In The Cuban Hustle, Sujatha Fernandes explores the multitudinous ways artists, activists, and ordinary Cubans have hustled to survive and express themselves in the aftermath of the Soviet Union’s collapse. Whether circulating information on flash drives as a substitute for the internet or building homemade antennas to listen to Miami’s hip hop radio stations, Cubans improvise alternative strategies and workarounds to contend with ongoing isolation. Throughout these essays, Fernandes examines the emergence of dynamic youth cultures and social movements as Cuba grappled with economic collapse, new digital technologies, the normalization of diplomatic ties with the United States during the Obama administration, and the regression of US-Cuban relations in the Trump era. From reflections on feminism, new Cuban cinema, and public art to urban slums, the Afro-Cuban movement, and rumba and hip hop, Fernandes reveals Cuba to be a world of vibrant cultures grounded in an ethos of invention and everyday hustle.
- Cover
- Contents
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- Part I. Cultures of the Special Period
- Revolution and Rumba: Cuba in the Special Period
- Alice in Wondertown: Interview with Filmmaker Daniel Díaz Torres
- Magín: Feminist Organizing in Cuba
- Vitality in Precarious Conditions: Conversation with Artist/Art Critic Tonel
- Public Art and Art Collectives in Havana
- New Cuban Cinema: Race and Sexuality
- The Capital of Rap: Hip Hop Culture in Alamar
- Cultural Cimarronaje: Afro-Cuban Visual Arts
- Elio Rodríguez: Of Joint Ventures and Sexual Adventures
- Part II. Normalization: Netflix Meets the Weekly Packet
- Cuban Rap: Where the Streets Meet Highbrow Art
- Why USAID Could Never Spark a Hip Hop Revolution in Cuba
- Stories That Resonate: New Cultures of Documentary Filmmaking in Cuba: With Alexandra Halkin
- What Do Cubans Think of Normalization with the United States?
- The Repeating Barrio
- In Cuba, Will the Revolution Be Digitized?
- Afro-Cuban Activists Fight Racism between Two Fires
- Black Diasporic Dialogues in Post-Soviet Cuba
- The Many Shades of Fidel Castro
- Part III. Cuban Futures and the Trump Era
- The Cold War Politics of Donald Trump
- Hairdressers of the World, Unite! (You Have Nothing to Lose but Your Locks . . . and a Community to Win)
- How Socially Engaged Activism Is Transforming Cuba
- A Ship Adrift: Cuba after the Pink Tide
- Epilogue
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