Global Studies Seminar presents Mónica Ayala-Martínez

The Global Studies Seminar presents “Cuba-Nation: The San Isidro Movement, Race/Class/Gender, And The Crisis of The Cuban Revolutionary National Project ” by Mónica Ayala-Martínez, associate professor of Modern Languages, and Latin American and Caribbean Studies at Denison University.

Cuban history has experienced events in the 21st century: the Oswaldo Payá’s Varela Project (2002) and the following “Black Spring” government’s response (2003), the death of Fidel Castro (2016), Miguel Díaz-Canel becoming president (2019), the formation of the San Isidro Movement (2018), social upheaval – J11 (2021) followed by prosecution of protesters (2022). Unexpected images surprised many around the world when we witnessed social protests all over the island in July of 2021 when Cubans took to the streets demanding rights and freedom. This presentation proposes an analysis of how race is a key component in the process of disenchantment expressed by Cuban youth and artists in 2021. It reflects on how, although the Cuban revolution proposed a reformulation of the Cuban national project, it failed to fully address racial issues, and the construction of race as an important component of Cuban national identity.

Ayala-Martínez was born in Cartagena, Colombia. Ayala-Martínez studied philosophy and literature at Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana and psychology at Universidad de Antioquia in Medellín. Ayala-Martínez earned a Master’s degree in Spanish at West Virginia University and a Doctors of Philosophy in Spanish at the University of Miami. Ayala-Martínez lives, teaches, reads, writes, cooks and dances in Granville, OH, since 1997.