Medical aid, Hip Hop, head to Cuba with local man

There’s a part of Cuba that few Americans know about.

It’s a world in which hundreds of hip-hop groups are forming across the island, inspired by not only the love of the beat, but of the forceful, often-political, empowerment that it brings. But unlike hip-hop in the United States, there’s no promise of a better life in Cuba for rappers or those who crave that musical motivation for change.

Albuquerque’s Cyrus Gould knows the world well.

Gould, 26, is among the more than 130 Pastors for Peace volunteers from the United States, Canada and Europe who will challenge what they believe is the immoral and illegal U.S. travel and trade restrictions against Cuba on July 3. Gould and a few others were picked up by a caravan winding its way across the U.S. on Thursday night.

While the trip’s primary mission is to deliver medical and other humanitarian aid, Gould’s personal mission is cultural. 

The lithe, fair-headed Albuquerque resident, who exhibits a puckish streak, and others have collected turntables, microphones, speakers and other musical equipment  – the tools hip-hop enthusiasts need for their craft — to foster hip-hop music and its social benefits. The equipment will go to youth centers.

"I know the people of Cuba need so many other things," Gould, 26, said. "But the cultural exchange of hip-hop to some of these people is so powerful. It’s as important to them as having medical supplies, really."

In Cuba, hip-hop and rap artists work against a stark backdrop of prostitution, black-market capitalism and poverty, in part because the typical Cuban makes only $15 a month. Complicating matters is a police force that tosses the rappers in jail if their songs criticize Fidel Castro or his communist government.

 "I first heard about the caravan through Bryan Gibel, a journalist formerly wtith Daily Lobo and Voces (Spanish publication)," Gould said Thursday before a night of celebration with other caravan members in Albuquerque. "Since becoming a part of this group, I have come to understand and believe in the power of faith to improve the lives of so many people. We have to do something for these people who are suffering."

Albuquerque was along one of 14 routes separate caravans are traveling to pick up participants in 46 U.S. cities and six Canadian provinces. All the caravans will converge in McAllen, Tx. before heading to Mexico and then Cuba. Along the way the caravan will be hosted in 125 communities that support a new U.S. Cuba policy based on respect and non-aggression. Participants plan to blog and videotape their journey.

"This is my second trip to Cuba and I do think our mission has brought about some good to the people of Cuba who desperately need help," he said. "I think in my lifetime we will see the blockade lifted. That is my hope."

Gould is a founder for New Mexico Youth Organized, a local nonprofit that raises awareness of several environmental and political issues. In addition to community organizing, Gould also has helped put on local music and dance events. He’s co-creater of the New Mexico Electronic Music Festival.

He says he is "committed to positive change in the state and dedicates himself to the work of social justice through political organizing and service work such as mural projects and break dancing clinics for young people."

The Friendshipment caravan is an inter-faith effort by the 40-year-old ecumenical agency Interreligious Foundation for Community Organization (IFCO). 

The hip-hop rebellion has taken root in Cuba, nourished by a stifling trade embargo, the collapse of the Soviet Union, and racial inequality, according to a CNN story. 

"But these rebels use lyrics, not guns, and they dance instead of march," according to the story by Simon Umlauf . "Hip-hop is the rebellion within the revolution. Its soldiers are Cuban rappers, (raperos). Their missions are poverty and racism. "

Gould knows the Cuban hip-hop artists don’t need his reasons to love the music. They have their own.