VENCEREMOS BRIGADE: Young Americans Sharing the Life and Work of Revolutionary Cuba

by Carol & Sandra Levinson -- Eds. Brightman ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 31, 1971

Cuba, refracted and romanticized through the middle-class eyes of some four dozen volunteer cane cutters of the Venceremos Brigade, whose letters, poems and diaries have been excerpted by the editors. For most of the zafra volunteers the battle with the cane (7:00 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.) was a gruelling but eagerly sought and exhilarating identity crisis. ""To break away from the privileges that most of us could have for the rest of our lives is perhaps more difficult than fighting because you have nothing."" Running through all the narratives is the preoccupation with the need to be relevant to 'the revolution' as well as a conscientious emphasis on eradicating vestiges of their own bourgeois individualism (""doing your own thing"" or ""ego-tripping""). While the commitment to Cuban-style communism is intense the political sophistication is weak. ""The political talk on the bus is really disappointing,"" complained one volunteer, ""'Off the pig,' 'Motherfucker, motherfucker,' 'Steal the tractor for Castro'"" and that's about the level it stays at. The Cuban experience appears as a rededication, an ""initiation into a new life,"" a ritual expressing solidarity with the Third World. The general adulation of Castro and all things Cuban withstands occasional skepticism on their hosts' moralistic attitude toward drugs and the tendency to dismiss ""youth culture."" Am I a racist? Am I an imperialist in interpersonal relationships? Am I a male chauvinist? By the end of the sojourn some of the self-doubting has been stilled though there are hints that once the shared work experience is over ""the brigade was just a bunch of drag-ass people who happened to be together.

Pub Date: May 31, 1971

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1971

Categories: NONFICTION