History as the only lighthouse

The formation of a deep historical knowledge constitutes in the Island a way of understanding the future of the destinies of the country and strengthen the admiration and respect for those who bequeathed us the possibility of enjoying absolute independence, in any of the stages that qualified and gave Step to the conformation of the current Cuban reality.

The need to investigate history is also associated with respect for our identity, a result of the conjugation of the cultural roots of different ethnicities and diverse backgrounds, which were integrated into a new cultural complex.

Historians have a lot of teachers: patience, the thirst for knowledge and the concerns to know in depth the processes that gave way to our idiosyncrasy are part of their daily and fruitful work. As good educators and communicators immerse themselves in the pages of a book, often tinted with faint yellows over time, they collect images in black and white, confront sources and give us a piece of history, after long hours of reading and research.

In this critical essay of the historian often appear blanks attributed to the passage of the years, the loss of documentary and living sources. Against these disadvantages are not intimidated: reread, seek new alternatives to unravel doubts, are thrown again and again in oceans of questions and, fortunately, almost always find correct answers. In the complex process of conformation of the identity of a country, the historical memory takes on a core importance.

The fascinating world of chronologies, personalities and events, needs to know fully and bring to light the values accumulated for centuries in the popular imaginary and national historiography. The understanding of our present involves returning to our steps, the steps of so many men and women who lived or investigated the political, social, economic and cultural roots of the Cuban people, from their roots.

In order to construct the present and the future we must go back to those whose work, studied to a greater or lesser extent, establish guidelines in the historiographic evolution of the country and even within the estates of the Matancera province.

I always like to remember the history classes I got in college. Regardless of the geographical area, the stage or the international context we studied, the teachers always knew how to motivate us to appreciate the importance of these events, although in our opinion, the realities that presented us had nothing to do with Cuba. Also at that stage I met true heroes, flesh and bones, owners of as many mistakes as any of us, but with a star that radiates to our days.

In that sense one would have to ask: in our educational centers is history taught with all the necessary arguments? Do we work enough so that the material is valued as a beacon that guides the way, as the answer to many of our daily questions and not as a subject to take to pass from one to another level of education ?; Do we turn local history into the necessary reunion with our closest cultural roots? Are we able to take the historical events to our students with didactic data, and, beyond summarizing it in dates and qualities, turn it into a product that fascinates them, that they love, that sow in them a sense of belonging and love for their Earth?

If we consider the repercussion of the Matanzas culture, vast in expressions and manifestations, high as danzón, portentous as the rumba, romantic as Milanés, we will value the work of those who traveled or traveled those roads from the thin leaves of a book to give To posterity knowledge that without its imprint would be lost in time.

Well understand on these matters the men who dedicate a good part of their lives to the investigation of the essences hidden between the centenary walls of a city that they love, from that network of feelings that we have to call it Cuban.