#cubanhero

[peilincorbanese]

This is the big "Light your torch" gathering before the unveiling of the Jose Marti statue from NY. We left because there were so many people, so crowded and fire was going to be involved. #josemarti #cuba #insightcuba #cubanhero (at University of Havana)

[edudenali]

Today, Cubans celebrate the 162nd birthday of their national independence hero and poet, José Martí. He traveled extensively in Spain, Latin America, and the United States, raising awareness and support for the cause of Cuban independence. #lahabana #havana #cuba #cuban #josemarti #cubanhero #josemartistatue #cubanindependence #oldhavana #lahabanavieja #heróecubano #i❤️cuba #cubateamo #cubalabella #happyhavana #aroundhavana #beautifulhavana #awayfromhome #aroundtheworld #edücation #cuba2018 #cubanvacation #welcometohavana #bienvenidosalahabana #josemartipark #josemartimemorial #timetraveler #vivacubalibre #cubalibre #vivacuba (at Havana, Cuba)

[thefriendsofjosemarti-blog]

In Death of a Bureaucrat, Tomás Gutiérrez Alea’s 1966 film, he introduced an early criticism of the Cult of Personality surrounding the image of José Martí.

In Vedado, a once wealthy neighborhood in Havana, busts of Martí can be seen twice on every block. Some are stone, carved with varying degrees of artistic interpretations and others are plastic, factory made.

[thefriendsofjosemarti-blog]

In Diego Rivera’s “Dream of a Sunday Afternoon in Alameda Park,” found in the Museo Mural Diego Rivera, we can see José Martí hiding behind Mexican dictator, Porfirio Diaz’s, elegantly dressed wife and daughter and next to a young Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo.

Martí returned to Mexico in 1894, during the Cuban revolt against Spain in desperate need of financial support. He sought an audience with Porfirio Diaz and gave a speech preaching the necessity of an independent Cuba from the hands of a “corrupted Spain,” a struggle Mexico also had to endure.

Díaz’s dictatorship ended in 1911 after he tried to rig the election. One might wonder why Rivera, a revolutionary, placed Martí, another revolutionary hero, behind the opulence of Díaz’s daughter and wife.

This mural is full of conflict, symbolized by the yin and yang held by Kahlo.