Globalizing the Future: Infusing Latin American Studies Across the Curriculum
Resources: José Martí in the 21st century
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1) Martí and articles about race: “Our America” (1891); “My Race” published in Patria (1893); and a portion of
an 1892 chronicle sent to a Mexican newspaper where Martí describes a black man being burned to death in
Texarkana.
2) Martí and poetry: Poem # 30 (XXX “El rayo surca, sangriento”) of Versos Sencillos. This poem likely
reflects the time Martí, as a 10-year-old boy, spent with his father in Hanábana not far from Havana, where his
father had been charged with prohibiting the landing of slaves. See Martí’s Obras Completas, vol 22 page 189
for his notes on this topic.
A teaching idea – Making slavery real for today’s students – documents about slave sales in Cuba. Núñez
Jiménez, Antonio. Los esclavos negros. Havana: Editorial Letras Cubanas, 1998.
3) “Guantanamera” around the world and remembering Pete Seeger who died Jan. 27, 2014 and who helped to
popularize the song with lyrics from Martí’s Versos Sencillos. See the following site for a brief
history.www.historyofcuba.com/history/marti/Guantanamera.htm (1/30/2014)
Also see: 'Guantanamera': Pete Seeger's Latin Legacy
Billboard - 1 day ago
Pete Seeger's version of the Cuban song "Guantanamera" was released on ... "It's one of my favorite
songs in the entire world," Seeger told… (1/30/2014)
4) Following Martí’s life through a virtual exposition: the Casa Natal in Havana. www.josemarti.cu
5) Martí and his maxims. Martí was a master of aphorisims (aforismos), short declarative sentences that
establish a truth. Here are some examples.
** El único autógrafo digno de un hombre es el que deja escrito con sus obras.
**Las tumbas son los altares de la paz.
**Trincheras de ideas valen más que trincheras de piedras.
**Mal va un hombre cuando no le da un vuelco el corazón al leer o presenciar un acto heroico.
6) Martí as translator of the U.S. An example from Martí’s writing about the death of President Garfield in
1881 and the oath of office taken by the vice-President, Chester A. Arthur. (See the separate sheet with
comparative versions.)
Martí Sources - Some works by José Martí about race
1) Martí, José. Selected Writings. Edited and translated by Esther Allen. Introduced by Roberto González
Echevarría. New York: Penguin, 2002.
This book has excellent translations of: “Our America,” “My Race,” and “A Town Sets a Black Man on Fire.”
You can find Spanish originals of “Nuestra América” and “Mi raza” in many texts.
Martí’s account of a black man set on fire is part of a chronicle sent to the Mexican newspaper, El Partido
Liberal, February 23, 1892 and published in March of that year. It is available in Spanish in: En los Estados
Unidos: periodismo de 1881 a 1892/ José Martí; edición crítica, Edited by Roberto Fernández Retamar and
Pedro Pablo Rodríguez. Madrid: Colección Archivos, 2003.
Additional sources:
Greenbaum, Susan D. More than Black: Afro-Cubans in Tampa: Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 2002.
Núñez Jiménez, Antonio. Los esclavos negros. Havana: Editorial Letras Cubanas, 1998.
UF has a marvelous collection about José Martí’s family connections in the U.S Everything has been digitized
so you don’t have to worry about duplicating.
The link is the following: http://dloc.com/romero
Contact Margarita Vargas-Betancourt, Caribbean Basin Librarian, Latin American Collection, Department of
Special & Area Studies Collections, 405 Smathers Library for more information.
For a tour of Martí’s birthplace go to: www.josemarti.cu/ and select casa natal.