Reyita: The Life of a Black Cuban Woman in the Twentieth Century

Reyita: The Life of a Black Cuban Woman in the Twentieth Century by Maria de los Reyes Castillo Bueno

How and Why Reyita's Story Was Written

• Reyita's narrative is told through conversation with her daughter Daisy, who recorded the conversation. This conversation is sometimes seen during the narrative but usually the narrative flows freely.

• "You wanted to be a pianist, remember? I know you haven't forgotten the wooden piano with the painted-on keys that your brother Monín made you" (pg 82)

• Daisy Rubiera Castillo is a founding member of the Fernando Ortiz African Cultural Center in Santiago de Cuba, which examines the influence of African culture on Cuba and other Latin American countries. Through this a project was set up to gather oral folk histories of those who came from Africa.

• Reyita was able to recount the stories that her Grandmother told her, and the healing traditions she learnt. The need for these stories to be told and shared are repeated throughout the narrative. For example, Reyita tells the stories of how her Grandmother was taken from Africa, but also Daisy's generation was already gorgetting the traditions of Reyita's generation.
• "I invented a malanga pudding, which you and your dad all liked very much. Remember how to make it? No? What a scandal!" (pg 114)
• The old traditions were being forgotten and so the story of Reyita and others like her, needed to be heard and preserved.

• In a documentary made after the book was released, members of Reyita's family say they didn't know many of the things about their mother's life until they read the book. If Reyita's story was not told and recorded it would have been lost.

 

 Video 1: Trailer for Reyita Documentary

• In her review of the book, K. Lynn Stoner, says that it is refreshing that there is not a overly political message. However, the reason for the narrative is not to tell a political history, but to tell Reyita's story of her life, and her family. 
• Reyita does inevitably come into contact with some of the political issues of the day, but when mentioned they are either fleeting mentions of people who were in her house, or events that related directly to her family. For example, there is no direct mention of triumph of the Revolution, but Reyita spends quite a bit of time talking about how Monín died in the La Coubre explosion (pg 138), as this directly affected her and her family.

Race and Poverty

•    In Reyita: The Life of a Black Woman in the Twentieth Century, the themes of racial discrimination and poverty are closely intertwined.
• She is aware of the impact of one on the other and regularly highlights the fact that “money and colour create enormous differences” (p.119) in the lives of Cubans.

•  The role of poverty in the narrative can be seen in instances such as her constant struggle to get by financially as well as the identification of the different impoverished social groups such as prostitutes. 
• She only discovers her own economic viability when she acquires commodities such as electricity and the fridge as well as running her own businesses.

• She also notes the complexity of race relations in Cuba and how different it was from, e.g. America.
• “Racial discrimination in Cuba was very intense and a complicated issue. Whites discriminated against blacks and those harboured resentment against whites”. (p.30)
• Elizabeth Dore agrees, stating how these differences occurred because of the participation of black Cubans in the anti-colonial movement and the interaction between class and race in the country.
• She also discusses how the differences were due to the tripartite colour code unlike the strict black-white one of the US

• Throughout her life, she refers to the ongoing confliction between staying true to her racial roots and achieving a better economic and social life for her and her family.
• We are first made aware of Reyita’s struggle with race when she describes her childhood as being marred by the internal racism of her mother who treated her differently from her lighter-skinned siblings.
  • “I was the victim of terrible discrimination on my mother’s part”. (p.21)

• As mentioned previously, Reyita struggled to find a balance in terms of race and poverty, which is seen when she decides it is necessary to marry a white man:

Image 1: Reyita and her "rainbow family"

• “I didn’t want to marry a black husband, not out of contempt for my race, but, because black men had almost no possibilities of getting ahead and the certainty of facing a lot of discrimination”. (p.166) 
• Due to her own childhood, she feared that her children would suffer the same fate and live a life full of discrimination and be held back in terms of education and job opportunities if she married a black man.
• She yearned for upward mobility and a way out of poverty.

However, Matt D. Childs discusses how Reyita “struggles with these contradictions as she realises that marrying a white man did not make her or her children “white” in the eyes of others”.

• Despite having problems with the notion of race at certain points during her life, it has to be said that she was proud of her heritage as seen at the beginning of the narrative when she discusses her ancestor’s plight as slaves brought over from Africa.

• “Her beloved, never forgotten Africa, which I learned to love too from all the stories she told us”. (p.26)
• “This love for her homeland that my grandma instilled in me had a big influence on my decision...to go back to Africa – tired of being discriminated against for being black”. (p.26)
• Moreover, she attended meetings at the local chapter of United Negro Improvement Association founded by Marcus Garvey.

Gender Issues

• Reyita had many obstacles to overcome which included not only poverty and racial stereotypes but her husband’s limited view of his children’s potential and his unwillingness to sacrifice for them 
• One of the main objectives of Reyita’s testimony is to portray the challenges facing Afro-Cuban women struggling to improve her socioeconomic situation.
• In Reyita’s married life she becomes increasingly frustrated with the limitations Rubiera places on her ambitions: 'Your dad didn't allow me to develop myself the way I wanted, to struggle to fulfil the ambitions you all had. I couldn't do it, Rubiera would wouldn't let me; [...] thinking a woman had to dedicate herself to running the household and nothing more’ (pp.141-142) 
• Reyita was determined to gain upward mobility and realised her own economic power and viability to this end before the 1959 revolution. 
•  She starts selling food from her kitchen and eventually sets up a dining room and also did laundry for others in her community
• With her money she installs electricity for the house and buys furniture and a radio
• She also finances her daughters’ weddings
• Reyita expresses that she believes independence is true freedom (p.142)
• Reyita’s financial independence broke "the tradition of submission to the man of the house" (p. 145)

• The introduction by Elizabeth Dore places Reyita’s testament in the context of Latin American gender issues 
• Dore suggests that Reyita’s actions are like that of an early feminist
• On the surface this statement is true
• Yet Reyita is gaining a higher socioeconomic position for herself, not for knowingly feminist ends.
• Reyita is furthering herself for her children. 
• The most important thing in Reyita’s life is her family and she often talks of the great pleasure their happiness brings her.
• Dore’s introduction helps us understand the strengths of Cuban women and the lengths they would go to in devoting their lives to their family’s welfare

• Reyita is thus a valuable text for consideration when studying the wider gender issues in contemporary and historical Cuba. 

Spirituality

Unlike many of the other slave narratives we have read, Reyita does not place such a heavy emphasis on religion. When talking of her religion she said that:

• “my religious beliefs which I could then develop in my own way, because I don’t like going to ceremonies” (p.108)

We can see that Reyita did not enjoy attending church ceremonies, she liked to take ideas and develop them in her own way. However, throughout the narrative Reyita refers a lot to spiritualism. When attending a spiritual session with her aunty she stated:

• “The grown-ups said I had “mediumship”, but I didn’t know what that was either. What I can tell you is that I “saw” many, many things.” (p.48)

Reyita gives various examples of her “mediumship”, she believed that she would have visions and then in a short period of time something would happen which included the person or object she has seen in the vision. In time, Reyita began to use her visions to help people.

• “Senora, I have a terrible problem. They told me you have very good vision and I’ve come so you can help me resolve it” (p.106)

Here we can see someone coming to Reyita for her help after hearing about her work. Reyita tells the reader about the story and that she was able to help the man who was seeking help. Reyita did not only use her visions to help people but also her herbal remedies.

• “You know I don’t believe in miracles, but in the curative properties of the herbs and roots I used for those remedies, plus the faith and good will with which I made them: they were what really did the healing” (p.110)

Reyita believed that her “faith and good will” were one of the main factors that her children did not get sick throughout their lives. Hence, we can see Reyita had a strong spiritual belief and believed that she had been blessed with a gift.

Bibliography

Picture 1: http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/04/05/963021/-Black-Kos,-Tuesdays-Chile

Video 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EoygU15ixRw

Childs, Matt D.; "Expanding Perspectives on Race, Nation and Culture in Cuban History"; Latin American Research Review; Vol. 39; No.1 (2004)

Stoner, K. Lynn; "Review"; The Americas; Vol.58; No.4; Field Science in Latin America (April 2002)

Walmsley, Emily; "Review"; Journal of Latin American Studies; Vol.34; No.1; (February 2002), Cambridge University Press

Fernando Ortiz Center Website: http://afrocubaweb.com/ortizafrican.htm