The demonization of our artists on internet social media has become a blatant, recurring pattern. The new Templar knights of freedom, who live imprisoned within their own minds, spare no resource in mounting witch hunts and, as in conventional war, use whatever appears and is useful for such purposes.
What at one time was disguised under the aegis of artistic critique - but which allowed a glimpse of hegemonic and manipulative discourse to be noted - has today appropriated tools of all kinds in a desperate attempt to impose an ideological perspective. This behavior - and a quick analysis of the subject - lead to a pair of very simple theses. One could be that the counter-discourse in Cuba is being developed and well positioned on the Internet by an intelligentsia committed to the defense of authentic national culture, and the other, no less important, is the imperialist implementation of a policy of unprecedented hostility toward any Cuban cultural expression, its impact on the development of art, and in the market on both sides of the Florida Straits.
We note that sensitive domestic aspects within the Cuban revolutionary cultural process have been the focus of these attacks, which seem to have become fashionable lately, in a new effort to disrupt real, profound debates underway. Drawing attention, along these lines, is the atypical rash of racial accusations against our artists that has erupted on social media over a short period time, clearly directed and deliberate. Just a glance would be enough to understand that this campaign is intended to create confusion and torpedo discussion of a sensitive subject that is not alien to our complex socio-political environment, but with unfounded presence in Cuban music.
The most troubling aspect is the victimization produced when the racial issue is presented as the cause of unrelated evils, but which serve the purposes very well of those attempting to project Cuba’s social and musical reality as “failed.”
When Cuba is challenged, farcical allegations do not need to be proven or include graphic evidence: it is enough to believe in the good faith of an "activist" to take the circus for granted. On any other issue, in any other context, the accusations would be based on documentary or forensic evidence. For Cuba, these rules do not apply; the word of an adversary is enough for unprecedented fuss and lynchings. If someone reports - without proof - that he or she is a victim of racism on the part of Cuban music institutions, the haters throw themselves into the fray to undermine the country's credibility without a second thought. But Cuban musicians who defend our social project, or simply refrain from attacking it, suffer racist harassment on virtual platforms, including death threats. These same haters remain silent in a unanimous, complicit chorus, contradicting their own cries as pre-fabricated proponents of "non-violent activism." Mechanisms of interaction on social media on the Internet and in publications on the web are the new battlefield in the war against Cuban culture, where "likes" and mediocre posts are more important than insightful ideas and the truth.
At the same time, institutions and the press in the music sector must know how to separate sensitive, necessary debate on these issues from opportunistic harangues, in which on many occasions fake activism is a practice used to serve predatory goals, to demoralize, and have no constructive purpose. Sometimes the ambiguity of some is as deadly as the disguise of others.
Thus it is clear that we are not dealing with any social movement or new activism, or referring to genuine fighters for causes such as child protection, violence against women and the rights of black Cuban artists. On the contrary, those allegedly attempting to build a platform of free thought remain silent in the face of truly xenophobic and racist manifestations that constantly threaten our musicians and which, I reiterate, are only artful attacks on those who commit the ‘crime’ of living in Cuba, with their people, as has recently occurred with Alexander Abreu, whom this hate machine has come to call "gorilla." Because what really hurts them is that he, I, you, and many of us are called Cuba, as he sings.
