{"id":2483,"date":"2020-07-29T22:53:40","date_gmt":"2020-07-29T22:53:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cubasupport.ie\/latest\/?p=2483"},"modified":"2020-07-29T22:53:43","modified_gmt":"2020-07-29T22:53:43","slug":"cubas-nobel-nomination-and-baldwins-call-to-begin-again","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cubasupport.ie\/latest\/cubas-nobel-nomination-and-baldwins-call-to-begin-again\/","title":{"rendered":"Cuba\u2019s Nobel Nomination and Baldwin\u2019s Call to \u201cBegin Again\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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by\u00a0SUSAN BABBITT<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

When an event is unexplained, it can\u2019t be repeated. Cuba\u2019s astonishing internationalism, the \u201cgood news\u201d of the pandemic, is talked about (outside Cuba) as if a miracle, without cause. Support grows for the Nobel Prize nomination but the justification for the Henry Reeve Brigade, established in 2005, is left out. The explanation is ideas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is urgent according to Eddie Glaude in a new book on James Baldwin.[1]<\/a><\/sup> Well, he doesn\u2019t exactly say that. But for Baldwin, \u201cwhat kind of human beings we aspire to be\u201d is most important and the explanation for Cuba\u2019s success is precisely that. In Zona Roja<\/em>, Enrique Ubieta G\u00f3mez says Cuban medical workers \u2013 fighting Ebola in 2014 \u2014 know about existence: We exist interdependently. Ubieta describes Cuban internationalism as an \u201cinescapable ethic\u201d. Once you\u2019ve lived it, you cannot not <\/em>live it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You know human connection \u2013 a fact of science \u2013 and you learn its energy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ubieta\u2019s explanation is existential. Baldwin used similar language. In 1963, <\/em>he wrote, \u201cPerhaps the whole root of our trouble, the human trouble, is that we \u2026 imprison ourselves \u2026 to deny the fact of death, which is the only fact we have.\u201d Glaude supports Baldwin\u2019s call to \u201cbegin again\u201d, with the \u201cAmerica idea\u201d, shedding its \u201cold ideas\u201d. He might look South. Latin American independistas<\/em> raised precisely Baldwin\u2019s question: how to resist the \u201clie at the heart of the [imperialist] nation\u201d when it is about \u201clove, life and death\u201d, that is, everything.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Truth is not enough. If Galileo had just provided truths, he wouldn\u2019t have been condemned. Galileo became threatening when he made those truths plausible with a larger picture of \u201ccosmic humility\u201d, contradicting the establishment\u2019s comforting identity. One thing we might learn from Galileo, according to astrophysicist Mario Livio in a new book, is that he didn\u2019t just observe truths and tell stories about them. His \u201cphenomenal capacity for abstraction\u201d let him see where those truths led. [2]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Truths are easy when unexplained. Consider Olga Tokarczuk\u2019s Flights. <\/em>It gives truth about people traveling everywhere \u201cescaping their own lives, and then being safely escorted right back to them\u201d.[3]<\/a><\/sup> We see people running through airports with \u201cflushed red faces, their straw hats and souvenir drums and masks and shell necklaces\u201d. All this \u201cmoving around in a chaotic fashion \u2026 [to] increase their likelihood\u201d of being in the \u201cright place at the right time\u201d even has meaning. A \u201ctravel psychologist\u201d explains that such chaos \u201cappears to call into question the existence of a self understood non-relationally\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is funny to expect deeper meaning regarding people \u201cmoving around in a chaotic fashion\u201d to increase their likelihood of being in the right place at the right time from a \u201ctravel psychologist\u201d at an airport between flights. We laugh because we do in fact expect that, absurdly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We get truth from Flights <\/em>but it\u2019s dismissible. Annushka, for instance, escapes her unbearable life : to \u201cgo, sway, walk, run, take flight\u201d. She finds happiness when \u201cshe does not have a single thought in her head, a single care, a single expectation or hope.\u201d She\u2019s \u201chappy\u201d, free of her identity, her life, her responsibilities. But she is also cold, hungry, dirty, alone, tired, and homeless. The image is silly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In fact, the idea underlying it is silly, namely, that to have no thoughts, you should have no identity, no responsibilities. It\u2019s as pervasive as friction, from which Galileo abstracted to get truth about inertia. In fact, to be happy with no expectations or hope, as Annushka is, is not silly. But understanding how that is so requires a \u201cphenomenal capacity for abstraction\u201d from social expectations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Flights <\/em>doesn\u2019t do that. It responds to an expectation identified by Cuban philosopher and diplomat Ra\u00fal Roa in 1953 as the \u201cworld\u2019s gravest crisis\u201d.[4]<\/a><\/sup> It was indeed the \u201cAmerica idea\u201d: Human beings imprisoned in discrete selves, defined by action and results. It is not humanist, as claimed, Roa argues, because it omits \u201cthe fact of death\u201d, as Baldwin recognized. There were \u201cfew dissenters\u201d to the \u201cman of action\u201d during the Renaissance, and Roa saw there would now be none because of US power.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Baldwin tried to escape that power by living outside the US. He struggled with what it had \u201cmade of him\u201d. But \u201cAmerican power follows one everywhere\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Emily Dickinson, \u201cthe greatest poet in the English language\u201d, abstracts from expectations Flights <\/em>dignifies. According to biographer Martha Ackman, Dickinson lived as if<\/em> busyness and travel is not <\/em>progress.[5]<\/a><\/sup> She never apologized for, nor defended, the priority she gave to silence and solitude. As result, we get truth from her poetry: about what it means to be human. For, she was in fact not detached<\/em> from a world she never visited physically or had any desire to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She lived as if <\/em>isolation and detachment are not synonymous. But to know where this leads, you must abstract from the \u201cAmerica idea\u201d that equates human worth and utility. Comfortably, though, Dickinson is odd \u2014 \u201cAmerica\u2019s most enigmatic and mysterious poet\u201d \u2013 and her way of life therefore dismissible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lord of all the Dead<\/em>, like Flights<\/em>, leaves comforting \u201cold ideas\u201d in place. [6]<\/a><\/sup>Javier Cercas tells the story of his great-uncle who fought a \u201cuseless war\u201d for Franko. His memoire does give truth but doesn\u2019t explain it, so his story, which for him is just <\/em>a story, cannot itself explain, and is dismissible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Achilles in The Odyssey <\/em>is \u201clord of all the dead\u201d because he died young and beautiful, and gained immortality. That his great uncle was \u201cpolitically mistaken, there\u2019s no doubt.\u201d But was he a human failure? Cercas\u2019 answer is no. At one level, Cercas rejects the Greeks\u2019 ideal of \u201cbeautiful death\u201d because it denies the existential reality of decrepitude: There is no escaping it. But on the other hand, Cercas assumes the separation of mind and body that makes \u201cbeautiful death\u201d worth speculating about: the idea that the body <\/em>decays and that the mind somehow escapes nature\u2019s universal laws of causation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He ends the book speculating about immortality. Nobody dies, he writes. We\u2019re just transformed, physically. He himself, at book\u2019s end, is in the \u201ceternal present\u201d. It doesn\u2019t explain what needs to be explained, given the real story of this book which is what Cercas calls the \u201csilent wake of hatred, resentment and violence left over by the war\u201d. The \u201csilent wake\u201d is explained by ignorance precisely of shared humanity Cercas names but doesn\u2019t explain. It is decrepitude: \u201cthe fact of death\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is known by every human being. Cercas tells a story about his great uncle but denies the significance of that story because he tells it with the \u201cold ideas\u201d in place, the ones Glaude says need to be shed, like \u201cswaddling clothes\u201d to \u201cbegin again\u201d as Baldwin urged. Glaude is not sure it can happen. But it has happened. That\u2019s the \u201cgood news\u201d about the Henry Reeve Medical brigade, if it were explained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Friday, March 20, Cuban president, Miguel Diaz-Canel, speaking nationally, outlined new measures to slow the pandemic. The good news, he said, is that Cuban people supported the decision to accept the Braemar, a UK cruise ship refused docking elsewhere because of infected passengers. A century ago, another ship sought aid from Cuba. Its passengers were Jews. It was turned away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That, Diaz-Canel said, was before the Revolution. The good news was the expectation that the Braemar should be helped. That expectation<\/em> is the success of the Cuban revolution. It explains the Henry Reeve Brigade. Expectations come from practises, from what is lived. Diaz-Canel then said, \u201cone day the truth will be known.\u201d But what truth? It\u2019s not the truth that solidarity is good. No, the truth that will be known is not moral. Instead, it is what that truth<\/em> \u2013 the moral one about solidarity \u2014 does<\/em> existentially when acted upon, and lived, and why that matters in a global crisis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Baldwin\u2019s humanism wasn\u2019t easy to understand. Glaude\u2019s thoughtful book goes some distance toward explaining. It\u2019s not clear, though, whether he knows the consequences. Bill V. Mullen, in a 2019 book, says Baldwin should be \u201cunderstood the way we understand Fanon, Garc\u00eda Marquez, Assata Shakur\u201d: They wrote outside the US, aware of imperialism. [7]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It may be what it takes for Cuba to cease being a dismissible miracle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Notes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1) Begin Again: James Baldwin\u2019s America and its Urgent Lessons for Our Own <\/em>by Eddie Glaude Jr.(Penguin Random House, 2020). See review: https:\/\/www.nyjournalofbooks.com\/book-review\/begin-again-james-baldwins<\/a> \u2191<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

2) Galileo and the Science Deniers <\/em>by Mario Livio (Simon and Schuster, 2020) 181 \u2191<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

3) tr. Jennifer Croft (NY: Riverhead Books, 2017) 62 \u2191<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

4) \u201cGrandeza y servidumbre del humanismo\u201d, Viento Sur <\/em>(Havana: Centro Cultural Pablo de la Torriente Brau, 2015) 44-62 \u2191<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

5) These Fevered Days: Ten Pivotal Moments in the Making of Emily Dickinson <\/em>by Martha Ackman ( W.W. Norton & Company, 2020). \u2191<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

6) Lord of all the Dead <\/em>by Javier Cercas, tr. Anne McLean (Alfred A Knopf, 2020). See review: https:\/\/www.nyjournalofbooks.com\/book-review\/lord-all-dead<\/a> \u2191<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

7)\u00a0James Baldwin: Living in Fire\u00a0<\/em>by Bill V. Mullen (Pluto Press: 2019) xv\u00a0\u2191<\/a>Join the debate on Facebook<\/a>More articles by:SUSAN BABBITT<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Source : Counterpunch<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by\u00a0SUSAN BABBITT When an event is unexplained, it can\u2019t be repeated. Cuba\u2019s astonishing internationalism, the \u201cgood news\u201d of the pandemic, is talked about (outside Cuba) […]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":101011,"featured_media":2485,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2483","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cuba"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1898,"url":"https:\/\/www.cubasupport.ie\/latest\/end-of-sanctions-is-more-important-than-nobel-peace-prize-for-its-doctors\/","url_meta":{"origin":2483,"position":0},"title":"End of Sanctions Is More Important Than Nobel Peace Prize for Its Doctors","author":"Editorial Team","date":"May 24, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"by Ramona Wadi In recognition for the Cuban doctors\u2019 efforts to aid nations across the world to cope with the coronavirus pandemic, there have been\u00a0recommendations\u00a0for the Henry Reeves Medical Brigade to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. The brigade was founded by the Cuban revolutionary leader Fidel Castro after the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Covid-19"","block_context":{"text":"Covid-19","link":"https:\/\/www.cubasupport.ie\/latest\/category\/cuba\/covid-19\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cubasupport.ie\/latest\/wp-content\/uploads\/cuban_doctor-new-1.jpg?fit=550%2C333&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cubasupport.ie\/latest\/wp-content\/uploads\/cuban_doctor-new-1.jpg?fit=550%2C333&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cubasupport.ie\/latest\/wp-content\/uploads\/cuban_doctor-new-1.jpg?fit=550%2C333&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":5324,"url":"https:\/\/www.cubasupport.ie\/latest\/for-the-sake-of-global-health-the-us-must-stop-lying-about-cuba\/","url_meta":{"origin":2483,"position":1},"title":"For the Sake of Global Health the US Must Stop Lying about Cuba","author":"Editorial Team","date":"October 11, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Today a People\u2019s Peace Prize was awarded to Cuba\u2019s Henry Reeve International Medical Brigade \u2014 not the Nobel Peace Prize, although more than 100 organizations and 40,000 individuals from the U.S. alone supported the Henry Reeve Brigade\u2019s nomination. As the global community stumbled under the coronavirus assault, Cuba\u2019s army of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Featured"","block_context":{"text":"Featured","link":"https:\/\/www.cubasupport.ie\/latest\/category\/news\/featured\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cubasupport.ie\/latest\/wp-content\/uploads\/reeve.jpeg?fit=474%2C255&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2534,"url":"https:\/\/www.cubasupport.ie\/latest\/the-work-of-the-henry-reeve-brigade\/","url_meta":{"origin":2483,"position":2},"title":"The work of the Henry Reeve Brigade","author":"Editorial Team","date":"August 5, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Eileen Whitehead Henry Reeve was born in Brooklyn, New York on 4th April, 1850 to Presbyterians, Alexander Reeve and Maddie Carroll. In his youth, he was a drummer boy in the Union Army during the American Civil War, which ran from 1861 to 1865. Being a fierce abolitionist, and learning\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Cuba"","block_context":{"text":"Cuba","link":"https:\/\/www.cubasupport.ie\/latest\/category\/cuba\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cubasupport.ie\/latest\/wp-content\/uploads\/14-brigade.jpg?fit=600%2C338&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cubasupport.ie\/latest\/wp-content\/uploads\/14-brigade.jpg?fit=600%2C338&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cubasupport.ie\/latest\/wp-content\/uploads\/14-brigade.jpg?fit=600%2C338&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2530,"url":"https:\/\/www.cubasupport.ie\/latest\/washington-threatens-countries-for-receiving-medical-aid-from-cuba\/","url_meta":{"origin":2483,"position":3},"title":"Washington threatens countries for receiving medical aid from Cuba","author":"Editorial Team","date":"August 4, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Cuban humanitarianism deserves admiration and respect, not sanctions and smears, writes KEN LIVINGSTONE One of the most astonishing expressions of reactionary \u201cTrumpite\u201d politics during the global coronavirus crisis took place recently when three hard-right Republican senators \u2014 Ted Cruz, Rick Scott and Marco Rubio \u2014 introduced a Bill which calls\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Featured"","block_context":{"text":"Featured","link":"https:\/\/www.cubasupport.ie\/latest\/category\/news\/featured\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cubasupport.ie\/latest\/wp-content\/uploads\/turks-and-caicos.jpeg?fit=780%2C400&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cubasupport.ie\/latest\/wp-content\/uploads\/turks-and-caicos.jpeg?fit=780%2C400&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cubasupport.ie\/latest\/wp-content\/uploads\/turks-and-caicos.jpeg?fit=780%2C400&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cubasupport.ie\/latest\/wp-content\/uploads\/turks-and-caicos.jpeg?fit=780%2C400&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":8395,"url":"https:\/\/www.cubasupport.ie\/latest\/how-palestinians-are-becoming-doctors-in-cuba-for-free-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":2483,"position":4},"title":"How Palestinians Are Becoming Doctors in Cuba For Free","author":"Editorial Team","date":"February 26, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"What are the similarities between Cuba and Palestine? 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