Teishan A. Latner - Böcker

When a popular revolution prevailed on America's doorstep in 1959, it provoked the wrath of the American political establishment but fueled intense interest within the multiracial American Left. In this groundbreaking book, historian Teishan Latner contends that as Americans studied Cuba's achievements in universal education, health care, economic redistribution, and racial and gender equality and embraced Cuban revolutionary theory, Havana in turn looked to the U.S. Left as a collaborator in the global battle against inequality and imperialism and an ally in its Cold War struggle with Washington. By supporting black radical organizations such as the Black Panther Party, New Left groups such as the Venceremos Brigade, and the Cuban American students of the Antonio Maceo Brigade, as well as by granting political asylum to activists such as Assata Shakur, Cuba became a durable global influence on U.S. radicalism for the modern era.Drawing from extensive archival and oral history research and declassified FBI and CIA documents, this is the first multidecade examination of the encounter between the American Left and the Cuban revolution. By analyzing Cuba's social, cultural, and political impact on U.S. radicalism, Latner contributes to a growing body of scholarship that has globalized the study of U.S. social movements and expands our understanding of the transnational history of the U.S. Left.

Cuba's grassroots revolution prevailed on America's doorstep in 1959, fueling intense interest within the multiracial American Left even as it provoked a backlash from the U.S. political establishment. In this groundbreaking book, historian Teishan A. Latner contends that in the era of decolonization, the Vietnam War, and Black Power, socialist Cuba claimed center stage for a generation of Americans who looked to the insurgent Third World for inspiration and political theory. As Americans studied the island's achievements in education, health care, and economic redistribution, Cubans in turn looked to U.S. leftists as collaborators in the global battle against inequality and allies in the nation's Cold War struggle with Washington. By forging ties with organizations such as the Venceremos Brigade, the Black Panther Party, and the Cuban American students of the Antonio Maceo Brigade, and by providing political asylum to activists such as Assata Shakur, Cuba became a durable global influence on the U.S. Left.Drawing from extensive archival and oral history research and declassified FBI and CIA documents, this is the first multidecade examination of the encounter between the Cuban Revolution and the U.S. Left after 1959. By analyzing Cuba's multifaceted impact on American radicalism, Latner contributes to a growing body of scholarship that has globalized the study of U.S. social justice movements.

Cuba in the 1970s was a beacon of Third World liberation—and a sanctuary for US radicals on the run. Fugitive States is the true story of Charlie Hill, an American exile who has lived in Havana for 55 years. An Illinois native and war veteran who was expelled from the US Army for refusing to fight against the Vietnamese national liberation forces, Hill later joined the Republic of New Afrika, a dynamic Black nationalist movement that called for reparations for slavery and the creation of a sovereign nation-state for Black people in the American South. Accused of killing a New Mexico state trooper in 1971, Hill hijacked an airplane from Albuquerque to Havana, where the Cuban government granted him asylum. In Havana, Hill hoped to connect with African revolutionaries and to join the armed struggle against colonialism in Angola or Guinea-Bissau; instead, he became the longest-remaining US political exile in Cuba and a witness to five decades of socialism and revolution. Drawing on archival sources and extensive interviews, historian Teishan A. Latner uses Hill’s surprising story to illuminate a broader set of encounters between foreign expatriates and the Cuban Revolution during a turbulent era of global radicalism.