Advent, Castro & The Season of Change

Cuban leader Fidel Castro

For some Christians, depending on one's country, today marks the beginning of Advent; which means 'Coming' in Latin.

In the context of the modern Christian church it is meant to represent the Sundays and weeks that lead up to Christmas Day.

So for some Christians, today marks the start of the period recognizing the arrival of Jesus, both a celebration of his birth and a period of reflection on the Biblical preparations for his arrival here on Earth as the son of God.
 
In some ways the recent passing of Cuban leader and noted political revolutionary Fidel Castro reflects the season of approaching change that Advent represents.

Regardless of one's personal religious beliefs, or whether one chooses to believe at all, the birth, life and death of Jesus of Nazareth changed the world in profound ways that still reverberate and impact to this day - people may debate whether he was the son of God, but writings from the early part of the first century AD by Roman historians including Jocephus and Tacitus make multiple references to Jesus, including his crucifixion by the Roman Governor Pontius Pilate.

Now to be clear, in no way am I comparing Fidel Castro to Jesus, but there's little question that Castro's life has also had a profound impact on the world as we know it today - I found myself reflecting on both Advent and Castro's passing this morning.

Jesus and Castro? Just hear me out on this.

Music has had a deep impact on my life, I play the guitar and sing. Back in 3rd grade at The Landon School For Boys in Bethesda, Maryland, I learned to read and play music and I also sang in chorus as well; so as I often do as I write on Sundays, I listened to the program 'With Heart and Voice', a weekly program of sacred choral and organ music broadcast via The Classical Network on WQXR at 1pm.

Cuban-Americans celebrate Castor's death in the
streets of Little Havana in Miami, FL

That program is immediately followed by 'Sounds Choral' at 2pm on the same station, which also explores a wide variety of classic and modern choral music and hymns.

(FYI a number of my blogs are written as I listen to Baroque and Renaissance classical music as well, I find it peaceful and it inspires thinking and creativity depending on my mood.)

Now there is little doubt that Castro's death at the age of 90 has, and will, spark a wide range of reactions and discussion amongst regular people, academics and politicians.

If you saw some of the images of ecstatic Cuban-Americans and Cubans-in-exile dancing and celebrating in the streets of Little Havana in Miami, Florida after hearing news of Castro dying, it's clear that people view this complex icon of the 20th century from a variety of different perspectives.

On Saturday conservative politicians from both Canada and America lit into the popular Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau after he issued a public statement of condolence for Castro in which he called the controversial Cuban leader a "remarkable leader" and noted that his father, former Canadian PM Gary Trudeau, had known and respected Castro.

The latter also caught flack from political leaders when he made a state visit to Cuba in 1976 where 250,000 Cubans came out to welcome him.

Early today, the younger Trudeau amended his previous statement (and placated his conservative critics) by acknowledging to reporters that Castro was in fact a dictator who caused suffering for those he considered his enemies.

Fulgencio Batista on the cover of Time, April 21, 1952

Castro's role as the revolutionary who led efforts to topple the Western-backed Cuban military dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista in 1959 and later fought off the American effort to overthrow him during the disastrous Bay of Pigs invasion on April 17, 1961, gave him global stature among leftists and anti-American leaders and nations around the world.

An emboldened Castro's use of military and financial backing from the Soviet Union to thumb his nose at the United States, criticize capitalism and American foreign policy, and spread Communist influence to other parts of Latin America, Africa and Asia, often made him a political thorn in the side of eleven different U.S. presidents.

But even though he was elevated to an almost mythical status amongst leftist political leaders, he was reviled and feared by many in his own country.


On Castro's orders at least 582 Batista loyalists were executed by firing squads in the wake of the coup that put him into power in a one-party, one-rule system for 49 years.

He made drastic and significant improvements to Cuba's health care system and expanded access to doctors for all people, he also improved the educational system to expand literacy amongst the poor and rural populations who'd been so disenfranchised, alienated and powerless under Batista's rule.

But according to Human Rights Watch, Castro implemented a repressive system that quashed civil liberties, crushed independent journalism, eliminated political dissent and jailed thousands of people in deplorable conditions where many were subjected to torture.

While Castro often lambasted the United States for it's treatment of Native Americans and systematic discrimination of African-Americans, as Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr. noted in an excerpt of a chapter from his companion book to the 2011 PBS series 'Black in Latin America', (posted on the Website TheRoot.com) Castro ruled over a Cuban nation as deeply divided over race as the U.S.

As Professor Gates observed based on interviews he conducted in Cuba and research, Castro presided over a system that systematically discriminated against Cubans of color and African descent in ways that have left poor blacks in Cuba even more marginalized and segregated in ways that are worse today than during the Cuban revolution.

Castro's vision of socialist revolution and equitable opportunity materialized for some, but not all, based (in no small part) on race and political ideology.


So as we in America prepare to come to grips with the seismic shifts from the November 8th election which elevated Donald Trump into office, perhaps there is a larger significance to the death of Castro at the start of the season of Advent - when we prepare to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ.

Regardless of how Castro is viewed, he will remain one of the more iconic figures of the 20th century and his place in history looms large even though it will be debated by scholars and historians for years to come.

After five decades in power, if nothing else, Castro's death is a genuine reflection that significant and lasting change is coming, for the Cuban people, the Western Hemisphere and the larger global landscape.

With the United States finally reestablishing normal diplomatic relations with Cuba under the leadership of President Obama, perhaps Castro's death will herald at least the hope of lasting and meaningful changes to the lives of those in Cuba who've been excluded from Castro's vision for a new Cuba.

Not because of their ideology, but because of the color of their skin.

Assumption. Gun. Humiliation. Apology?

Journalist Charles M. Blow

The face and writing of journalist, author and columnist Charles M. Blow (pictured left) are familiar to those who regularly follow his op-ed essays in The New York Times, where he has weighed in on race, culture, politics and other topics since 2009.

But in recent years, particularly since the tragic shooting death of unarmed teenager Trayvon Martin in Florida back in February 2012, his eloquence as a writer, combined with the fact that he's a father of three sons, have lent his op-ed essays an intellectual authority and deep insight on the troubled issue of race in America.

When it comes to the ongoing epidemic of excessive use of force by police against young men of color in this country, Charles M. Blow isn't just writing about the topic, as a black father he truly lives it. 

His column, which appeared in the NY Times on Monday, struck me on a very personal level.

By now you may have heard the news that his oldest son, a junior at Yale University, was stopped by a Yale University campus policeman on Saturday evening who pulled a gun on him.

Click the link above, because you really should read his account of what happened, but it boils down to a recurring theme oft covered on this blog; how quick police in America are to react with aggression to the sight of a young man with dark skin.

Mr. Blow's son had gone over to the Yale University library early this past Saturday evening January 24th to check on a book he'd requested and order some equipment for a presentation.

Sterling Memorial Library at Yale University

When he walked out of the library (pictured left) a campus cop started following him, told him to stop and pulled out his gun and pointed it at him; told him to get on the ground face down.

The Yale cop was black by the way.

The reason for the stop? A common one men of color in America, including yours truly, have heard more than once; I can quote it by heart.

"There was a report of a [BREAK-IN, ASSAULT, RAPE, ROBBERY ETC.] in the area and you fit the description of the suspect."

Only in this particular case, on this particular evening in New Haven, Connecticut Mr. Blow's son was NOT the suspect in question.

He was the oldest son of a highly-respected journalist and a third-year student at Yale.

He was an unarmed, innocent young man walking away from the library of one of the most prestigious universities in the world, but he "fit the description" and his skin was dark - so the cop pulled a gun on him.

As Mr. Blow observed in a NY Times essay back in 2012 in the immediate wake of the death of Trayvon Martin, "This is the nightmare scenario for any parent,"

It's a nightmare for the son too, believe me.

I had a similar experience of being unfairly and unjustly detained by police temporarily in the early 90's when I was a student at Penn State University.

I can still recall the feeling of humiliation, anger, fear and helplessness of being taken to a police station in handcuffs for something I didn't do.

The simmering resentment I felt inside when the police figured out that a simple administrative mistake had led to my being wrongly detained before they let me go is still with me as I write this so many years later.   

Charles Blow's column on Monday unlocked personal memories for me that are still painful; including the recognition that even though I was a student at the college, the police ignored my pleas of innocence and simply saw my skin color.

According to an article posted on TheRoot.com, Yale officials have released a statement apologizing for the incident and have promised to release a report on the investigation they plan to conduct.

Given the ongoing protests over excessive police force in the wake of the deaths of Michael Brown, Eric Garner and other unarmed men of color at the hands of police, and this nation's troubled record with the ways some members of law enforcement have systematically treated young men of color, clearly Yale is trying to get out in front of the incident quickly before it blows up in the media.

After all it wasn't all that long ago that preeminent Harvard history professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr. was arrested by a cop who saw the nationally-recognized African-American scholar trying to get into the front door of his own house and it became a national media story.

It says a lot about America that such incidents are still taking place on the campuses of the nation's finest universities in the 21st century.

Whether it's a 3rd year student at Yale who's the son of a nationally-recognized journalist, or a highly-respected professor of history at Harvard, sadly for many law enforcement professionals, it doesn't matter where you are, who you are or even whether you're guilty or innocent.

In their eyes it begins and ends with your being black; and that can get you killed.

And that is a truly troubling reality on this day, January 27, 2015 when over 300 Holocaust survivors gathered in Poland to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi concentration camp of Auschwitz by lead elements of the Soviet Red Army in 1945. 

Against a background where Jews are once again coming under the cloud of increased persecution and anti-Semitism in France, Germany and other European countries, the president of the World Jewish Congress Ronald S. Lauder warned the attendees gathered at the site where over 1.1 million people were killed by the Nazis:

"Jews are targeted in Europe once again because they are Jews...Once again young Jewish boys are afraid to wear yarmulkes [skullcaps] on the streets of Paris, Budapest, London and even Berlin."

The terrifying lessons of the consequences of unchecked hate and bigotry are there before us, it remains to be seen if those in America predisposed to hatred and prejudice will heed them.