Academic institutions and those that study the life and work of Jose Marti are calling the workshop entitled Cultural Colonization and Decolonization: a Vision from Cuba, which will be held at the Havana-based Casa de las Americas with the participation of Indian historian and journalist Vijay Prashad.

During a recent appearance on the Mesa Redonda (Round Table) TV program, Casa de las Americas President Abel Prieto mentioned the awe for foreign models of “progress” as one contemporary social phenomenon.

In his opinion, Jose Marti “always wanted to protect us from the American Rome for its threat and symbolic capability to influence” and warned about the tragedy of the colonized subject due to foreign paradigms and codes related to racism, xenophobia and hatred against immigrants.

Prieto noted the use of social media in the promotion and consolidation of issues related to the cultural and information of empires such as the United States, and spoke about the relevance of stimulating national traditions.

Regarding this, Prashad underscored the relevance of conceiving one’s own opinions and trusting the criteria of peoples in the face of the distorted version of domination media and literacy regarding forms of thought, values and national identity.

During his lecture last Friday, at the Manuel Galich Hall of Casa de las Americas, the visiting academic assessed the emergence of experiences in each territory without the meddling of the colonizing thought or under a presumed authorization of European countries.

Tuesday’s workshop will also engage the Fidel Castro Center, the Union of Journalists of Cuba (UPEC) and the Aponte Commission of the Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba (UNEAC), which is in charge of the fight against racism and the promotion of the African cultural legacy.