9 Instances of Fidel Castro and Cubans Helping Black People Fight Colonialism and White Supremacy

Cuba Supported the Angolan War of Independence The Angolan War of Independence was a struggle for control of Angola between guerrilla movements and Portuguese colonial authority. Cuba supplied the People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) rebels with weapons and soldiers to fight. The Cuban military would fight alongside the MPLA in major battles. Cuba Prevented South African Apartheid Regime From Taking Over Angola In October of 1975, South Africa invaded Angola with the support of the U.S. government to overthrow the left-wing Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) in the soon-to-be independent country. In 1988, Cuban troops intervened again and also convinced the Soviet Union to back the People's Armed Forces for the Liberation of Angola (FAPLA) offensive against UNITA, which was supported by South Africa. The impact of the victory of Black Cuban and Angolan soldiers resonated far beyond the battlefield and is credited to have lead to the overturning of white minority rule in southern Africa and the later collapse of the Apartheid Regime in South Africa, ultimately shattering of the illusion of white invincibility. Cuba Provided Assistance in ANC's Fight Against Apartheid Cuba under Castro opposed apartheid and supported the African National Congress (ANC). While in Angola, the Caribbean country provided a territorial base of support to the military wing of the African National Congress (ANC), which was exiled by the Apartheid regime. By 1990, succumbing to increased international pressures, South African President F. W. de Klerk reinstated the ANC and released Nelson Mandela. Cuba Provided Amnesty to Assata Shakur Fidel Castro granted amnesty to Joanne Chesimard, known now as Assata Shakur, because she stood up against racial oppression and injustice in the U.S., where she is still wanted for the 1973 killing of a New Jersey state trooper, Werner Foerster. Shakur was convicted under highly questionable procedures in 1979, but with the help of comrades, she managed to break out of prison and flee to Cuba, where she remains protected from the U.S. government. Castro Supported Black American Business When he came to New York in 1960 for a United Nations meeting, Castro got upset at the management of the hotel where he was staying, the Shelburne. Dissatisfied, the Cuban leader packed his bags and stormed out of the hotel with his entourage. They went to the Theresa Hotel in Harlem, where he thought people would be more sympathetic with his cause. He drew large crowds of Harlemites as he famously leaned out of the window of the hotel and waved to Black residents. Cuba Backed Venezuela Against U.S. Sanctions Even post-Castro Cuba stood up against white supremacy by backing Venezuela and galvanizing opposition throughout Latin America against Washington’s sanctions and threats against the government of President Nicolás Maduro. The Cuban leadership, under Fidel's brother Raul, forced the Obama administration to back off its harsh position against the Venezuelan people. Cuba Offers Free Medical School to Blacks In 2000 Castro announced that Cuba would provide free medical training to hundreds of low-income Americans. The late Rev. Lucius Walker, former executive director of the Interreligious Foundation for Community Organization, the New York-based group that facilitates the program stateside, said Castro's scholarship offer wouldn't be necessary if American medical schools opened their doors wider to disadvantaged minorities. "Cuba didn't create the discrimination against Black people U.S. medical schools," Walker said. "That's a U.S. phenomenon." Cuba Sent Troops to Fight Against U.S. Invasion of Grenada Cuban soldiers were deployed in Grenada during the invasion of the tiny Caribbean island by U.S. troops in 1983. The Cuban government sent troops there to support the Black power and socialist inspired government ran by Maurice Bishop, leader of the New Jewel Movement, which brought about improvements to Grenada's social and economic infrastructure. The U.S. felt threatened by this movement of Black self-determination and moved to overthrow the New Jewel Movement in Grenada. Cuban Medical Internationalism Provides Medical Personnel to the Developing World Cuban Medical Internationalism is the Cuban program, since the 1959 Cuban Revolution, of sending Cuban medical personnel overseas, particularly to Latin America, Africa and, more recently, Oceania. Cuba provides more medical personnel to the developing world than all of the G8 countries combined. The program was started by sending medical personnel to help support the anti-colonial wars in Algeria, Guinea-Bissau, Angola and other African nations. When natural disasters strike, Cuba provides humanitarian efforts all over the world, including helping with the medical crisis in Haiti due to the 2010 earthquake. In response to Hurricane Katrina, Cuba prepared to send 1,500 doctors to the New Orleans where the victims were predominantly African-Americans, although the offer was refused by the U. S. government. While western governments appeared more focused on stopping the epidemic at their borders, Cuba lead the fight against Ebola in West Africa, according to an Oct. 2014 article in The Guardian.

Related Stories

Top 5 Stories You Missed While You Were Sleeping

Cuba, Barbados Celebrate 58th Anniversary of Cuban Revolution by Working to Strengthen the Region’s Agendas

Western Nations Boycott UN Tribute that Lauded Fidel Castro as ‘Iconic and Influential’