African and Afro-American Culture Conference in eastern Cuba

SANTIAGO DE CUBA, Cuba, Apr 13 (ACN) Intended to go deeper into the mark that the so-called "Black Continent" has left on Latin America and the Caribbean and particularly on Cuba, the 20th International Conference on African and Afro-American Culture began in this city.

In welcoming the participants, Marta Cordiés, director of the Fernando Ortiz African Cultural Center, referred to the commitment to protect traditional popular culture against globalization and external influences and thanked the institutions, organizations and individuals who joined forces to make this event possible.

On behalf of the African diplomatic corps in Cuba, Ignatius Graham, Ambassador of the Republic of Zimbabwe, wished the attendees every success in the Conference and stressed the need to teach children the traditions of the peoples, as they are responsible for their safeguard and survival, and to promote the use of native languages.

Among other activities, the program of the Conference—themed to gender, race and identity—features the panel Africa in the 21st century, the presentation of Hakin Adi’s book Pan-Africanism and Communism, and a symposium on medical science and its links with intercultural contacts that Cuba developed during internationalist missions in Africa.

The event is sponsored by the Fernando Ortiz African Cultural Center, the Rómulo Lachataneré Department of Afro-Caribbean Studies, the Government of Santiago de Cuba, the Provincial Division of Culture and the University of Oriente.