We need more active cultural journalism and media professionals in general who are more opinion-driven and analytical. Author: Taken from the Latin press

We often refer to terms such as cultural colonization. Some are quick to associate it with the Internet, digital platforms, and other media such as television and film, but the truth is that the phenomenon has been around for a long time as an effective form of domination, along with military and economic domination.

Conquerors of different stages have always tried to impose their ideologies, religions, ways of life, forms of social organization…

Over time, the paths of the Eurocentric powers, as well as North America, were legitimized as the United States became an empire. These nations prioritize the devaluation of the autochthonous identity and cultural elements of other peoples.

It is interesting to recall something pointed out by the Argentine writer and educator Gregorio German, who said that, for example, “planetary geography has been classified in such a way that north is up and south is down, in a world that is round and, as you know, , that which is at the top has supremacy. A symbolic order has also been configured, establishing the existence of the First, Second and Third Worlds, as if we do not all live in the same world.

Cultural “aggressions” or “impositions” have always been associated with barbarism, with the army, with the occupation of territories, but all this has been transformed. Technological development, the creation of the printing press, newspapers, large-scale books, radio, television and cinema has allowed us to reach out to many more people, with real culture wars, with a high interest in the development of technology, as if it were weapons. competitions.

With the advent of the Internet and digital platforms, everything has reached proportions that decades ago seemed like science fiction. Millions of people at the screen distance provide information and consume various content with one click.

There’s a lot of data about us, including dates of birth, who we hang out with, what we like and don’t like, conversations, love, mood… that can be used to suit specific interests. Added to this are video games, ways to dress up, songs and rhythms, memes, cartoons, video clips, series, animations… and a whole sea of ​​content that cannot be completely eliminated.

We also have to mention foreign-driven projects with youtubers, websites, pages and profiles that make up a kind of digital jungle not to be feared. It is about knowing, learning and participating with great intelligence, argument and beauty.

For decolonization, which is a constant process, always in progress, we must be fully aware that a dangerous war is being fought in the symbolic, in the realm of ideas, politics and psychology. Often the most effective bullets and bombs are disguised as they are designed to undermine ideological foundations, penetrate the senses and circulate like poison in the streams of people. It can be said and repeated, it can be alarmist, so the most important thing is that there is a decolonizing platform so strong and natural that it is able to disable attempts at cultural conquest.

Here we are incredibly fortunate to have the work and thoughts of Marty, Fidel and other outstanding creators, in addition to the amazing cultural richness and institutional system created by the Revolution, with a deeply decolonizing vocation. They are advantages, strongholds, but this is not enough. We need to keep things constantly improving and keeping the best of our art offerings available to everyone. It would be very positive if this were accompanied by progress in the social sphere.

Elements such as identity, pride in being Cuban, and a pulsating national culture across the country are essential. We need a more active cultural journalism and media professionals in general with more opinions and analyzes to have a greater impact on the hierarchy of artists and their works, as well as the formation of the audience.

It is impossible not to recall the partisan Ernesto Che Guevara, also a lover of poetry, photography and art in general, who, in a public act held in Havana on October 7, 1959, said: “… it is very important to go to save the nationality. Nations with their culture are peoples who, without neglecting any teaching in the world, transform them and turn them into something very own, with a different, unmistakable color.

“The task of the colonial powers all over the world has always been to stifle the native culture of the nation; destroy the beliefs of the people and instill in them the culture of their country of origin, their customs, etc. We also felt this invasion in Cuba in all the most diverse branches of the life of the country.

And then he makes a kind of comparison with the military: “At those moments, when the Revolution broke all the old brakes of the past, it was easy for us to break the structure of the old army, not only in people, but also in structure, that it would be a Cuban, accepting experience from all over. world where people fought in the form of guerrillas for their liberation.

“In culture, this struggle is much more difficult because the manifestations were more subtle, because there was no strong barrier opposing the cultural concepts that the colonists had established as good, the resistance to cultural intrusion was permeated by hardly any people would have noticed.”

The current situation in Cuba is affected by many unfavorable aspects, including an imperfect technological infrastructure and a difficult economic situation, which also affect the possibilities of audiovisual and radio projects, more films, documentaries and a wider scope of artistic activity. .

The growing emigration, including designers, journalists, editors, illustrators, program directors, sound engineers, TV presenters and other communication and cultural professionals, is another challenge on the path that we must definitely pass for the benefit of the nation.

The country faces additional obstacles. He rows for decades against all sorts of problems and receives heavy doses of punishment for his revolutionary heresy.

We have a lot to do. Here, not a single page or institutional profile on the web reaches, for example, a million subscribers. To this we add that many of these materials tend to reach low coverage in other regions and are almost entirely consumed by the Cuban public, although it is fair to acknowledge the positive experience being promoted in recent years.

We must continue to develop more and better art-related communication campaigns for the Cuban public as well as abroad, forging more alliances with artists and organizations from other parts of the world that allow us to go further. As the intellectual Ignacio Ramone put it at a meeting in Cuba, in the new conditions even the truth becomes more and more emotional. Ethics, sincerity, arguments are important, but they also evoke feelings and emotions.

It is critical to develop a more critical understanding of the dynamics and ways in which networks operate, as well as audiovisual and other content in the entertainment industry, which must begin at an early age. Our curricula and the entire education system in the country must take these elements into account.

Art and the best of Cuban culture in general should always be present in our lives, as well as the best of international culture. The point is not to completely avoid the forms of foreign cultures, this is impossible, but to consume them with critical judgment and full awareness of the framework that accompanies them.

Source: Juventud Rebelde