In This Issue
Today, President Obama wraps up a historic three-day trip to Cuba—the first time a sitting U.S. president has visited the country in nearly 90 years. This trip is the equivalent to Richard Nixon's trip to China. The U.S. ratcheted up sanctions on Cuba in 1960. Diplomatic relations between the two countries broke off in 1961. With tensions increasing after Cuba signed a trade agreement with the Soviet Union, President John F. Kennedy made the embargo official in 1962.
In December, the Black AIDS Institute was proud to join with A&U magazine to sponsor a HIV/AIDS delegation to Cuba. This delegation of fourteen cross-generational, primarily gay men of color from various sectors was also both historic and monumental.
Traveling to another country, particularly one you've never been to before, can be exciting and even a little scary. We arrived in Havana on Christmas Day 2015, not knowing what to expect, but still full of expectations and pre-conceived notions about a country that has legally been cut off from the US for nearly sixty years. Cuba is a beautiful, exhilarating and complicated place, but the thing that grabs you and won't let you go is how beautiful, friendly and resilient the people are.
Thanks to our friends at AirBNB, we were able to stay in two amazing homes. One was a four story, seven bed room, modern estate straight out of Architectural Digest. The other was a traditional Cuban compound in an old fishing community near the home of Fidel Castro. Staying in real Cuban homes provided a unique perspective that you don't get in hotels. Logistical and ground support for our trip was provided by Orly Cowly and the crew at ENLISTA (you have not traveled to Cuba until you've traveled with ENLISTA).
During our two weeks in the country we were able to experience many of the cultural and historic, and natural sites in the country, including much of the gay night life in Havana. While based in Havana, our trip included visits to organic tobacco and coffee farms in Viñales, as well as majestic waterfalls and the old cobblestone city of Trinidad de Cuba. The trip also included a visit to Cenesex, the Cuban National Center for Sexual Education, an organization working on LGBT equality led by Dr. Mariela Castro, a member of the Cuban Parliament and the daughter of the current President. And, we were able to participate in a people-to-people conversation and roundtable discussion between U.S. and Cuban LGBT and PLWHA held at the US embassy in Havana.
In many ways Cuba is two countries. There is the "oppressive" Communist-ruled Island, known for human rights violations, classic cars from the forties and fifties, and the crumbling Art Deco architecture. There's also the country where enterprise, entrepreneurship, political discourse and revitalization are everywhere, and a thriving gay scene. Everyone we met was unabashedly excited about building new relationships with the United States, while at the same time extremely proud and committed to Cuba.
Cuba has a long and storied slave and racial history, but unlike the U.S., Cuba does not appear to be running away or in denial of its history. By facing its past head on and acknowledging the critical role Black people played in building the country, literally and culturally, Cuba is working to create a Cuba for all Cubans.
In this issue, we begin a three-part series on a roundtable discussion with four members of our delegation on the state of HIV/AIDS in Cuba. For a more comprehensive glimpse of both the old and new Cuba, please pick up a copy of the March issue of A&U magazine or visit their website at http://www.aumag.org/digital-issue. As hard as we have tried, no publication can provide an adequate description of all of Cuba in its beauty, majesty, and ambiguities. My advice is to go and to go soon. The Black AIDS Institute is partnering with NMAC to sponsor another delegation to Cuba following the 2016 US conference on AIDS. For more information, please contact us at
Also, in this issue, we are beginning a three part series bringing you information from the 2016 Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI). We look forward from hearing from you. Until then, please take care of yourself and your blessings.
Yours in the struggle,
Phill