| Black Cuban, Black American: A Memoir Contributor(s): Grillo, Evelio (Author), Dworkin-Mendez, Kenya (Introduction by), Mendez, Kenya Dworkin (Prologue by) |
|
 |
ISBN: 155885293X ISBN-13: 9781558852938 Publisher: Arte Publico Press OUR PRICE: $12.56 Product Type: Paperback - Other Formats Published: January 2000 Annotation: Arte Publico Press's landmark series "Recovering the U. S. Hispanic Literary Heritage" has traditionally been devoted to long-lost literary and historic works by Hispanics of decades and even centuries past. The publication of Black Cuban, Black American marks the first original work by a living author to become part of this notable series. The reason for this unprecedented honor can be seen in Evelio Grillo's path-breaking life. Ybor City was once a thriving factory town populated by cigar-makers, mostly emigrants from Cuba. Growing up in Ybor City, now part of Tampa, in the early twentieth century, the young Evelio experienced the complexities and sometimes the difficulties of life in a horse-and-buggy society demarcated by both racial and linguistic lines. Life was different depending on whether you were Spanish- or English-speaking, a white or black Cuban, a Cuban American or a native-born U.S. citizen, well-off or poor. (Even U. S.-born blacks did not always get along with their Hispanic counterparts.) Grillo captures the joys and sorrows of this unique world that slowly faded away as he grew to adulthood and was absorbed into the African-American community during the Depression. He then tells of his eye-opening experiences as a soldier in an all-black unit serving in the China-Burma-India theater of operations during World War II. Booklovers may have read of Ybor City in the novels of writer Jose Yglesias, but never before has the colorful locale been portrayed from this perspective. The book contains a fascinating eight-page photo insert. |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - Social Science | Minority Studies |
| Dewey: B |
| LCCN: 00020774 |
| Series: Hispanic Civil Rights (Paperback) |
| Physical Information: 0.51" H x 5.54" W x 8.52" (0.50 lbs) 134 pages |
| Themes: - Ethnic Orientation - African American - Ethnic Orientation - Latino |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: The first original work by a living author to become part of the series, Grillo captures the joys and sorrows of York City, a thriving factory town populated by emigrant cigar-makers that slowly faded away as he grew to adulthood and was absorbed into the African-American community during the Depression. The book follows Grillo through his childhood and his days in an African-American unit in the China-Burma-India theater of operations during World War II. |