GLOBAL DEVELOPMENT STUDIES
GLOBAL
DEVELOPMENT STUDIES
Copyright © 1999 International Development Options
All Rights Reserved
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Volume One Winter 1998-Spring 1999 Numbers 3-4.
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BLACK BEANS AND M-TV
Katia Perea
Department of Sociology
65 Fifth Avenue
New School for Social Research
New York, NY 10003
Published online: December 15, 2016
ABSTRACT
I am a Miami-born Cuban-American child of exiled Cuban parents. My generation grew up with families in "el exilio." Our impressions of Cuba come from memories and stories passed down to us. Given the diplomatic ties between Cuba and the United States, it is not easy to write about the cultural patterns in a country we can only visit illegally, or with a visa that is difficult to obtain. This article is both an exploration of Cuban identity in the United States and an ethnography of American-based Cuban solidarity groups. This ethnography explores the sentiments these groups carry towards Cubans in Cuba and in the U.S. It is primarily a critique on Cuban solidarity groups' lack of familiarity with Cuban-Americans and, therefore, their inadequacy to fulfill the needs of Cuban-Americans, the most important of those needs being a united Cuba.