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Encuentro 1: El Centro Memorial MLK
The virtual field was possible thanks to the Centro Memorial Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (CMMLK). Joel Suarez, the centre’s general coordinator, explains that although this organization started with the support of a Baptist Church in 1987, CMMLK is a secular nonprofit organization. The church was marked by the social revolution, igniting the belief that the Christian faith should be lived through social responsibility. Today, through CMMLK, more than 50 groups have been organized by popular educators. The center trains people with the political and social skills for social work. They’re also involved in international solidarity work.
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Joel Suarez went to lengths to describe Cuba’s current situation. The halt to tourism and lack of security due to the pandemic has created severe economic damage not only for the average Cuban but also to the entire state’s budget. Moreover, the blockade and the crisis are causing supply shortages in the medical field. On a positive note, Cuba has developed four vaccines against COVID despite the obstacles they’re facing.
The discussion about the relationship between the revolution and the church brought forth by Joel Suarez was engaging. Marxism/communism and the church are against one another. As Marx puts it, “religion is the opium of the masses. ” However, in Cuba, religion was entrenched in people’s lives and the principles of the revolution, so they managed to form a mutual alliance and have worked closely with each other since then. This gave more political support to the Castro’s and ultimately aided in the victory against the proAmerican government. Though there were hardliners in the Castro regime who didn’t want the church to involve itself, they were forced to compromise in the hopes that it would unite all of society and not only one part of it. This unnatural alliance gave legitimacy and popular support to Castro at a critical time in the revolution’s development. This ultimately shows the lengths to which compromise in society, however radical, can create solid and lasting foundations of unity.
Joel Suarez. CMMLK’s general coordinator
