When I met Fidel Castro in the the Spring of 2001, it was the highlight of my life. Once when asked who was the most famous person that I had met, my immediate response was Fidel Castro. There were two other people whom I would add to that category: Mohammed Ali and Yasser Arafat. I never had the fortune of meeting Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X or John Coltrane who, along with my parents, were great inspirations and role models for me. Of all of these, Fidel Castro has been the most influential person for all freedom fighters and democratic-minded people throughout the world.
We admire him because he, along with Che Guervara and a small group of men and women, overthrew a tyrant and puppet of US imperialism. We admire him because he has given aid and comfort to revolutionary movements around the world. Once when asked why Cuba had sent troops to support the independence struggles in Africa, Fidel replied without hesitation, "Africa is in our blood." Indeed it is, for at least seventy percent of all Cubans are of African descent. We admire him because in the face of assasination attempts, an economic blockade, the fall of the Soviet Union, and the lies and deceptions of the west, Castro and the Cuban people have remained steadfast in their opposition to world imperialism and in their committment to real democracy and human rights for all people. They have built health and educational systems which far exceed anything that western countries have been able to deliver for the majotity of their citizens. We should be so lucky in this great free and democratic society of America to have a modicum of health care and education as they have in Cuba. Shame on this country! Instead of emulation, we have chosen annihlation as the way. We are grateful to Fidel Castro and the Cuban people for staying on the path.
When I met Fidel Castro he said something to me which my limited Spanish ear did not pick up. I asked for a translation and was told that he said, "I bet you're keeping up a big fuss." (an obvious refence to my work at WPFW radio station in Washington, DC) I think we are all grateful that he has kept up a "big fuss" for over fifty years.
We admire him because he, along with Che Guervara and a small group of men and women, overthrew a tyrant and puppet of US imperialism. We admire him because he has given aid and comfort to revolutionary movements around the world. Once when asked why Cuba had sent troops to support the independence struggles in Africa, Fidel replied without hesitation, "Africa is in our blood." Indeed it is, for at least seventy percent of all Cubans are of African descent. We admire him because in the face of assasination attempts, an economic blockade, the fall of the Soviet Union, and the lies and deceptions of the west, Castro and the Cuban people have remained steadfast in their opposition to world imperialism and in their committment to real democracy and human rights for all people. They have built health and educational systems which far exceed anything that western countries have been able to deliver for the majotity of their citizens. We should be so lucky in this great free and democratic society of America to have a modicum of health care and education as they have in Cuba. Shame on this country! Instead of emulation, we have chosen annihlation as the way. We are grateful to Fidel Castro and the Cuban people for staying on the path.
When I met Fidel Castro he said something to me which my limited Spanish ear did not pick up. I asked for a translation and was told that he said, "I bet you're keeping up a big fuss." (an obvious refence to my work at WPFW radio station in Washington, DC) I think we are all grateful that he has kept up a "big fuss" for over fifty years.
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