Somos+ Launches a Project to Save History

Somos+ Launches a Project to Save History / Eliecer Avila
Posted on July 9, 2014

Among the first victims of January '59 was the history of Cuba,
especially the phase of the Republic. A radical rupture caused the
immediate divorce of the new generations with a past that was reduced to
four lines in scholarly books. (From Somos+)

La Havana, Cuba – "Puppet State, governing mafias, corruption, and
poverty" are the only emblems, according to the official version, of the
first half of the twentieth century in Cuba

A tour of eight libraries in Havana, while inquiring whether there
existed some available texts on the Republic, resulted in only one book
in two libraries dedicated to the theme: "The Republic of Cork" by
Rolando Rodriguez.

The disconnectedness from the Internet worsens the situation. It is such
that the access to documents, testimonials, videos, statistics and
serious studies, are reduced to such a small number of people that they
do not rely on a platform to discuss the contents.

To this situation we are already working on a series of testimonials,
with people who lived, worked, fell in love and started families, and
dreamed during the Republic. Men and women who are a living treasure
because of their accumulated experiences and unprejudiced vision of the
different realities that nuanced a whole era.

We want to investigate, from the household perspective, how that society
felt. How was the health, the education, the exercise of democratic
participation (when it existed), the press, the architecture, the cost
of living, the markets, the music, the recreational activities, the
institutions, the problems of the moment . . . finally, everything that
can provide understanding about a tumultuous period, but one that was
productive in the construction of the Cuban nation.

We also seek to shed light over many deeds and historical circumstances
that have been strongly manipulated or distorted. The objective is not
to establish truths or impose visions, but to enrich the debate and
provoke a flourishing of knowledge and vital analysis for the current age.

The people who wish to participate in this historical series can contact
us through email, by phone, or through mail.

Eliecer Avila, Engineer, (Somos+)

Cubanet, 13 June 2014

Translated by: Bianca Martinez

Spanish post
14 June 2014

Source: Somos+ Launches a Project to Save History / Eliecer Avila |
Translating Cuba -
http://translatingcuba.com/somos-launches-a-wager-to-save-history-eliecer-avila/