professionals (Archie W. Ervin)
• 4. Cuba and Connections to Childhood (Venessa Ann Brown)
• 5. Transformation, Empowerment, and the Cuban Revolution: Reflections on Gender, Race, and Culture (Menah Pratt-Clarke)
• 6. Two Sides to Every Story: Lessons in Life from Cuba (Howard J. Ross)
• 7. Two Wings of the Same Bird: Reflections of a Puerto Rican in Cuba (Diana Ariza)
• 8. Finding Home in Cuba (Na’im Madyun)
• 9. Missing in Plain Sight: The Complicated Story of Race in Cuba Today (Yvette M. Alex-Assensoh)
• 10. Dear Ché (Christine Clark)
• 11. The New Cuba: Factors Supporting the Cultivation of Resilience (Sadie Burton-Goss)
• 12. A Promising Reality (Menah Pratt-Clarke / Venessa Ann Brown)
• 13. Postscript: A Story of Resilience (How I Came to the USA) (Jorge-Felix Morfa)
• Contributors