Today, I took a trip to the California African American Museum
in Los Angeles. I always look forward to visiting the site because it is also
home to many other important landmarks like USC, the Natural History Museum,
the California Science Center (home of the Space Shuttle Endevour), and the
rose garden.
I
had been planning to see the exhibit AFRODESCENDIENTES;
PHOTOGRAPHER ROBERTO CHILE IN GUANABACAO, CUBA for weeks now. Though the exhibit counts on only a
hand full of images, Chile’s black and white portraits of the island’s afrocubanos make the visit worthwhile.
Chile captures personalities comfortably dressed in their brown and black-clothed-skin.
Through Chile’s lens, we are witness to the ongoing legacy of African culture:
dress, dance, religion, community, and family.
Though
Cuba may have its share of internal racial issues (racism is a theme in the film
“Barrio Cuba”, for example), it’s no secret that most citizens have a strong connection
to its three racial foundations: indigenous, European, and African. According
to the exhibit some 32 to 73 percent of cubanos
trace lineage to Africa. I had a Cuban friend tell me once, “En Cuba, todo mundo dice que tiene sangre africana.” (In Cuba, everyone says
they have African blood). This idea of a racial unity seemed to be part of the fraternal
cultural identity that the post-revolutionary regime wanted to exalt. Roberto Chile’s photographs express this beautifully.
Chile “rescues”
African culture. I say “rescue” because that’s what it looks like from an American
point-of-view. Our North American society would want to hide black history and
culture rather than revere it. Needless to say, the exhibit is grand. The
photographs become a window into history, beauty, politics, and – simply –
humanity. It is a visit to CAAM worth making.
For more information about the California African American Museum: Click here