The Sparks of Civil Society in Cuba: Afro-Cuban Cultural Production, Art Collectives, and
In 1992, the Communist Party Congress declared Cuba to be a secular
rather than atheist state, opening a space for believers of Afro-Cuban
and other religions to practice more openly and to gain official recog-
nition in some cases. However, this constitutional change did not
mean that Afro-Cuban religions were openly embraced. Sandra Álva-
rez Ramírez, a Cuban psychologist, writes that Afro-Cuban religion,
before it became “legitimate” to practice in the 1990s,
was seen as an ‘uncultured’ or ‘primitive’ form of having a religious
practice...it was not well-regarded to have religious beliefs, much less if
they were of African origin. Thus, many of our parents hid their reli-
gious interests, which unavoidably led to our postponement of this type
of motivation, a sort of ‘de-culturation.’ It was only when it was given
value that many of us returned to our origins. (Álvarez Ramírez, 2009:
2)In addition to such examples of reluctance to carry on Afro-Cuban
religious traditions in the home, external societal pressures against
these practices have remained strong. Lázara Menéndez writes in her
study of Afro-Cuban religions that:
...social and religious prejudice has disallowed external manifestations
of religious symbols in certain places of business, in theaters and mov-
ies, in museums and galleries located in certain Havana neighborhoods,
or municipalities not considered appropriate venues for displaying ones
connection with such ‘folkloric activity.’ Looks, gestures, veiled com-
ments or disapproving murmurs, and expressions of surprise are still
observed today in places or toward people who, it is believed, should
have rid themselves of that type of ‘virus.’ (Menéndez, 2005: 270-1)The hegemonic underpinning for the devaluing of Afro-Cuban
cultures in the dominant society is made visible through these exam-
ples from the “personal” sphere, as are, increasingly, counter-hege-
monic attempts to re-value it by various social actors and sectors
within the population. Despite the lack of approval or support on
many fronts, the Special Period saw a significant increase in Afro-
Cuban religious expression not only in more open practice of religion
and an increase in numbers of adherents, but also in the proliferation