“This is the most important event of the first year of the United Nations Decennial on Afrodescendants.” That is how Celeo Alvarez, leader and founder of ODECO (Organization of Community Ethnic Development), the best-known organization of Afrodescendants in Honduras, characterized a recent gathering of activists, government representatives, academics and agency representatives from international organizations at…

Despite the social transformations implemented by the Cuban revolutionary government since the early 1960s, racism continues to be a deep wound in Cuban society, one that generates countless social and cultural scars. Racist attitudes, ideas and behaviors have gained strength in Cuban society during the last two decades, during the deep economic crisis known as…