They will never read some of the most moving passages written by Cuban-born Jose Marti, a dedicated intellectual leader of the revolution against the Spanish empire.
A monument to his struggle once stood in the park along Seventh Street for all to see. There were inscriptions on its white marble facade – passages of his poems – which spoke of man's highest ideals of freedom, struggle, and the noblest human values.
The monument was gift to the city by the local Cuban community. Now, after years of vandalism and negligence, the monument no longer stands there, only an empty spot.
I often walked by the Cuban community's tribute to this hero and read the quotes of his poems. Not only were they enlightening for their elegance and style, but also for the depth and breadth of content that showed Marti's love for his fellow men and freedom of the human race.
His writing was not one of hate, human enslavement, secession, or division. If anything, he spoke of men's yearning for freedom, self-determination and the uplifting of all.
I, for one, was grateful to them for presenting this elegant (and eloquent) monument to the city of Brownsville.
But a brutish element of our city opted to destroy, rather than build and vandalized their gift to us. This is the epitome of putting pearls before swine. It's a small consolation to know that others' gifts to our city have suffered the same fate. The willful damage doe to the paintings by art students on the Capitol Theater is but one example, as is the hateful graffiti on the walls around downtown.
When the Jefferson Davis Highway Memorial was defaced with red spray paint, the city moved to clean it up and remove the slogans someone painted on it. In the case of the monument to Marti, the city did nothing to repair it or to seek the perpetrators. Instead, it has been allowed to remain broken and in pieces, with its plaques missing. Marti's bust was a long time ago stolen and never replaced.
Now, even what was left is gone.
This is a curious and instructive contrast.
In Marti's case, the monument honors a man's struggle – and his martyrdom – to free an entire people from the oppression of a colonial power. It belonged in Washington Park with the monuments to George Washington and Padre Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla, men who struggled to overthrow the yoke of oppression on their people from the colonial powers that were.
In the Davis memorial, it honors a man who was the president of a breakaway group which battled, committed treason against their homeland, killed their brothers, and died trying to maintain their way of life (they call it heritage) of which enslaving black people – our brothers – and keeping them as property was a cornerstone.
Our moral compass seems to have gone awry a bit here.
One can't really blame the Cuban community's wish to remove their gift to our city to a place where it would be more appreciated, like the Brownsville Country Club, for example. But the loss is that it will no longer be in a central forum of the city to instruct our fellow citizens that men were willing to die for a people to be free.
This is a curious and instructive contrast.
In Marti's case, the monument honors a man's struggle – and his martyrdom – to free an entire people from the oppression of a colonial power. It belonged in Washington Park with the monuments to George Washington and Padre Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla, men who struggled to overthrow the yoke of oppression on their people from the colonial powers that were.
In the Davis memorial, it honors a man who was the president of a breakaway group which battled, committed treason against their homeland, killed their brothers, and died trying to maintain their way of life (they call it heritage) of which enslaving black people – our brothers – and keeping them as property was a cornerstone.
Our moral compass seems to have gone awry a bit here.
One can't really blame the Cuban community's wish to remove their gift to our city to a place where it would be more appreciated, like the Brownsville Country Club, for example. But the loss is that it will no longer be in a central forum of the city to instruct our fellow citizens that men were willing to die for a people to be free.
Instead, our city and its leaders continue to provide a soapbox for neo-confederates to glorify a man who fought to keep other people enslaved.
There's an empty spot not only in Washington Park, but in our city's heart as well.
11 comments:
I personally hated it that they did that
Luckily i took my children there countless of times and took photographs as I grew up reading about him.. in another note: have you noticed how they took down all those sabals palms while restoring the resaca by monroe?
When the American Colonies asserted their independence from England, they were traitors according to the British.
When Texas asserted it's independence from Mexico, they were considered traitors and pirates according to Santa Ann.
When Mexico asserted it's independence from France, they were considered traitors by France.
However, these rebellions and independence movements were sucessful, so those involved were considered heros and patriots.
When the Confederate States asserted teir independence from the United States, they were patriots to those in the South and Traitors to those in the North.
Jose Marti failed in his bid for Cuban Indepence from Spain, but none-the-less some consider him a hero while Spain considered him a traitor. It took the Americans to kick the Spanish out of Cuba.
The Confederates States lost their war of independence, so Montoya gets to call them traitors. Pinche fucking hyprocrite of the highest order.
Juan, you are a real racist with an anti-American bias.
Puros lloretas junto con los portojas
To 1:44 p.m., before you go calling Montoya a racist you better read up on your American History. Many historians did consider Jefferson Davis a traitor because he was born in the U.S., swore an oath to the country as a congressman and then declared and made war against the U.S. It appears you have a personal grudge against Montoya as there are similar comments that appear to be yours in other articles. Constructive criticism is one thing, but trashy comments like yours on a very informative article of Jose Marti should not be allowed. Take your hate somewhere else. Keep up the good work Juan.
They moved the WW II memorial to those who died in that war too. It was not vandalized. Someone, by fiat, decided to move it.
trump and his beloved racist supporters can yell and scream racial slurs insult americans that don't support their vile cause and some idiot here calls a local citizen hypocrite (by the way idiot you misspell your favorite word) You are the real anti-american
Brownsville is a CESSPOOL of welfare cockroaches, corrupt city and county officials, and illegal aliens...a city in Stage 4 Cancer.
"Nonetheless" is one big word, not three separate words.
Juan you are an anglo-lover and I bet you can't even speak Spanish
The hillbillies are 5th generation welfare suckers and marry within their own families. Talk about european cockroaches.
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