- Nicolas Sanchez
Interpretations of José Martí in the academy and in politics
It is an honor to give this presentation, and I thank the Pedro Pan Group for the invitation.
It is my intention to answer all of your questions at the end of my talk. I am not an expert on José Martí, but I did work in the academy for over 40 years and I have seen a dramatic change in how Martí has been treated and criticized by modern scholars. In fact, I will begin with an event that happened at Holy Cross College, in MA, about 18 years ago.
Once a year we offered a college-wide lecture on Hispanic topics around “5 de Mayo.” The speaker was a Puerto Rican Professor teaching in New York.
The topic was Martí’s involvement in the founding of the Partido Revolucionario Cubano. Most of the presentation was standard fare and nothing new was added --except for the ending, which almost led to a fist fight between the Cubans present and the speaker. The speaker said, to end his talk, that he found it amazing that after Martí had initiated the liberation against Spain, he did nothing for Cuba after the island gained independence and instead spent several years in New York City enjoying the good life! The Cubans in the audience jumped up and declared that Martí had died in Cuba during the struggle, something that the speaker denied. The fist fight would have been appropriate, but it was contained to a mini-riot.
As you can imagine, I do not want any such experience to occur in this presentation. Hence I will summarize now the nature of my talk and my views on José Martí. He was definitely a genius, something that was reflected both in the quality of his poetry (which I will not discuss) and in his bringing together the necessary leaders to achieve Cuban independence. He was also devoted to promoting education, racial equality, freedom of expression, and revolutionary action. Martí created our national identity. He was neither a socialist nor a capitalist, but a political liberal who believed in wealth redistribution and supported democracy and freedom of expression.
Continue Reading …Interpretations of José Martí in the academy and in politics