Afro-Cuban

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This article is about Cubans of African heritage. For the Cuban jazz band, see Afro-Cubans (band).

Cuban boys playing in Trinidad, Cuba

The term Afro-Cuban refers to Cubans of African ancestry, and to historical or cultural elements in Cuba thought to emanate from this community. The term can refer to the combining of African and other cultural elements found in Cuban society such as religion, music, language, the arts, and class culture.^[1]

1 Demographics
2 Religion
3 Music
4 Language
5 See also
6 References

[edit] Demographics

Main article: Demographics of Cuba

According to a 2001 national census which surveyed 11.2 million Cubans, 1.1 million Cubans described themselves as Black, while 2.8 million considered themselves to be "mulato" or "mestizo".^[2] Thus a significant proportion of those living on the island affirm some African ancestry. The matter is further complicated by the fact that a fair number of people still locate their origins in specific African ethnic groups or regions, particularly Yoruba and Congo, but also Arará, Carabalí, Mandingo, Fula, Makua, and others. Nevertheless, and despite the egalitarian project of the Cuban revolution, racial discrimination still exists in Cuba, though arguably less so than in most other countries of the Americas, including the United States.

The percentage of Afro-Cubans in the island increased after the 1959 Cuban revolution led by Fidel Castro due to mass migration from the island of the largely white Cuban professional class. [1] A small percentage of Afro-Cubans left Cuba, mostly to the United States, (particularly Florida), where they and their U.S.-born children are called African Americans or Cuban Americans of African descent. Only a few of them resided in nearby Spanish-speaking countries of Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico, where Afro-Latino populations predominate. There are some Afro-Cubans who went to Nigeria, the home of the Yoruba culture. Angola also has communities of Afro-Cubans, these are descendants of Afro-Cuban soldiers brought to the country in 1975. They number about 100,000.

Though phenotypic aspects clearly dictate part of the perception of Afro-Cubanness or Afro-Cubanism, cultural aspects are equally important. Both blacks and whites participate to varying degrees in social and cultural conventions commonly understood to be Afro-Cuban. The most important of these are religion and music.

[edit] Religion

Santería icons at an open place of worhip in Havana. Santería is a syncretism practiced by many Afro-Cubans

Afro-Cuban religion can be broken down into three main currents: Santería, Palo Monte, and Abakuá, and include individuals of all origins. Santería and Abakuá both have large parts of their liturgy in African languages (Yoruba and Ñañigo, respectively) while Palo Monte uses a mixture of Spanish and Kikongo. Santería and Palo Monte are largely syncretised with Catholicism, though it is generally considered that the African elements outweigh the Catholic ones. The Abakuá religion is in fact a secret society for men, similar to the freemason orders of Europe, which first integrated white (Spanish) members in the late 19th century, but has not been syncretised with Catholicism and remains close to its origins in south-eastern Nigeria. Apart from Rome’s official representation in Cuba and the remnants of the Protestant church (represented by the Ecumenical Council of Cuba), popular Catholicism and independent Protestant groups have been more or less influenced by African beliefs.

[edit] Music

Afro-Cuban music involves two main categories of music, religious and profane. Religious music includes the chants, rhythms and instruments used in rituals of the above-mentioned religious currents, while profane music focuses largely on rumba and comparsa (carnival music) as well as several lesser styles such as the tumba francesa. It is an acknowledged fact, however, that practically all Cuban music has been influenced by African music, particularly regarding rhythm.

[edit] Language

Other cultural elements considered to be Afro-Cuban can be found in language (including syntax, vocabulary, and style of speech) and generally held stereotypes of Afro-Cuban culture such as male and female behaviour, family structure or general habits. The term Afro-Cuban is rarely taken into the economic sphere, despite the fact that, as in most of the Americas, black Cubans are generally poorer than whites, which translates into class phenomenon along racial lines. The political situation, however, forbids public acknowledgement of the existence of social classes and of racial problems of any kind.