Memories are Blessings | My Hometown ~ Miami, Florida

"Count your Blessings" is a familiar Christian hymn that encourages people not to focus on the negatives and count all the things they can be thankful for; all the good things in life they've been blessed to experience. Try it.  Especially when you're about to end a year and start a new year.  It's a great time to reflect on the blessings you're counting.

© Photographer: Americanspirit | Agency: Dreamstime.com
(Image:  The Torch of Friendship at Bayside Park, Miami, Florida)

Getting close now to my threescore an ten (70 years, the average life expectancy). When I count my blessing over the years, the list has grown and grown and grown. There are a lot of add-ons. But the list always includes one great memory from my childhood.
Good food!

Growing up in Miami, Florida, there was good eating all around me. My main sources for everyday meals were: my mother's cooking, church dinners prepared by faithful sisters, and a sweet little old gray-haired lady who owned and operated a restaurant around the corner from my house called "Mom's Cafe". I never knew her name because everybody called her "mom". All of these women really knew how to serve up the love! Huge plates of pigeon peas and rice, potato salad, collard greens, black eye peas, fried chicken; sweet potato pie for dessert.


As I grew into a teenager and young adult, started working part-time while pursuing my education; had a little pocket change so occasionally I could go out to eat. Downtown Miami and particularly Calle Ocho (8th Street), there were spots where you could chow down on delicious Cuban food: sweet fried plantains, black beans and rice, vaca frita, or a toasty Cuban sandwich. Kosher food delicatessens and restaurants run by the Jews on Miami Beach were the best! The soups, sandwiches, and desserts were outrageous! That was just lunch! Of course, no major city is complete if you can't find good Chinese food. Miami is a major city with places that have award-winning Chinese cuisine.


This book cover is from the 1993 publication but it reminds me of my hometown.

Miami Spice: The New Florida Cuisine

I moved away from Miami at the end of 1986 and have never returned. But even though I haven't been back, I'll bet the food has only gotten better!!

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My Introduction to Cuban Art

One of my first jobs after graduating from the University of Miami was a teller at a savings and loan institution. Had a degree but couldn't find a job right away and accepted this job because some income is better than no income. Each teller had a number. You used your stamp - on checks, deposit and withdrawal slips, etc. - to leave a trail for the auditors that you had handled that customer's transaction. Teller 63. That was me!

One of my co-workers, another teller, was a young guy working his way through college. He had come to America from Cuba with the first set of refugees that President John Kennedy had allowed into Miami , Florida.

Can't remember the name, but he was showing me artwork by a Cuban artist who was very famous and known for his paintings of everyday life in Cuba. Everyday life, that is, before Fidel Castro took over.  So the painting was a wonderful lively scene - beautiful blue water and clear blue sky, trees, beautiful flowers, all kinds of colorful people - men , women and children, engaging in either work or play.

"Look!", he says and points at a beautiful woman walking down the sidewalk and men turning to stare as she strolls with her nose up in the air.

"You see her backside?", he asked.

I reply, "Yes! Yes I do!"

(You could hardly miss her lovely "lady lump". :) He continues to explain the art: "This painting is so typical Cuban. Cuban men love the big butt! Americans do not like this! But in our culture, it is considered beautiful!! Americans think skinny is beautiful. But Cuban men do not like skinny women!"

The conversation between Jorge and me was very memorable, educational and also humorous. His final remarks really made me laugh, as he's looking right at me, and speaking very plainly and seemed to take no thought that he was talking to me - a Black American woman - about big butts!!!

That was my first lesson about Cuban artists and Cuban art.

(Truly apologize.  My memory fails me. Forgot the name of the particular artist.)

Link of interest:

Profiles of over 60 of Cuba´s best artists

Content previously published at PersonaPaper, Mar 2015.

It's 2015 and Beyond! Cuban Art is Booming!

In a previous post, shared a cherished personal memory at this site and titled it My Introduction to Cuban Art. It was humorous but this post is serious.
 

Almost every evening, our PBS station (Public Broadcasting Service) airs the news hour and many parts of the program are special segments. Very recently, President Obama upset quite a few people when he announced his plans to strive to normalize relations between the USA and Cuba. Whether people agree or disagree, it's happening . PBS' special segment is a series called “The Cuban Evolution”. My antennas went up when it was announced that there was to be a discussion of the current art scene in Cuba. Jeffrey Brown, Chief Correspondent for Arts, Culture, and Society , is the lucky bloke who gets to travel to Cuba on official business to cover the series. Here are some of the highlights from the segment:

• Havana Biennial Art Show is taking place (promotes “Third World” contemporary art)
  
• Cuban art market is booming and Cuban artists are making a mark on the international art scene
  
• There are still some restrictions on freedom of expression – nevertheless ...
  
• Savvy art collectors are buying now because the value of their collections is sure to increase in the near future
  

You can watch the entire report on the PBS YouTube Channel . For me this news is exciting. The Cuban culture is so wonderfully colorful and vibrant. The people have been suppressed for way too long!


Interesting Reading and Links of Interest:

• “ La Espada de Rusia" (the Russian sword) – A Reminder of Cuba's Ties to the Soviet Union
  
• Internet Access in Cuba is “Complicated”
  
• Guide to Cuba's Best Contemporary Artists, etc.
  

Cuba50 Celebrating Cuban Culture

Content previously published at PersonaPaper, June 2015.
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