This was the opinion of the international representative of the Afro-descendant Neighborhood Network Cuba, Geofrey Delaforcade, PhD in Historical Sciences from Norfolk State University, Virginia, the United States, in an interview with Prensa Latina.

I think it is very important that the individuals, communities and countries represented here reach the the people’s knowledge, he said.

According to the expert, general interest must be aroused in this discussion with happiness and celebration, but also with intelligence and seriousness.

Teaching for 16 years at a historically African-American institution has had a significant impact on Delaforcade.

I can tell you that they have transformed me, the teaching experience in this community has changed me as a person, he added.

The US scholar noted that his experience here working as an international representative of the Afro-descendant Neighborhood Network is similar.

I do professional work as a historian and sometimes I write, but what could I write about without really knowing these forms of existence, this knowledge and these interpretations of neocolonial reality and the possibilities of socialism? he wondered.

In his opinion, he is a product, a kind of student of this practice in Cuba, in the United States and in his native France.

At least here it is recognized that there is a historical injustice and for more than sixty years they have been trying to correct it, but in the entire world – starting with neocolonial Europe – there is a very serious crisis, a kind of fascism everywhere, half invisible, which is now appearing in formal politics and in the media, he pointed out.

What is never talked about is the criticism and resistance to all this by the youth from the former colonies, who have conquered work spaces in various spheres that were previously denied to them, he added.

There is a very strong word for Afro-descendants in Europe, we have to stop considering ourselves a kind of white majority with the monopoly of dialogue and speech, he emphasized.

According to the expert, at some point a new way of thinking and acting will emerge among the youth.

I believe that the African-American experience, which has contributed to what we understand as freedom for two centuries, is essential and will continue to be so, the specialist emphasized at the end of the interview.

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