Introduction
Hello everyone, welcome back to another post on Thee Kyaspora. I hope everyone has had a great and productive week, if not that is okay as well. Today I want to share light on an individual that I had the pleasure of doing research on this week in class. This person is named Antonio Maceo, and he is known as one of the most powerful people in the 10 Years' War.
Background
Antonio Maceo was of Afro-Cuban descent, born in 1845. He participated in the 10 Years' War, which lasted from 1868 to 1878. This consisted of multiple wars in an attempt for Cuba to gain their independence from Spain. Antonio was first brought in as a common soldier, but quickly made a name for himself as he rose to general ranking within weeks, which is very quickly! But, because Maceo was Afro-Cuban, this was used against him in creating conspiracies that accused him of wanting to create a society where Afro-Cubans were in control of everything. In response to this, Maceo stated that he was fighting for the freedom of every Cuban individual, and to view racism as something that is against them as a nation and not just individually. Towards the end of this war, Antonio Maceo became a major general and earned the title "Bronze Titan" in honor of how well he did in battle. Unfortunately, Maceo died in 1896 and the outcome of the 10 Years' War is not known for sure.
Ky's Thoughts
So, I wanted to use this section of my blog to include some of my thoughts now that I have provided background on who he is. In all honesty, I really think that Antonio Maceo's story is amazing. To be someone of such success with African ancestry truly makes me smile. I wish that this story was told more commonly because I really wish that I had known about this man sooner. In the article I read, it compares him to Frederick Douglass based on how successful he was, and I love that a connection like that was made in order to put emphasis on how great this man was. For someone of Afro-Cuban descent to have power during this time period where his people were enslaved was also amazing. This person is connected to Brazil but is another person of color who made a name for themselves (Chica da Silva). I brought her up because I wanted to talk about how I enjoyed the story of Antonio Maceo a bit more than hers because although I do like the fact these are both people of color who have done things of importance, I admire how Maceo fought for freedom and became popular. Another thing from the reading I really liked was how people would flock to places in town where Antonio Maceo happened to be in hopes to shake his hand. I find that to be a really sweet gesture and a symbol that you are honored by your people.
Closing Remark
Thank you so much for taking the time to read my blog post for this week, and I hope to see you back here next week on Thee Kyaspora. Enjoy your weekend!
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