Reyita: The Life of a Black Cuban Woman in the Twentieth Century

Reyita: The Life of a Black Cuban Woman in the Twentieth Century

by Maira de los Reyes Castillo Bueno

As the student staff at NYU continues to diversify, I am reading more and more “heritage books,” historical biographies of the lives of people from homes of their ancestors.  Race, ethnicity and culture have been the foundation of many of the books in the past few weeks.  Today is no different. I venture to Cuba through the book about and written by Maria de los Reyes Castillo Bueno titled: Reyita: The Life of a Black Cuban Woman in the Twentieth Century. Reyita tells her life story to her daughter, Daisy.  As a 94 year-old Cuban woman, Reyita describes growing up in a turbulent Cuba.  The stories go deeply into family (grandmother’s struggles as a slave, her mother fighting for independence), and then into the political movements within Cuba – the deaths during the massacre of 1912, her life on the plantation, the dictatorships of Cuba, and the national rise of communism.  Reyita’s personal struggles as a black woman and her desire to marry a white man (which she eventually does) play to the core of this story.  As she notes, "I didn't want a black husband, not out of contempt for my race, but because black men had almost no possibilities of getting ahead and the certainty of facing lots of discrimination."  Reyita struggles with living in poverty, family battles, and plain-old discrimination. Through it all, she illustrates the importance of commitment to her faith in God and is seen by some as a “visionary,” where she ‘sees’ images and can predict future behavior. The book captures the role of women in Latina society as the cornerstone of the family.  Reyita stays faithful to her husband and lives a long, long life with family at the center. Interesting to note the importance of a text like this in understanding the culture of gender, race, ethnicity, and religion, all of which play a role in Cuban society.  This is a quick read and celebrates not only Reyita’s life but also the 118 people, including great-great grandchildren, in Reyita’s family. A tell-all tale of the secrets within a mother’s heart.