White as the scourge of our century,

amen

Blanco como el azote de nuestro siglo,

amén

Negro como el disparo que me mató

Blanco como la noche que acabará

Negro cual mi bandera para la paz.

This stanza from the song Háblame de colores, by Cuban singer-songwriter Pablo Milanés, is the favorite of “María”. Recently, we approached from some chronicles these three sisters with similar names and the same profession: History teachers.

In this second encounter with their knowledge, they hummed the song that for them means the union with their ancestors; especially with his paternal grandfather.

Of African descent from the Congo region, he was born shortly after slavery was abolished; but he continued in captivity for a few years due to the poverty of his already freed mother, but without resources to get away from forced field work and servitude.

Grandpa

The girls met him as adults, since he lived in Havana. His conversations about the past caused him pain. But his attitude to get ahead in life made Florencio Cairo Cairo a man of respect and good manners.

According to María Elena -the middle sister-, the grandfather left a large legacy. When they met at his house, he always dressed in white and wore a hat. To sit at the table, he was the first to arrive and the last to stand, as the rules required for a good host.

His father also remembered a strange ceremony that they performed in the mountain where he lived, in Matanzas. There the older men gathered around a campfire and played drums.

María Julia says that her grandfather did not speak of his beliefs. He kept them locked like a valuable treasure in the closet to which only he had access.

The Heritage

Little came to them from the African grandfather, say the “Marías”. Only the color of the skin and the faith in Saint Lazarus, revered by the whole family. However, by studying the history of slavery in Cuba and the mark they left with their example of resistance and struggle, they can feel how much each one of them has from their black grandfather.

For this reason, we return to the singer-songwriter and his song. We return to his colors:

Blanco y negro resumen nuestro dolor

Negro y blanco nos unen para empezar

A limpiar la blancura que en su lugar

Dejará todo lo negro para el amor.

Translated by: Aileen Álvarez García