The author describes how easy it became after the Cuban Revolution to take down a rope segregating blacks from whites in the town square, yet how enormous was the battle to transform social relations underlying all the “ropes” inherited from capitalism and Yankee domination. Dreke, second in command of the internationalist column in the Congo led by Che Guevara in 1965, recounts the creative joy with which working people have defended their revolutionary course—from Cuba’s Escambray mountains to Africa and beyond.
“Victor Dreke, second in command to Guevara in the Congo, relates … a rich assortment of … remembrances of Guevara … as well efforts to dismantle racial discrimination in [Cuba]…. [He] presents the steps a young revolution took to … lift a semicolonial nation from under the brutal Batista dictatorship into the Cuba of today.”— Black Scholar
“These books are the kind of books historians are always hoping for, but that very rarely see the light of day. Their value for average readers and for scholars cannot be overstressed, for several reasons, the most important being the historical process of reconnecting Cuba and Africa at a time when such reconnecting continues to be fiercely discouraged by the powers-that-be … a first-hand account by Che’s most trusted aide during their seven months in the Congo … the reader gets a clear glimpse of some of the principles that allowed Cuba to do so much in the face of such constant threats to its own survival…. In a subdued, almost humble, way, these books can be seen as collective praise for what Cuba has been able to do, not just for specific African countries, but for the majority of humanity resisting the unrelenting assaults of the capitalist system”—Jacques Depelchin writing in African Studies Review on From the Escambray to the Congo and Our History Is Still Being Written. Click here for the complete review
This book is part of a series, The Cuban Revolution in World Politics. Click to see the other titles or to order the entire series. Introduction by Mary-Alice Waters, 24-page photo section and other photos, maps, glossary, index |
