Exploring Black Women's Impact in Early 20th-Century Cuba with Dr. Takkara Brunson

Strictly Facts: A Guide to Caribbean History and Culture

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Have you ever wondered what Cuba was like before the 1959 Revolution? This fascinating episode promises to take you there. Celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month with us as we are joined by Dr. Takkara Brunson for a riveting exploration of the Republic of Cuba period (1902-1958) through the lens of Black Cuban women. We unravel their significant contributions to the independence movement despite the racialized and gendered dynamics that pervaded their society.
The evolution of Black women's activism in this era is a narrative of transformative power. Learn how their discourse gradually shifted from respectability to a critique of racism, sexism, and classism. Understand how they leveraged their political clout to form independent organizations and, surprisingly, how Black civic clubs became their gateway to patronage networks. We also highlight inspiring figures like María Dámasa Jova Baró authored a and Inocencia Valdés’s commit, who used their voices and actions to make a tangible difference in their communities. This episode is a testament to the resilience and undying spirit of Black women in Cuba.
Takkara Brunson is Associate Professor of History at Texas A&M University. Her research focuses on political and cultural traditions of the African Diaspora, with emphasis on how Black women have shaped Latin American and Caribbean societies after slave abolition. She is the author of Black Women, Citizenship, and the Making of Modern Cuba, which was co-awarded the Letitia Woods Brown Book Prize for African American Women's History. Brunson’s research has appeared in Gender & History, Meridians: Feminism, Race, Transnationalism, and Cuban Studies, among other places. Her research has been supported by the Institute for Citizens and Scholars (formerly the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation), University of Rochester Frederick Douglass Institute, Ford Foundation, and UNCF/Mellon Programs. She received her Ph.D. in Latin American History at the University of Texas at Austin and B.A. in Comparative Women’s Studies at Spelman College. Follow Dr. Brunson on Twitter.

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1. Exploring Black Women's Impact in Early 20th-Century Cuba with Dr. Takkara Brunson (00:00:00)

2. Black Women's Perspective on Early 20th Century Cuba (00:00:01)

3. Evolution of Black Women's Activism (00:17:41)

4. Black Women's Political Activism in Cuba (00:23:44)