Caribbean Basin

This event will feature the Acting Ambassador of Cuba to the United Nations, Ana Silvia Rodriguez. She will give a short presentation, along with the other panelists, but the large part by far of the event will be direct interaction with the meeting attendees and participants on any and every question on people's minds: the impact of Donald Trump's anti-Cuba moves on Cuba's economy and US-Cuban relations; the new Cuban Constitution; democratic and human rights and the US embargo and blockade; LGBT rights; the African-Cuban history and experience; Cuba and Latin America; and so on. Panelists will include recent US travelers to Cuba and Venezuela.

The political crisis of the capitalist world embodied by the rise of authoritarianism and populism around the world has been met with resistance internationally. Women have played a disproportionate role in these struggles from Sudan to the West Virginia teachers strikes. The Caribbean has been no exception and the rise of the #LifeinLeggings movement throughout the Caribbean as well as the prominence of feminist groups like the Tambourine Army in Jamaica is testament to this. Many Caribbean countries have a hostile atmosphere towards LGBTQ people, these states tend to still have colonial era anti-cross dressing and buggery laws on the books. There has been resistance to this in recent times evinced by the striking down of the anti-cross dressing law in Guyana and the buggery law in Trinidad as well as the rise in visibility of the LGBTQ population through daring Pride parades, some held for the first time in the last few years. These struggles have had important cultural reflections such as legendary Trinidad & Tobago singer Calypso Rose’s “Leave me Alone” song which stood as an anthem against sexual harassment. The emergence of the “Lost Tribe” carnival band with openly gay Indo-Trini director Valmiki Maharaj was yet another such incursion of previously excluded oppressed people into the popular culture of the Caribbean. This panel aims to explore the historical antecedents which gave rise to the oppression of women and the LGBTQ population in the Caribbean. The panel will also look at the contemporary situation while giving details of the recent struggles and how they intersect with each other and the broader anti-colonial and anti-imperialist radical tradition in the Caribbean.

W.A.R Stories: Walter Anthony Rodney is a 2010 documentary film by Clairmont Chung which is a political and personal biography of the Guyanese revolutionary Walter Rodney who was assassinated in 1980. Cornell University's Africana studies dept gives this apt summary of the film: "It’s a story of a man who dedicated his life, and ultimately, gave his life in the struggle for equal rights and justice. He did so through his considerable intellectual gifts and actual grassroots involvement everywhere he went. The people who knew him weave a tale of how they related to him and him them. In the process we see the growth of their friend, brother, father, husband, his ideology and how that changed over the years from his coming of age in racially divided Guyana through the cold war, the Black Power Movement, Pan-Africanism, Caribbean independence, and the idea of self emancipation. " After the screening (1hr 27 mins), a brief discussion will be held on the implications of the film for contemporary Guyana and the wider Caribbean with the director Clairmont Chung, Robert Cuffy of the Socialist Workers Alliance of Guyana and Twinkle Paul of Guyana Trans United.

"You must let suffering speak, if you want to hear the truth”― Cornel West. A widespread movement for justice regarding police Terrorism is underway in America, and the testimonies of injustice are what fuel it. These are important and deeply moving testimonies. When testimonies of injustice remain untold and unheard, patterns of injustice go unrecognized and unopposed. Having these testimonies on record is therefore essential to the struggle for justice. The police who commit these acts of violence and terror are part of a system that not only protects them, but can often intimidate their victims into silence. The act of telling these testimonies is an act of defiance that can be liberating for the person who tells it. Cornel West, co-founder of the Stop Mass Incarceration Network, says, “Never forget that justice is what love looks like in public.” Bringing your story of injustice to the public eye provides the possibility that it can be part of a much grander story of justice. Michelle Alexander says, "it is important that these stories are brought to the light of day; these families experiences be given voice" Carl Dix says, "is important that families tell their stories so that people know that these things are happening and helps them question why, and what kind of a system does this to people and allows it to happen?"

"You must let suffering speak, if you want to hear the truth”― Cornel West. A widespread movement for justice regarding police Terrorism is underway in America, and the testimonies of injustice are what fuel it. These are important and deeply moving testimonies. When testimonies of injustice remain untold and unheard, patterns of injustice go unrecognized and unopposed. Having these testimonies on record is therefore essential to the struggle for justice. The police who commit these acts of violence and terror are part of a system that not only protects them, but can often intimidate their victims into silence. The act of telling these testimonies is an act of defiance that can be liberating for the person who tells it. Cornel West, co-founder of the Stop Mass Incarceration Network, says, “Never forget that justice is what love looks like in public.” Bringing your story of injustice to the public eye provides the possibility that it can be part of a much grander story of justice. Michelle Alexander says, "it is important that these stories are brought to the light of day; these families experiences be given voice" Carl Dix says, "is important that families tell their stories so that people know that these things are happening and helps them question why, and what kind of a system does this to people and allows it to happen?"

In 1979, the people of Grenada stage a successful overthrow of their government and began the process of building a new type of democracy. It lasted for four fours years because it was destroyed by forces internal and external that were opposed to the revolution. This panel will critique a new book on the Grenada Revolution entitle: A Political History of the Grenada Revolution 1979-1983.

There are economic and political reforms and diplomatic changes taking place in Cuba today. The panel will analyze the impact and prognosis of these reforms changes and their effects on socialism in Cuba.

Screening of "Gede Vizyon", an experimental documentary shot in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, during the 5th Ghetto Biennale last December. The film is the result of a collaboration between Brazilian and Haitian artists. After the 15 minute screening, Brazilian artists Jefferson Kielwagen and Marcos Serafim will be present for Q&A.