Our America: a Marti’s call for regional unity.
In an effort to exalt the cultural richness, historical heritage and idiosyncrasy of the region, every January 30th we celebrate Latin American and Caribbean Identity Day.
The day, led since 2009 by UNESCO’s José Martí Project, commemorates the publication of the essay Our America by this hero of the largest of the Antilles which, on the same date but in 1891, was published in the Mexican newspaper El Partido Liberal.
Although the text had originally seen the light of day the first day in La Revista Ilustrada of New York, it was after its arrival in the Aztec letters when the readers of the continent found in the visionary ingenuity of the Master a hope for the preservation of the culture and independence of a region historically threatened by the imperialist hegemony of the United States.
In Our America, the Apostle displays his communicative excellence, insightful narrative and fervent prose to expose the influence of colonialism and call for the construction of an identity of the region away from European influences and based on unity, respect, peaceful coexistence and exchange among the nations that comprise it. It thus materializes a work of high socio-political transcendence, manifest actuality and significance for future generations.
That is why this date is an eloquent reminder of the vast cultural mosaic in which the legacy of our struggles for independence, musical tones, artistic and linguistic expressions, scientific and literary contributions and other customs and traditions have made our Patria Grande.
The Latin American and Caribbean Identity Day becomes then an incentive to value and preserve the great soil we walk on, to glorify Marti’s ideology and to build a future that protects the foundations of our regional identity and reinforces the bonds that unite us as brothers in this land.
Written by Yadiel Barbón Salgado.
