The Cuban Embargo (1959 – present)
/ Resources and Supplies
  • Overhead projector
  • Access to internet for Youtube
  • Recordings of Cuban jazz
  • Art supplies for assessment
  • Copy of film: Under the Radar - A Survey of Afro-Cuban Music, Chico & Rita (if available), For Love or Country: The Arturo Sandoval Story, A Night in Havana - Dizzy Gillespie in Cubaor The Buena Vista Social Club
  • Handout, Appendix F
/ Standards Addressed
10.10 – Students analyze instances of nation-building in the contemporary world in at least two of the following regions or countries: the Middle East, Africa, Mexico and other parts of Latin America, and China.
California Common Core Content Standards for English Language Arts and Literacy in Social Studies (see Appendix A)
Key Questions
  1. What effect do government controls and sanctions have on society?
  2. In what ways can people resist governmental controls and sanctions?
  3. Should people resist governmental policies that they disagree with?
How do other nations’ policies affect you?
Key Terms/Phrases/People
  • Embargo
  • Fidel Castro
  • Dwight D. Eisenhower
  • John F. Kennedy
  • Son
  • Afrocuban
  • Balseros
/ Suggested Time
Block – 2 class periods;
Standard – 3 class periods
Topic Outline / Suggested Teaching Activities / Suggested Resources / Important Points
In spite of the popularity of Cuban Music during the first half of the nineteenth century, by the 1990s, it had faded into the background of the World Music scene. The Cuban Revolution and the subsequent embargo imposed on Cuba by the United States curtailed American – Cuban exchange and led to restrictions placed on American cultural influence including music by the Cuban government.
One of the outcomes of the Cuban Revolution in 1959 was the emigration of many of Cuba’s finest musicians to locations where they could exercise artistic freedom. Those who remained in Cuba found their work controlled by the Socialist state, and the monopoly state-owned recording company EGREM. The Castro government abolished copyright laws in Cuba, closed many of the venues where popular music used to be played (e.g. night clubs), and so indirectly threw many musicians out of work.
After the revolution, all musicians were given college courses in music and after graduating from a conservatory, were employed by the state. Consequently, many young musicians studied classical music and performed in traditional, culturally accepted bands and orchestras. The efforts to keep jazz alive by a few rebel musicians reflect the ways that music can be held back because of government sanctions and intervention. / 1. Write the following quote on the board: “Cuban music is a love affair between the African drum and the Spanish guitar.”
Cuban ethnologist Fernando Ortiz
Prior to playing any of the selections from the list of suggested recordings, ask students to think about the following questions:
  • What does the quote tell us about the Cuban population?
  • What does the quote tell us about the style of music that we might expect to hear?
2. In pairs or threes, have students share their ideas about the quote. Then have them consider their own choices in music and develop a quote that would speak to their individual taste.
3. After a general class discussion about the students’ quotes, play some of the earlier recordings (1940 – 1950) of Cuban jazz. Ask students to think about whether they agree with the quote, and why, or why not?
4. Keep the discussion going, with questions about the music they just heard:
  • In addition to the genre of jazz, can they name this style of music?
  • Are there "sounds" that are different from what you’ve heard when listening to earlier lessons?
5. Show the clip, Cuban Missle Crisis, part 1 Cold War
6. Ask students to imagine themselves as Americans living in October 1962. Create a story in response to the following questions:
  • Who would they be, and why?
  • Given their knowledge of American history, would they be concerned by the events that took place in Cuba that month?
  • What would those concerns have been?
  • Do the issues involved in the Cuban Missile Crisis have any bearing upon students' own present-day experiences?
Alternate Assignment:
Assign students to interview family, staff, or community members who have memories of the Cuban Revolution, Missile Crisis and/or Bay of Pigs. Interviews can be written, recorded, or video-taped. Students should compose a list of questions and record the interviewee's responses. Suggested questions could include:
  • Where did they live?
  • What was their occupation? How did they react to President Kennedy's speech of October 22, 1962?
When the interviews are complete, divide students into small groups and ask them to compare their responses. As a class, share each group’s findings. List key findings on the board as a recordation of a cultural history the crisis.
6. Show the clip, “70 youth arrested…” from 22Frames.com.
7. Play some of the selections from the suggested recordings of post Cuban Revolution jazz. Have students consider the following questions:
  • Keeping in mind the Cuban revolution and lack of artistic freedom afforded to musicians, what might life have been like for early jazz musicians and composers?
  • Government suppression can make people afraid. How do you think these early musicians dealt with ideas of fines, ostracism (define word for students) and even prison for simply playing music that was banned?
  • What makes people continue to engage in activities that have been outlawed?
8. As a class, read the following article, “Cuba still in slow lane, 50 years on” (Appendix F). Have a class discussion on the article, encouraging students to discuss issues raised by the journalist: debate over lifting the embargo vs. harm it has caused, and why the United States continues to embargo Cuba, when most nations in the U.N. have voted overwhelmingly to end it.
9. Assessment – Break students into small groups of two or three and have them create a representation of the conflicts facing Cuba since the revolution. The representation should depict ideas of repression, human rights, trade and embargo, or a student generated idea and include at least two modalities (written, video, music, drawing, performance, etc.).
10. As a culminating activity, and time permitting, show one of the films listed above. / For the teacher: “Cuban Revolution”, Facts on File: Modern World History on Line.

“U.S. Trade Embargo of Cuba”, Facts on File: Modern World History on Line.

“Castro, Fidel”, Facts on File: Modern World History on Line.

“Balseros”, Facts on File: Modern World History on Line.

Music:
The Music of Cuba: 1909 to 1951
Suggested tracks: Rumba Tambah (Lecuona Cuban Boys), Conga (Augusto Coén & His Golden Casino Orchestra), Que Bueno Baila Usted (Beny More)

Adapted from a lesson on the State Department for Youth website.
“70 jovenes detenidos en Cuba por llevar la manilla de CAMBIO” (70 youth arrested for wearing a bracelet with the word, CHANGE), 22Frames.com

Music:
I Am Cuba (disc 4)
Suggested tracks: Juana Mil Ciento (Irakere), Tumbao De Coqueta (Jesus Alemany), Mambo (Mario Bauza)
Conversation starters might include medical marijuana, talking on cell phones while driving, underage drinking – all can lead to discussions of rebellion and resistance.
“Cuba still in slow lane, 50 years on,” New Zealand Herald (Auckland, New Zealand) , February 18, 2012
This assessment can be quick or detailed, depending on time available. Students should be able to create their product with materials available in class (computers, projectors, internet access, text books, art supplies, etc.) / The musical history of Cuba is rich with influences of the Iberian Peninsula and flamenco, African rhythms and chants, Moorish melodies and European classical and popular music. Cuba, with its variety of European influences (Spanish, French, and British), its significant population of Africans and the opportunities this presented for mixing rhythms given the proximity of Havana as a maritime port all led to a very different and distinctly Cuban sound.
Son is a collision of syncopated African rhythms and the rolling guitars of Spain. Born in the rural enclaves of Oriente, the eastern part of Cuba, during the nineteenth century, fusion of styles was the result of early Spanish settlers joined by laborers of African origin and cimarrones (runaway slaves) who found refuge in the mountains. This initial blending of cultures became even more intense after the collapse of the plantation system as more former slaves gathered in the region.
Early recordings of jazz are primarily son, the first true Afro-Cuban style.
Even though Son has strong Spanish influences, it is by no means a concession to the European music favored by white Cubans. Son lyrics contain many words of African origin: asere and monina which mean friend, edobio which is a greeting used by members of abakuá sects, chévere, a Carabalí expression that means ‘great’ or ‘cool.’
Local authorities waged a campaign against performances of son. Police beat and fined musicians for displaying ‘immoral behavior’ and the use of ‘illegal African instruments.’ They routinely confiscated or destroyed instruments that were associated with son. The bongó was of special concern and considered especially offensive.
Eventually, the government passed legislation that outlawed the instrument. In addition to middle-class condemnation and government suppression, the Musicians’ unions discriminated against musicians who played son and refused to accept them as members.
Nevertheless, the popularity of the son continued to grow. Musicians performed son at venues frequented by young working class patrons: academias de baile (ballroom dancing schools) and cervecerías (beer factories). Wealthy politicians, business leaders and the elite of Cuban society developed an appetite for son and contracted conjuntos de son (son music groups) to play at exclusive parties.
Ultimately, the government issued a public statement in support of son music and dance, stating that it would “henceforth be permitted in hotels, cabarets, and restaurants as long as it was not scandalous or immoral.” Middle-class Cubans eventually embraced the tradition son, recognizing that the “primitive (i.e., “classic”) son exhibited qualities …we had previously been unable to discover.”