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Black Lives Matter faces backlash for statement on Cuba protest
For those who have been stupidly excusing or supporting or defending BLM --- when are you going to wake up and realize it's NOT equality for blacks?
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July 16, 2021, 10:33 AM CDT / Updated July 16, 2021, 10:37 AM CDT
By Char Adams
The Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation is facing backlash after calling for the end of the U.S. government’s embargo on Cuba while praising the country for its “solidarity with oppressed peoples of African descent” amid historic anti-government protests.
In the statement shared Thursday on social media, the organization urged the U.S. to lift the embargo immediately and appeared to praise the country. “The people of Cuba are being punished by the U.S. government because the country has maintained its commitment to sovereignty and self-determination,” the message read.
The statement has drawn the ire of academics and organizers who say that while the decadeslong embargo should be lifted, the statement both lets the Cuban government off the hook for its own history of systemic racism and ignores the protesters’ demands for change.
“It was surprising to me that Black Lives Matter came out with a statement focusing solely on the U.S. and not talking about why all of those folks are protesting, not coming out in solidarity of Black folks on the ground who are protesting,” said Danielle Clealand, associate professor of Mexican American and Latina/o studies at the University of Texas at Austin and the author of "The Power of Race in Cuba."
“It’s just disappointing that the statement took this kind of stance that ‘This is all the U.S.’ when we know there is a lack of civil liberties in Cuba. We know that Cuba has a history of anti-Black racism.”
In an email to NBC News, Black Lives Matter officials said their statement was “grounded in our unequivocal support for Cuba,” and vowed to amplify the voices of Afro-Cuban protesters protesting oppression “from all actors, including the United States Embargo.”
“We unequivocally join in solidarity with the Cuban people against repression and violence from internal and unseen external actors,” officials said in the statement. “We also understand that Anti-Blackness exists within Cuba and is a Global issue. We struggle for and alongside Black people across the diaspora for liberation and self-sovereignty.”
In its original message, BLM noted that Black and brown people make up a large portion of the Cuban population. The country's 2012 Census reported that Black people made up 9.3 percent of Cuba’s 11.1 million population....
For those who have been stupidly excusing or supporting or defending BLM --- when are you going to wake up and realize it's NOT equality for blacks?
cuba.jpg
July 16, 2021, 10:33 AM CDT / Updated July 16, 2021, 10:37 AM CDT
By Char Adams
The Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation is facing backlash after calling for the end of the U.S. government’s embargo on Cuba while praising the country for its “solidarity with oppressed peoples of African descent” amid historic anti-government protests.
In the statement shared Thursday on social media, the organization urged the U.S. to lift the embargo immediately and appeared to praise the country. “The people of Cuba are being punished by the U.S. government because the country has maintained its commitment to sovereignty and self-determination,” the message read.
The statement has drawn the ire of academics and organizers who say that while the decadeslong embargo should be lifted, the statement both lets the Cuban government off the hook for its own history of systemic racism and ignores the protesters’ demands for change.
“It was surprising to me that Black Lives Matter came out with a statement focusing solely on the U.S. and not talking about why all of those folks are protesting, not coming out in solidarity of Black folks on the ground who are protesting,” said Danielle Clealand, associate professor of Mexican American and Latina/o studies at the University of Texas at Austin and the author of "The Power of Race in Cuba."
“It’s just disappointing that the statement took this kind of stance that ‘This is all the U.S.’ when we know there is a lack of civil liberties in Cuba. We know that Cuba has a history of anti-Black racism.”
In an email to NBC News, Black Lives Matter officials said their statement was “grounded in our unequivocal support for Cuba,” and vowed to amplify the voices of Afro-Cuban protesters protesting oppression “from all actors, including the United States Embargo.”
“We unequivocally join in solidarity with the Cuban people against repression and violence from internal and unseen external actors,” officials said in the statement. “We also understand that Anti-Blackness exists within Cuba and is a Global issue. We struggle for and alongside Black people across the diaspora for liberation and self-sovereignty.”
In its original message, BLM noted that Black and brown people make up a large portion of the Cuban population. The country's 2012 Census reported that Black people made up 9.3 percent of Cuba’s 11.1 million population....
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