that is a very interesting blog. please expand. you left me hanging....
 

Ok. so I'll address this question straight to you Bezu. I checked your page out. Some pretty educated film references -- godard, truffaut, peckinpah. 28 years old. Atlanta. I also noticed your tagline is "CHE Filmmaker".

Before I ask about the embargo, im curious what your relationship to the Cuban Revolution is. CHE is the incarnate of what the Cuban Revolution was about. Why do you refer to yourself as the CHE Filmmaker? What is your preception of Che? What does he represent to you? Where did you learn about the history of the Revolution? How do you read your information about what is going on in the island today?

I ask you this because Che is a very complicated man. And his name is intertwined in your epitaph. I'm assuming you have answers to all these questions and I'd love to hear them.
J
 

oi!

i enjoyed the questions you posed. i've been searching for intelligently provoking conversation and you definitely brought it. but the answers...

i read the first part and felt lost and fictional, typical american, because my relationship to the cuban revolution is definitely vague in terms of specific dates, occurances, etc but the next sentence gave me some insight. I refer to myself as CHE filmmaker because of the direction im moving in film. what i want to do. a perception of Che i had was the idea to unify people of latin descent. something i stand for with peoples of african descent, but including those afrolatin peoples misplaced by the slave trade as well. another perception i had was the embodiement of malcolm x's "by any means necessary" declaration. i stand for that when it comes to my family and i strive to consider my family, my people. another yet was "anti", i feel that in my approach to filmmaking and what i want out of it. i want to make films in other countries, in the indigenous language(s). i love culture and language and trying to figure out whats in me that could possibly be lost...but the machine here would piss on that and most likely would label me a malcontent.

unfortunately i definitely need to understand more specific history to consider myself learned on the topic and only understand about cuba today from people i know who've been. i dont read the news on it in the states. i can guarantee its incorrect.

so there. im open to education.

oh. and the film refs are what i saw, i liked and learned from. thats a whole 'nother topic. but i know it all circles back to a pushing of the envelope. is that revolutionary? who knows. its just how i do.


Zu
 

Dear Bezu,

Intelligently provoking conversation you say? Well, you came to the right place. I don't think any Cuban (american or one living on the island today) ever gets sick of dissecting and explaining the Revolution. There are however, 2 sides to the story...or as Robert Evans says..."There's 3 sides to every story. My side, your side, and the truth."

In fact, wearing a Che shirt will most likely get you stoned in Miami. So let me begin by saying that you found a calm Cuban-American. One who probably reacts with the same emotional reflexes but also one who is trying to evolve and bust out of the propaganda shoved down my throat by both sides of the Florida Straits.

To make this doc, I've spent the last years unlearning what I've learned, in order to get to the bottom of things. So I gobbled up all the right wing books in Miami. And then I gobbled up some Left wing books when I went to Cuba... and somewhere, in the middle, i have found my own personal answers.

The exchange me (and my team) had with the Cuban rappers tossed out years of misinformation, and instead, a new dialogue was born. One where they could teach us, and we could teach them. Listen, I know its chic to hate the United States right now. But I have to say, I believe in our Constitution and the founding fathers. There are SO MANY freedoms that I have taken for granted. And its not till you see it taken away, that you appreciate it when you come back. So yeah, things are fucked here. But we have media (not entirely), we have the internet (not entirely), and we can mobilize here (not entirely). But I can stand on a stoop in NYC and say "fck Bush" without being arrested. That is a big deal.

But back to the topic at hand.....I don't have the answers myself. Che died early. His legacy never fully unfolded. He won some great battles. He also made some mistakes. Was he fighting the good fight? That is open to debate and it depends on your point of departure. But I do know the stakes are deep. If I write the wrong comment on Che here on the internet, I have to either worry about my family's safety in Miami, or I have to worry about my rapper friends in Cuba. What does that say about us Cubans? That we are violently opposed on the topic. Go buy a book called "Cuba Confidential" written by Anne Louise Bardach if you'd like to learn more about our little family feud as a culture. The beef is too deep to explain.

My mild curiousity for asking you about Che is because most times I've seen somebody wearing a T-shirt, I ask them why. The answers usually come back with the same response....an identification with high ideals: a sense of being a revolutionary, a sense of being a kick-ass guerilla fighter (which by the way, Che could live in the jungles for months), and lastly, for being a Rebel. The rappers in Cuba are all inspired by Che. They grew up reading his poetry (thus their attraction to rapping = Poetry + beat.). Keep in mind, he was always a dead guy to them, therefore free of any folly or human error. They were taught to think like Rebels in school. But can they really be rebels in their own society? The redderick is confusing to them. Their history books teach them to question injustice (like Fidel and Che did), yet they are not 100% free to speak their minds. If they disagree with the party line, they are called "Counter-Revolutionaries". But who really are the Revolutionaries, here? Its the big paradox about living in Cuba today.

For me, growing up in Miami, I also heard lots of stories about Che and his experience with my parents generation....executing families, forcefullly installing the new government in 1959. Several prisoners of Conscience live in Miami as well so I heard those stories. People that survived prisons for 30 years for wanting to speak their minds, to vote, to keep their private property which now belongs to The State. Che was head of the military and carried out Executive orders. Dont get me wrong. Revolutions are bloody so its not surprising. But as I said, Che is a complicated man. Soooooo, yes, he was a poet, a writer, a guerilla fighter, and yes, he was an assasin. He got his hands dirty in lots of things. Several years have passed, and what strangely remains is a Logo, a Brand, an Idea. A vague idea. A romantic idea. As you said, he did try to unify Latin America. Nobody ever told me that before as an answer. I could see how he represents that one thought.

So when a cuban-american gets retarded on you for wearing his face (and I've seen it happen over and over again), try to overlook the cocky assholic deameanor they condescendingly seem to have with you, and just see it as alot of baggage. Because that's what it is. Valid or not. Cubans are hurt in many ways...wounded even. The ones on the island for the fact their dream went haywire and the system cannot sustain itself economically (among several other issues)...and the Cuban Exiles, whose homes and businesses were taken away, and for 45 years, have been fantasizing to go back home. Its also cool to hate the Cuban Americans who come off as greedy fat cats...but the truth of the matter is, some good families were really forced out of their homes too. Its one monstrous emotional build-up that needs some airing and healing because it is suffering serious infection.

And yeah, Che seems to be the damn posterboy to the whole mess. As I said, he died early in the Revolution. The other bearded guy is the architect to the Matrix. If you ever want to read Che's resignation letter, I'd be happy to post it. Its quite a letter. He basically says, "my job is done here. I'm outtie." Nobody knows what was in Che's mind before dying except Che.

God's got a sick sense of humour. Che spent his whole life fighting consumerism and he ends up being a face on a coffee mug. So in some small way, I dont get heated about it. I laugh at the logo. Its all a twisted joke and poetic ending for, well... a poet.

p.s. my only advice is if you're going to wear his face on you, just know your shit. Because people are going to ask. Its just a respect thing.
 

i know i'm two years late, but...

i know my response only touches on part of this two-way conversation between j and bezu, but i also want to add, as a cuban american (my mom is cuban) that the atrocities of the castro regime (which also started while che was still alive) have affected my family greatly.

my uncle (rather, my mom's uncle), which i don't know where he is to this day, was arrested just for being gay...and tortured in prison - The Presidio Modelo was the name of the prison and it was on the Isla de Pinos, now known as Isla de Juventud...yeah, fucking right - in cuba. when he was released he was never the same. he sadly lost his mind and we took care of him by bringing him to the states and taking him in...i remember seeing him when he was little, with a rag over his head...mumbling, scared to death all the time. but he then disappeared and we don't know what became of him.

another relative of my mom's was arrested and had his nails pulled out during a questioning routine...e.g., tortured, for suspicions of anti-revolutionary activities (same prison). not to mention the other relative that joined the communist party and was required by the party, i.e., castro, to bring his wife and children to the firing squad killings of counter-revolutionaries DAILY at El Morro and La Cabana.

it was and is a nightmare situation. thankfully, all of our family is out now. but one of the younger ones hid inside a wall for months hiding from the cuban government before finally committing suicide for fear of getting caught.

so please, understand when cubans and cuban-americans scoff at the notion that americans without knowledge of the history of cuba wear slogan and t-shirts with che on them. i'm not the type to jump down anyone's throat, though. i just think people should inform themselves better before throwing on a shirt with the face of a communist revolutionary...or any political leader, for that matter.

-becca
 

correction. i meant "i remember seeing him when i was little," not "when he was little."
 

"So when a cuban-american gets retarded on you for wearing his face (and I've seen it happen over and over again), try to overlook the cocky assholic deameanor they condescendingly seem to have with you, and just see it as alot of baggage. Because that's what it is. Valid or not. Cubans are hurt in many ways...wounded even."..:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

I know this may come late, almost by a year, but after reading this statement I have to disagree. ..:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />America is a land that was founded on freedom of speech, religious expression, etc... I don't think that a cuban-american's negative response to a Che shirt is wrong. In fact as you mentioned, he was a murderer in Cuba regardless of the reason for it. Revolution is a word that can be interpreted bad and good. The Revolution in Cuba was not good, which is why our families are here today. People who were something in their land who came to nothing. People who had everything and gave it all away to have freedoms to raise their children and grandchildren in a country that allows freedom of expression. The cuban revolution caused the island to be stuck in time, it has not left the 1950s. Of course the president of cuba at the time of revolution was not so wonderful himself, Castro and Che's revolution has claimed a lot more lives. Castro and Che themselves used nazi tactics on the cuban people. Che fair? Those who were locked up had no trial. Most were executed without even having a trial. Regardless of this point, wearing a Che shirt in front of a cuban american is no different then wearing an adolf hitler shirt in front of a jewish person. But this is a country with freedom of speech, but do not say that a cuban-american has no right to be get offensive with someone who wears a shirt parading a person that caused them to lose everything they had. I believe that if your going to look at someone or idolize someone make sure on who that person is. Most kids nowadays get a different picture of Che, Motorcycle Diaries for example. With all the good and never the bad. Che may have singled handily caused South America to be a third world country. His revolution to give to those that had nothing from those who had everything is a worthy ideal, but to what extent. Putting a country in the hands of those who have no education is the worst thing to do. It’s like putting a chicken in charge of a city. That’s really all I have to say about that. Thank you.

-Eduardo Luis Heredia

 

 

you took the words right out of my mouth, eduardo.
 

I just read this post 50 years late, but worth addressing...

Im not saying we cant feel an emotional reaction when someone wears a cheshirt. obviously, if our parents generation were wronged, then its a natural reflex. however, I've seen cuban-americans get extremely condescending and insulting to someone who just doesnt see it their way. all im saying is that I've been in the same situation too. what i've noticed is that if I can control my emotions, and actually begin a calm rational explanation of how we (as cuban-americans who have personal history with the guy) see it from our end, then sometimes you have a better chance at leaving an impact and affecting someones thoughts. becuase we really dont mean it as an attack (at least I dont)....

its usually just a cuban-american feeling pasionate about the topic, and it gets miscontrued as an antagonistic slap. im not saying we SHOULDN'T have negative reactions to a che shirt. we are entitled to our feelings cuz its laced with first-hand disappointment. I just feel we can bring it down a notch instead of ripping someones head off in a civil conversation. but i do love the passion in us, dammit!

Another thing is that us cubans have to STOP doing this whole "hitler/che" comparison. it really alienates our arguments and its 2 different scars in history. Again, instead of helping the cause, it just pisses people off. Hitler was a very specific dark corner in world history so lets not compare che guevara to this other sense of damage.

Hitler was a much different scam.

J
 

j.

wonderful response. but let me clear one thing up. i own ZERO che merchandise! not one piece. i don't believe in wearing something i do not fully understand. but then one might come to me and ask "but zu, you've got his name on your profile...you say you are CHE filmmaker". but again, i hark back to my response in the blog and feel justified in that. "che FILMMAKER" not "CHE". "CHE" is the adjective in that statement, not the noun. i believe there is a huge difference there. so trust, im not stupid enough to wear or even claim to be any incarnation of Che outside of myspace. so for clarity's sake...i'll never get "stoned" in Cuba or even Miami because im searching for answers, education, provocation and growth. i may seem stupid, but im not. i've traveled and educated and continue to learn myself intentionally and unintentionally on the "correct behavior". a worldwide political correctness if you will. because there are "liberties" here that do make life easier...but is that necessary? no i wouldn't want to be possibly be struggling with my original ancestors in africa, south america or on the RESERVATIONS stateside, but something tells me that if i was i would be just fine. in fact the freedoms i have only add to the disillusionment ALL americans suffer from. the ones that can't handle walking down the hall of the brasilian hotel to piss. they want a pisser in their room. i have lived a good yet hard life so far. i've been from homeless to Sundance Film Festival and back. i've seen murder, crime, rape, drug abuse and anything else you can think of. so im not confused on what this country has to offer. these things happen other places as well, but this country plays this worldwide role that is DISGUSTING. and i dont want to be part of it. i left the country for the first time when i was 17 and was close to staying out. because i felt with time i would blend in some place else and eventually, as i traveled more and more, i found this to be true. language is my only immediate barrier at times. from south america to europe to canada and through the states i found that...i look like just like "them". skin color? looks like theirs. learn the language...and no one will ever see me again. for better or worse. but im willing to ride like that, because i admit that i like struggle. i like to feel like i have overcome something. there is no greater test for yourself and no greater reward than pushing outside of your comfortability zone. but im rambling....

your remarks on the CONSTITUTION kinda lit my fire though...

people claim to understand the ONGOING struggle of my people in this country. cats think the shit's over but lets be logical about this. just less than 40 years ago cats were beating the shit out of my people in this "great country". 40 years is nothing. my dad is a shade over 50. so what does that mean? it means if he is alive and HE was being spit at and cursed at and beaten then the PEOPLE that did that to him are still about! this is one of the most overlooked facts in this country today. things have "changed" depending on who you ask. and i for one don't get pounded in my face with a milkshake when i go to the library...at least not physically...but its still there. only an IDIOT would think its gone. have the people on the other side of epithets hurled at my father and mother changed? what did they teach their children? either DIRECTLY or INDIRECTLY? is that why i went through what i went through in private school? i believe so. THERE HASN'T BEEN ENOUGH TIME TO SAY THAT THERE IS NO MORE RACISM or that NO ONE STILL HARBOURS RACIST IDEALS AND FEELINGS! anytime cats in the middle east are still fighting after THOUSANDS of years, i just cant logically believe that this "great country" can magically erase an embedded system in less than 40! and i don't expect them too. i cant believe in a CONSTITUTION that does not truly support me. this country was founded on counter-revolutionary tactics, keep in mind. your "FOUNDING FATHERS" were traitors! and i never believed for one second that the principles they "intended" to set for this country did not have alterior motives. otherwise my people would have never been enslaved and forced off THEIR land onto reservations. freedom of speech? yes, stand on a stoop and hollar "Fuck Bush"...no "reprecussions". walk up to a police officer and say "Fuck You!" and see if you don't get arrested. freedom of speech? i mean, my folks weren't allowed to vote for almost 100 years after this country's inception, among other things as we all know...so believing in that original CONSTITUTION is a mistake. because it doesn't support YOU past its "founding" ideologies. can we PRODUCE media? yes. do we "have" the media? no. not "not entirely", but no. anytime i can leave the country and read a different side to the World Trade bombings in Paris there's a problem. propaganda is at its worst in this country! dont be confused. and this comes from someone who can tallk what i talk because i've never had "favor" within this country. other races can blend in. for example various latins can play WHITE to gain favor. I can never do that. and whether you do or dont it doesn't matter, what matters is you'll never fully understand the WORLDWIDE stigma associated with being black. and speaking of paradoxical situations...what's worse than the paradigm of rap's portrayal that "blacks are FINALLY successful stateside"? we know that's not the case. bling, bling? please. what? hip hop? give me a break. people think hip hop and rap is "black" because they're not BLACK. otherwise they'd know better. that doesn't define me. its an artistic form of (hopefully) intelligently written thought intertwined with music. and to get even deeper with you, its nothing more than a manifestation of the slave spirituals my people held on to centuries ago. cries from a people for toleration, acceptance, freedom, opportunity and healing. step into a true baptist church in the south, listen to the spirtuals and see if you can't spot the resounding similarities. so hip hop and rap hasn't enriched the african population living in the states. its just another thing. the plight of my people in this country is a mixture of things and i have NO PROBLEMS placing fault within my OWN for many things they do. and i have written a feature and exhibited a short about a African-American Stalinist serial killer only killing blacks who perpetuate serialized stereotypes for the betterment of his race. so i leave no stone unturned and dont run from reality. im not yellow.

we can mobilize here? if that's what you call it. try it and see what you encounter. the internet? i guess. but my account is on watch because i stay writing anti-american sentiments. "freedom"? or modified totalitarianism?

and keep in mind that same CONSTITUTION is about to stop latins from coming here. again WRONG, WRONG, WRONG!!!!!!!! FUCK THAT! every one wants a piece of this devil's pie...so come and get it. thats how i feel. cause im on my way out.

let's see...thanks...i will go buy the book.

now. the way you spoke of the conundrum facing Cuban rappers and what they are taught..."to question injustice (like Fidel and Che did), yet they are not 100% free to speak their minds. If they disagree with the party line, they are called "Counter-Revolutionaries". But who really are the Revolutionaries, here?" no parallels to what i've mentioned earlier in this response? no parallels to my feelings? i've been dying to go to Cuba because i like to see the real for myself. but can i go? why? how much is the fine again? and the yellow bellied government sneaks that FINE to you in the mail! for what? for my quest of knowledge and wordly idealism? what are they scared of? and why? we are only scared of that which we do not understand or have an explanation for. i will to rid myself of fear and transcend into a state of omnipresent informational knowledge. but most people can't handle what i just said. like airplanes, it soars thousands of miles above their heads.

as you cannot understand the plight of my people, i cannot pretend to understand the first hand knowledge you have of the Revolution and of Che's direct influence on your countrymen. but to classify what remains as a "Logo" is disheartening. whatever the case may be. how do you think i feel when i travel outside the country and see Malcolm X t-shirts? or Angela Davis pictures on other myspace members pages FROM CUBA nonetheless? does it anger me? do i doubt what they know about those people and what gives them the right to display those images? no. im glad that they SOMEHOW, through the midst of MISINFORMATION, PROPAGANDA and anti-American sentiments found their way to a piece of ME. and its only maturity that allows me to do that. years ago i might have got on you how you got on me if i saw you wearing a BLACK POWER shirt. like she don't know shit about shit! so why is she wearing that? and i have gone back to that briefly in this blog, but thats because i need to show that all REVOLUTION is not the same but the CORE of them all IS. i identify with any revolution i've ever heard or learned of. from the french revolution to the panamanian one. the CORE is all the same. a desire for immediate change, by any means necessary. so rock your black power t-shirt, because whether you understand my struggle, or dont, you IDENTIFY with it...somehow. so we instantly are kindred spirits. game reckognizes game, ya know? its NOT my job to define your identification with the black power fist. it IS my responsibility to come to you, talk to you, build with you because hopefully we share something. a desire for something better. on whatever soil....
also.......my heroes NEVER become just a "Logo, a Brand, an Idea. A vague idea. A romantic idea," because that disparages what they stood for. a BRAND is marketed, peddled and consumed, an IDEOLOGY is ingested, philosophically and enigmatically argued and then finally brandished. big difference. Che, Malcolm, Angela, Biko, Nat Turner...those aren't brand names.


overlooking behaviors is a learned skill. and i'm still not offended by any of your remarks to me. my ire has been irked, but all in the spirit of understanding and healthy progression. as i've said, i've grilled many like im being grilled currently. but as you can see, i wont agree to back down. i will only agree to learn and continue to mold my personal stance. knowledge is something that can't be taken away. and is THE scariest tool you can possess. i mean...what does one do when they realize they can't pull the wool over your eyes...

i see similarities between the cuban plight and situational circumstances facing my people in this country and worldwide. but they are only similarities. I CANNOT UNDERSTAND THE CUBAN REVOLUTION EVER! i wasn't there and im not cuban. i can however relate...GENTRIFICATION anybody? my people are being forced out of their homes now. to make way for expensive ass condos right before my eyes. NY, LA, ATLANTA, MIAMI, CHICAGO, CINCINNATI...i could go on and on. but...that's the government and freedoms you dig. not me, my friend.

Post CHE's letter. please...

and although i believe Che wasn't a fan of consumerism, i also believe in a spirtitual realm. and in that realm i do not believe Che would let anything happen currently that he didn't see as useful. so as ironic as it seems, whether he has evolved yet again inside of that "realm" or not, he was nowhere near stupid. i doubt he agrees with the peddling of his image, but im sure he respects the masses he has affected for better or worse. take your film for example. its a hot topic and has potential to shed light on a myriad of items. BUT is it any less independent or rooted in cuban sentimentalism because Charlize is a producer? did you sell out by hooking up with her? no. you need to reach the MASSES! as long as the truth inside of yourself as a filmmaker remains unnerved you did your job. and you needed to tell your story, again...by any means necessary. intagibles you are able to bring on board from hollywood producers to financial assistance to the rappers themselves only intensify your goal and inch you closer to the WORLDWIDE AWARENESS im sure you desire for your film. so i dont think its a joke. it is a logical metamorphoses, quite typical with martyrdom.

so. again. there you go. im open. and i hope i didn't insult you during my rampant scribbles. but i only know what i know and i can only do what i do.



and p.s. my ire was irked again....

i'm on the path to knowing "my shit". but like Che endured growing pains during that South American exploration, so do i. i WANT people to ask, because im smart enough to defend myself and know I speak from a place of truth. if i didn't have "respect" i would NEVER have associated myself with him. nor would i have been man enough to admit to my CURRENT informational shortcomings, while concurrently seeking the true knowledge. i dont get down like that. its "respect" that allows me to even give a shit. to seek purified factoids opposed to indulging in the same Bob Marley Che Guevera Malcom X "branding" you speak of. right or wrong?

a disrespectful cat would have never responded to you and would STILL WEAR THEIR FAKE ASS RED CHE SHIRT! understand...
 

Bezu...

I just re-read the entry I wrote in a delirious haze last night. I just want to re-iterate, Im not an expert on this stuff. It's just my opinion, and I too am open to be educated. Because there are really no wrong or right answers here.....only schooled thoughts, personal history, and some emotional responses. We are all humans.

So feel free to spit anything out. Others too.
J
 

hey!

i responded. and i'm still open for discussion...i gotta get my knowledge. thats the only thing i can take with me once i leave...
 

Bezu,
Just like your family was wronged (and I dont know their story), so were my peeps. If you can navigate past the idealogies, the geography, the religion, the culture--- it really is all about one universal story.....and yeah, racism is at the heart of most of them. so now that we know we are not experts, its ok to clash a minute until we figure shit out....

I just sent a Taurus friend of mine his horoscope reading of the week from one of my favorite writers...
The advice applies to all of us though. We must have these awkward and uncomfortable outbursts. Trust me, I had alot of them in Cuba. But I evolved from them.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): "Nothing would be done at all," said Cardinal
Newman, "if a man waited until he could do it so well that no one could
find fault with it." Let's forgive his sexist language and concentrate on
the truth he articulates, which is profoundly apt for you right now. It's
important that you try to do what you can't do very well--that you not
use your lack of mastery as an excuse to avoid practicing an immature
skill. Be willing to look foolish as you improve, and paradoxically you will
often appear brave and inspired.

J
 

it is all the same story...and thats all i want cats to know. no one struggle should supercede another. to get caught up with comparisons might be actually be reveling any antiquated evils past, rather than concentrating on the situation at hand and the positive influence on the foreseeable future ahead.

clashing is great...and totally okay because one who stands for nothing will fall for anything. you have infused realistically heartfelt passion in what you've said so, thats to be admired, volleyed and even imitated.

the horo was cool. im pretty evel keneval these days so i look "foolish" often. i dont know about brave and inspired in my case. and i hope no one has had those thoughts about me. hahah. just thinking about it makes me laugh.
 

Took me a while to get back about your post...

First off. How the fuck am I supposed to know that you dont own a Che T-shirt? your Myspace signature is "Che Filmmaker". I'm not sure how that is different in your eyes. Whether its cloth on your body or a nickname you assigned yourself. It is a spirit you are keeping nearby to self-identify. It took me by surprise that you put T-owning people into a lower category (as you say, "STILL WEAR THEIR FAKE ASS RED CHE SHIRT!")....

A hat, is a bumpersticker, is a coffeemug, is a nickname, is a keychain, is a t-shirt....its all kinda one big ball to me. You rock it, You pay homage to him. Period. I respect your freedom to rock it, but im just pointing this out. Im sure other people who have perused your site have imagined you owning Che paraphernalia.

I've heard alot of things in my days...but I've never been told, "I use Che as my adjective, not as my noun."

Im also not insulting him or you by saying he's turned into a vague idea...

Rather throughout the years, Che's characteristics have been distilled down, and the "rockstar" side to him got inflated. All I keep saying is....CHE WAS COMPLICATED. People get so damn defensive about this. I never said you were stupid. In fact, my first statement said, "your film references are educated". Jeez.

James Brown was a genius. He was also a dark motherfucker notoriously cruel to women, and some substance issues. But he was a muse at the same time. Yeah, Che is a muse to some if you grab certain things (writings, revolutionary iconogrpahy, etc.) from his life. But to deny all the other facets to him, does not make an accurate picture.

so when I say che was a dark motherfucker and messed up in his own ways, im not some hardline right-winger who cant understand the ideology of what they were TRYING to fight for. If anything, I can stretch my mind into several open-minded positions and imagine the "dream" of what he (and Camilo Cienfuegos--- who nobody mentions, and Huber Matos, etc.) were fighting for before it got kooky....

About America's place in all this --- Listen, we WERE NOT the good guys in the 60's. I know that. In fact, I think America bitch-slapped latin america so hard that it we made it ripe for a revolution....

I'm just analyzing it from the viewpoint of what happened 45 years *AFTER* the fight.....the REALITY of the society they fought for. Forgive me if I just saw communism not work in practice with my own people. People in Russia felt the same way. Eastern Europe for that matter.

Do you really think America is so unlivable and hateful? Ok. I respect that. Having said that, 2 summers ago, I lived in a communist society for 2 months. I observed how the system runs.... the checks and balances, lets say....

I actually believe that with all the factors leading up in your life, you should try it too. I think you are experiencing a little "rose-colored" glasses syndrome. and yes, as much as you'll find complexity, beauty, truth, intelligence, hardship, holistic medicine, intellectuals, etc......you'll see some other fatal flaws. Im happy here where I have the luxury of voting and owning my own property, thank you very much.

I *DO* think the States are such a mess that we need people to believe they can make changes here rather than "player-hate" on the States constantly. Not all Americans are bad. Its shades of grey's.....i dont want to fall into one of those black and white conversations about America versus other countries...

Anyway, I encourage you to take your trips..... its quite a wake-up call. Im sure when a cuban visits the states, its another sort of wake-up call. In fact, I know it is, cuz I have spoken to those guys too.

Also, I dont think Racism is gone. I'm not an idiot. Its the root of all these problems. I'll never say the word "founding fathers" again to you....i was merely discussing a whole other set of laws that were implemented when America started which were maverick at the time. Yes, there was genocide, and slavery -- the blood is on ALL our hands, and kharmically, we have to live with that and try to give something back.

The one thing I see in common with you and me, is carrying this torch for your ancestors. It's exhausting isnt it? But i also believe, in my case at least, that there is this specific pain and also obsessive resentment with how things were done. And its a trap. Its our job as the youth to learn from that, and turn the page, and step up our game....Just remember, they were beating your father, even your grandfather, but not you. Your place in this story is different. You have to let go of that obsessive resentment.

If we can walk away from this "victimization narrative" we revel in sometimes, maybe we can actually get some shit done......and again, I say this cuz my people play victim too....im just tired of it.

I'm gonna quote Soandry, the Cuban rapper, on this one:

"What we have to do is that between us we find the possibility for a better future, for ourselves, for our ancestors and for all those people that fought for a better society. There is no sense that we fight because at the end of the day we are the same. Forget about those bad attitudes you have inherited- the past is the past we have to look forward. Looking at the past is to waist your time. You look back when it is time to gain experience, but your eyes have to be on the future.

I think the most intelligent thing is for us to walk together because in division is where the enemy conquers. There are a lot of people on this side that think like they do over there. But for a lot of people, it is not convenient that people over there and here think the same.

Thats where the division is.
Thats it.
That we have to go forward together.
Thats the only solution."
-Soandry (East of Havana)

J
 

USA TODAY

CHE GUEVARA SHOULD BE SCORNED -- NOT WORN
By Ryan Clancy

Che Guevara is everywhere these days. Not literally. He is, after all, dead. But 38 years after meeting his demise in the Bolivian jungle, the communist revolutionary has re-emerged as a pop culture icon. In dorm rooms, on the runways of Paris and on merchandising kitsch, the legendary Alberto Korda image of a beret-clad Guevara is the epitome of cool. Don't be surprised if during tonight's trick-or-treating, Che shows up among the goblins. He's that ubiquitous.
Hollywood has taken notice, too. Last year's indie hit The Motorcycle Diaries, which traced Che's youthful wanderlust trip across South America, is soon to be followed by a major studio production featuring Benicio Del Toro.

Che's rock star status will probably be fleeting. Just ask Motley Crüe. But long after Jay-Z stops rapping, "I'm like Che Guevara with bling on," Che will retain the exalted position he has held since the Vietnam War as a symbol of peace and justice. And that is a problem.

Che demanded worldwide revolution, even if it meant a stream of death and misery. He said the utopia that could be built on the ashes of the old world would make the suffering worthwhile. That's why he advocated a nuclear exchange during the Cuban missile crisis.

In fact, if you read through Che's speeches, with his constant refrain of glorious martyrdom, they're remarkably similar to another well-known "revolutionary" the tall, bearded one holed up somewhere on the Afghanistan-Pakistan border.

Che hated the United States and the global free market system that sustained it. Just ask him. "Let us sum up our hopes for victory: total destruction of imperialism by eliminating its firmest bulwark, the oppression exercised by the United States of America."

If Che's world vision had prevailed, it's safe to say that Apple founder Steve Jobs would have never brought us the iPod. After all, it's tough to innovate when you're stuck behind a donkey farming turnips for the proletariat.

For those who sell Che merchandise, this history is beside the point. Yakov Grinberg, a 20-year-old clerk at Freaks, a shop in Manhattan's trendy East Village, freely concedes: "Most of these people obviously have no idea what they're wearing."

Che isn't the only erstwhile commie scoring cool points either. Chairman Mao and the Soviet hammer-and-sickle are showing up on hipster gear as well. Who knew that bread lines were the new black?

Against this backdrop of ignorance, it's not surprising that Che, as a populist symbol of uncompromising defiance who stood up for the poor and oppressed, transcends the real Che the one who said judicial review for executions was an "archaic bourgeoisie detail."

What then are we to make of Che Guevara? Che apologists insist he fought "for the people." But when it came to the basics of helping "the people," such as not killing them, he was less than stellar.

Most historians agree upon one fact, however, that can shape our understanding of Che. He was a loser. Big time. I'm talking McGovern in '72, Saddam in '91 and the Chicago Cubs every year since '08.

Che fomented unrest in Argentina, Bolivia, the Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, Haiti, Panama and the African Congo, and every expedition was an abject failure. His single enduring political achievement, Cuba, is not even threatening enough to make the Axis of Evil.

So, instead of Che being held up as a beacon of peace and justice, let us hereafter revel in his futility. He'll be an exemplar of the idea that hard work does not always pay off. In fact, I already have a new shirt in mind. Take the same iconic picture of Che and just add the heading, "I tried to conquer the evil Yankee imperialists and all I got was this stupid T-shirt."

Ryan Clancy is a freelance writer living in New York City.

POSTED ON 10/30/2005
http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/editorials/2005-10-30-guevara-edit_x.htm?POE=click-refer
 

AND I AGREE!

no reason to fuel the other conversations. it wont let me respond to your second blog.
 

j.

hmmmm. we just go back and forth dont we. i really dont think you understand me at times. thats the problem with interpreting what someone writes and the resulting conundrum of an educated writer trying to write EXACTLY what he means. leaving no stone unturned. leaving NO room for interpretation. same problem i faced in acting. the thing to me was clarifying my objectives so that when pursued on stage would only leave you, the audience, with one thought of what my motivation was. thats excellence. i have yet to acheive that in anything.

but yes. j. we're going in circles much like the comments at the end of this particular blog.

but...hey. why not hit a quick highlight just for clarifications sake.

and hey. im actually gonna spark up for this one so i dont get too crazy cause im really trying to get to the bottom of this shit. and i've actually been taken off my game a bit...

the whole CHE shirt thing. like i said. i dont have one because i dont want that particular attention. maybe it draws the same on here. but no one have beefed at me for it but you. i identify with che. that could get me killed maybe. but hey man. i believe what i believe. i can't justify it to you any further than i have already.
it is different through my eyes. thats just the way it is, j.


and please. i dont USE che as MY adjective, like he is beneath me or some shit. i only meant in that context, in that sentence, on my blurb, it is in fact a modifier. that isn't to disrepect anybody.

uh. i know you dont think im stupid and vice versa. but in heated conversation people say interesting things. none of this is personal. but i will return any fire blown my way as intelligently as i can. i have a strong, yet very reserved personality.

i am not denying other facets of che. i am trying to learn them. maybe in a year i wont feel the same way. but quite possibly i will.

again a misconception. or misinterpretation. america is not unlivable. and to say that is illogical. america is hateful, but that only comes from the pursuit of the dollar. capitalist styley. please. you can't say im living the "rose colored" glasses syndrome. you dont know my circumstances past or present. and maybe all im looking for are the POSITIVES (complexity, beauty, truth, intelligence, hardship, holistic medicine, intellectuals, etc) not the negatives. i dont want to underestimate those negatives, but i wont underestimate myself either. and for your information. your vote doesn't count. and the property you own can be seized at any time.

the "founding fathers" blood is NOT on my hands. trust. you can claim that if YOU want to. not the kid.

we do carry the torch. hence why we clash so much. but we are learning from each other as well. i still think we are the same. the slave trade mixed it all up. and that if you are CUBAN-AMERICAN or LATINA and not WHITE like you also said, you might peep that one day.

ancestral differences apart.

and it is very exhausting. so much to account for.


beating my family members physically, yes. beating me mentally, yes. differences? yes. similarities? yes.

my peeps play victim all the time and i dont support that. i dont support disenfranchising yourself from your history either.

soandry is genius. i feel the same way.

zu


i think i did a good job of keeping cool.
 

Once again, I re-read my post-up..and I hope I have not offended. I am not implying you are playing "the victim" card......second of all, who the hell is a white girl to be saying this shit? well, im latina, so is that even white? sometimes, I dont even know how to categorize myself.

So I'll speak from the view I have from within my own culture....

The Miami Cubans do a great deal of "but we were wronged and wasnt that horrible" type of speech.... and the Cubans in Cuba spend all their political chats on how "the american embargo holds them down and isnt that horrible" type of speech.....

Frankly to me, its going in circles. Its alot of bitching with no solution. Instead of addressing the issue at hand--- WHAT IS BEST FOR THE FUTURE OF THE COUNTRY--- I really dont care to fuel any more of the other conversations. Its Trite.

I'm not sure how that really compares to your problems, so forgive me if that came out wrong. I just needed to clarify.
J
 

mani people in michigan don't even know who che is:

I was working in a 7-11 and they had an article about national geographic about cuba and they showed all these kids holding up the famous "che foto"
= so I asked the michigan americans, who is this???
here's what they came up with.
1. jesus christ super star
2. bob marley
3. benito mussolini
4. count nostradamus
5. the zig zag man
6. fidel castro
7. rasputin
just to let the pro-che and the anti-che cubans realize how much confusion they are sending to those outside the "bubble of cuba" with that crazy foto of che from 1961.

oh well, there must be a reason for this.? yes? no?  there's a god? there aint no god?
this is perhaps relevant to the proche/antiche crowd....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ffb-ImaUi8k&session=gAJ9cQEoVQxlcnJvcl9maWVsZHNxAmNfX2J1aWx0aW5fXwpzZXQKcQNdhVJxBFUGZXJyb3JzcQVdcQZVCG1lc3NhZ2VzcQddcQhVUVlvdXIgdmlkZW8gcmVzcG9uc2Ugd2lsbCBiZSBwb3N0ZWQgYWZ0ZXIgaXQgaGFzIGJlZW4gYXBwcm92ZWQgYnkgdGhlIHZpZGVvIG93bmVyLnEJYXUu

 

http://www.theage.com.au/news/World/Castro-visits-Che-Guevara-home/2006/07/23/1153593196607.html

 

 

i forgot to include jimi hendrix y charlie manson

mani people in michigan don't even know who che is:

I was working in a 7-11 and they had an article about national geographic about cuba and they showed all these kids holding up the famous "che foto"
= so I asked the michigan americans, who is this???
here's what they came up with.
1. jesus christ super star
2. bob marley
3. benito mussolini
4. count nostradamus
5. the zig zag man
6. fidel castro
7. rasputin

8. charley manson
9. jimi hendrix
just to let the pro-che and the anti-che cubans realize how much confusion they are sending to those outside the "bubble of cuba" with that crazy foto of che from 1961.

oh well, there must be a reason for this.? yes? no?  there's a god? there aint no god?
this is perhaps relevant to the proche/antiche crowd....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ffb-ImaUi8k&session=gAJ9cQEoVQxlcnJvcl9maWVsZHNxAmNfX2J1aWx0aW5fXwpzZXQKcQNdhVJxBFUGZXJyb3JzcQVdcQZVCG1lc3NhZ2VzcQddcQhVUVlvdXIgdmlkZW8gcmVzcG9uc2Ugd2lsbCBiZSBwb3N0ZWQgYWZ0ZXIgaXQgaGFzIGJlZW4gYXBwcm92ZWQgYnkgdGhlIHZpZGVvIG93bmVyLnEJYXUu

 

http://www.theage.com.au/news/World/Castro-visits-Che-Guevara-home/2006/07/23/1153593196607.html

 

SODERBERGH TURNS A CHE DOUBLE PLAY

Del Toro set to play revolutionary in Guevara pics

By MICHAEL FLEMING

Steven Soderbergh
Soderbergh
Steven Soderbergh is finally ready to make his long-gestating biopic of Latin American revolutionary Che Guevara.

And the film's backers are betting that Guevara, who continues to sell books and T-shirts almost 40 years after his execution in Bolivia, has an aura large enough to sustain two films.

Soderbergh will shoot them back to back, using mostly Spanish dialogue. Production begins next May in Mexico and other South American locations.

Benicio Del Toro will play Guevara, and Javier Bardem, Franka Potente and Benjamin Bratt are in talks to play key roles. Producer is Laura Bickford, who began working on the project with Del Toro and Soderbergh right after they made "Traffic" together.

Lead financier is Paris-based Wild Bunch, which also hung in through twists and turns that included Terrence Malick committing to direct and then dropping out to make "The New World" in 2004. Wild Bunch will co-finance and shop the pictures at AFM.

The films will be made as Spanish co-productions, with Spain-based Morena Films and broadcaster Telecinco in final talks to be co-producers. Combined budget for the pic pair is less than $70 million. Talks are under way with domestic distributors.

Both films pick up after the formative Guevara years captured in the Walter Salles-directed "The Motorcycle Diaries" in 2004.

First film, "The Argentine," begins as Che and a band of Cuban exiles (led by Fidel Castro) reach the Cuban shore from Mexico in 1956. Within two years, they mobilized popular support and an army and toppled the U.S.-friendly regime of dictator Fulgencio Batista.

The second film, "Guerrilla," begins with Che's trip to New York, where he spoke at the United Nations in 1964 and was celebrated in society circles.

Soderbergh has already shot that opening footage with Del Toro and Julia Ormond, who plays TV journo Lisa Howard. Journalist acted as an informal intermediary between the Kennedy White House and Cuba.

Guevara disappeared into the jungles of South America. When he tried to use Bolivia as the catalyst for more revolution, he was captured and executed.

Both scripts were written by Peter Buchman, who, with Del Toro, has been working with a translator to put the dialogue into Spanish.

Filmmakers also have been shooting a companion documentary while researching the film, including interviews with many of those who fought alongside Guevara in Cuba and in Bolivia.

Soderbergh recently completed Europe-set WWII film "The Good German."

Buchman scripted one of the unmade Alexander the Great pictures and most recently wrote the Fox fantasy film "Eragon" and the currently casting "The Piano Tuner" at Focus.

Along with "Diaries," Guevara was the subject of another recent pic, 2005's "Che Guevara," directed by Josh Evans.

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POSTED ON: V LIFE
http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117952973.html?categoryid=13&cs=1