In January 1891, 130 years ago "Our America" appeared for the first time , an essay by José Martí , which in just eleven paragraphs manages to capture the essence of Latin American identity and sovereignty.

The text of the Cuban Apostle was published in La Revista Ilustrada in New York, on January 1, 1891, and 29 days later in El Partido Liberal , in Mexico.

To this day, it is his most widely read work and one of the fundamentals of his authorship "for contributing decisively to the understanding and defense of Latin American identity and the sovereignty of our peoples" [1] .

Today, at Cubaliteraria , we share some of Martí's reflections in « Nuestra América» [2] :

• Trenches of ideas are worth more than trenches of stone.
• (…) The trees must be lined up, so that the giant of seven leagues does not pass! It is the hour of the recount, and of the united march, and we have to walk in a tight square, like silver in the roots of the Andes.
• Those who have no faith in their land are seven-month-old men. Because they lack courage, they deny it to others.
• (…) In what country can a man have more pride than in our painful republics of America, raised among the mute masses of Indians, at the noise of the book fighting with the candle, on the bloody arms of a hundred apostles?
• The government must be born from the country. The spirit of the government must be that of the country. The form of government must conform to the constitution of the country. The government is nothing more than the balance of the natural elements of the country.
• The history of America, from the Incas to here, has to be taught by heart, although that of the archons of Greece is not taught. Our Greece is preferable to the Greece that is not ours.
• Creating is the pass word of this generation.
• You have to have faith in the best of man and distrust the worst of him. The best must be given an opportunity to reveal itself and prevail over the worst. If not, the worst prevails.
• There is no hate of races, because there are not any races.

Notes.

[1] Validity of "Nuestra América" ​​130 years after its publication, by Hayled Martín Reyes. In: www.josemarti.cu/dossier/vigencia-de-nuestra-america-a-130-anos-de-su-publicacion/

[2] The entire work can be consulted at: www.josemarti.cu/publicacion/nuestra-america-2/