A Cubanist Reflects on Reformed US Health Care

The day is still hazy in my mind. I was sick and could barely walk. I hadn't gotten out of bed in almost a week. Finally my (now former) mother-in-law came over and let me lean on her shoulder as we walked to the neighborhood clinic. I hadn't gone before because I wasn't sure I could. As a foreigner, I was supposed to use the expensive tourist hospitals, but I doubted I could afford to go there since I hadn't bought tourist insurance. With my U.S.-based understanding that cost is part of care, I fumbled for the US$10 bill -- about half a Cuban's monthly salary -- that was tucked in my wallet as we walked out of my apartment.

In contrast to previous visits with my (then) husband, there was barely a wait at all to see the doctor. Mami explained to her that I was foreign, but sick: "Won't you help her, please?" The doctor began to ask me about my symptoms and examined me. She determined that I had strep throat and gave me a prescription for an antibiotic. I tried to pay her with the $10 I had brought but she refused. Mami then took me around the corner to the pharmacy (featuring herbs, Chinese medicines, and Western medicines) where I paid about CU$5 (less than US$0.50) for the antibiotics. The last thing I remember was taking my medicine and falling asleep until the next day.

To be clear, I do not suggest that Cuba's system is without flaws: it generally features long lines, the equipment is frequently antiquated, and foreign tourists can pay for the kinds of services they may be accustomed to in their home countries. Likewise, the reforms to the U.S. health care system will not be perfect when they are ultimately enacted in the months and years ahead. But, at long last, we are on the right track to everyone having access to affordable health care.

I share my experience with the Cuban health care system in celebration of the reforms just made law in the United States.


Contributed by L. Kaifa Roland

Advice for People Doing Research in the Caribbean? (Repost)

Do you remember the best piece of advice you received while planning to do research in the Caribbean?

For the past few years, I have collected the “words of wisdom” concerned colleagues, researchers, elders in my discipline, “everyday experts,”* friends, and family members have graciously given me before, and during, my multiple research trips to Jamaica. In a recent volume of Transforming Anthropology**, I wrote about the five themes that connected these pearls of wisdom in a piece titled, "'Don't Ride the Bus': and Other Warnings that Women Anthropologists Are Given During Fieldwork." Although the individuals giving me advice seemed dedicated to thinking up ways to help me navigate unfamiliar territory, and genuinely wanted to make me feel comfortable in this space, in reality, much of their advice and warnings only worked to remind me of three things: (1) I was traveling alone; (2) I was a foreigner; and (3) I was a woman. For almost all of my advice givers, the gendered fact of Number 3 somehow exacerbated their anxiety and concern around the first two sentiments. It seemed that being a foreign woman alone in Jamaica, and the Caribbean more broadly, was somehow dangerous and problematic. Subsequently, these well-meaning American tourists, business travelers, African diasporic researchers, and Jamaican residents called, emailed, and whispered strategies to help me deal with the obstacles I would undoubtedly face.

In my article, I conclude that the advice people gave me during my research did not necessarily help me figure out how to get around Jamaica, or do my fieldwork research more efficiently. However, their advice did tell me a great deal about the ways Jamaica, and the Caribbean more broadly, are read through racialized, nationalized, gendered, sexualized, and classed lenses. Additionally, I realized that there were not enough spaces available for those completing research in the Caribbean, (particularly women), to talk about and discuss their experiences—the daily ins and outs of “doing research,” while navigating bustling city streets, crowded beaches, lively taxi car parks, jam-packed buses, and peaceful mountain towns. The silencing of these stories does not prepare our graduate students to do better research. And the revisionist histories that we often include in the texts that we write, erasing the highs and lows of our experiences, often downplay the significance of our identities and how these social markers affect our interactions with, and research about, the Caribbean.

Therefore I ask you: How was your experience of doing research in the Caribbean? What advice would you give current and future researchers working in the diverse locations that make up the Caribbean?


*I use the term “everyday experts” to describe the individuals anthropologists have traditionally called “informants.”

**Volume 17, issue 2, October 2009.

Contributed by Bianca C. Williams

A Tale of Two Earthquakes

In the recent days following the second largest earthquake to hit the southern region of the Western hemisphere, one may notice the stark contrast in global media and public international reaction. The responses to the Jan. 12th Haitian earthquake has spawned unprecedented levels of international support and financial aid and many wonder will the commitment to Chile do the same and if not, why or why not? United States based Associated Press reporters offer a media perspective on how the impacts of the two earthquakes in Haiti and Chile are being compared, which works to influence the varied international public responses to both countries still very much in need. Are such media reactions rooted in racialized, internationally political, and economic agendas? Or, is it genuinely "A Tale of Two Quakes"?

Click here to read the full article http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,587604,00.html

Preserving Haitian History and Culture

In the aftermath of the devastating earthquake in Haiti, scholars are beginning efforts to preserve Haiti's magnificent history and culture for the future. One idea being circulated among the Association of Black Anthropologists is for those with access to primary source Haitian material to coordinate with the Haitian embassy in Washington DC to collect and store those materials until the appropriate Haitian museum is prepared to accept them. More information will be provided as it becomes available; your feedback is welcome.

In the meantime, the Wall Street Journal recently reported on the unearthing of Alan Lomax's archive of Haitian research (conducted in collaboration with Zora Neale Hurston).

Remembering Rex Nettleford

Professor Ralston Milton Nettleford, better known as Rex Nettleford, one of Jamaica’s most famous scholars and cultural icons, passed a week ago on Feb. 2, 2010, in Washington, D.C. He collapsed in his hotel room a few days before, while visiting the U.S. to raise funds for the University of the West Indies, where he acted as Vice-Chancellor Emeritus. During his 76 years with us, Professor Nettleford lived a full life as a Jamaican intellectual, social critic, and choreographer. It is difficult to list this Rhodes Scholar’s numerous achievements, however some include his authoring of books such as the seminal study on the Rastafari movement in 1961 (which he co-authored with M.G. Smith and Roy Augier), “Manley and the New Jamaica” with Norman Manley in 1971, his collection of essays titled “Mirror Mirror,” and his book “Caribbean Cultural Identity: The Case of Jamaica.” Nettleford was an artistic director of the University Singers at the UWI Mona campus for over twenty years, founded the National Dance Theatre Company of Jamaica in 1963, and acted as a chairman on the Council of the Institute of Jamaica. To get more information on Professor Nettleford’s many achievements see:

http://www.caricom.org/jsp/projects/personalities/rex_nettleford.jsp?menu=projects
www.jamaicaobserver.com/columns/Sanders-Feb-7
www.jis.gov.jm/special_sections/This Is Jamaica/nettleford.html

Through his work as a mentor, teacher, university administrator, artist, and cultural ambassador, Professor Nettleford touched the lives of many, including members of the Caribbean Studies Association across generations, geographic areas, and disciplines. CSA member Honor Ford-Smith shares her experiences with Nettleford and the impact he had on her life in her tribute titled, “In Memoriam: Rex Nettleford 1933-2010,” which you can read on the CSA website at www.caribbeanstudiesassociation.org.

We open up the comments section as a space for CSA members to share their experiences with Professor Nettleford, and to talk about the profound impact his academic and artistic pursuits had on their research in the Caribbean and their lives.

Contributed by Bianca C. Williams

The United States Makes a 'Military Base' Out of Haiti: El Sol de Mexico, Mexico

The United States Makes a 'Military Base' Out of Haiti: El Sol de Mexico, Mexico

Indigenous People Being Pushed Out of the Amazon?

With governmental negotiations underway for a multi-billion hydro-electric dam, are indigenous peoples being pushed out of the Amazon? Some sources say yes!

Brazil grants environmental licence for Belo Monte dam
By Gary Duffy
BBC News, Sao Paulo



Brazil's government has granted an environmental licence for the construction of a controversial hydro-electric dam in the Amazon rainforest.

Environmental groups say the Belo Monte dam will cause devastation in a large area of the rainforest and threaten the survival of indigenous groups.

However, the government says whoever is awarded the project will have to pay $800m to protect the environment.

The initial approval was a key step before investors could submit bids.

For full article (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8492577.stm)