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I have just returned from Havana, Cuba on a people to people tour for the May Day celebrations with Building Relations with Cuban Labor. The goal of our trip was to learn from the Cuban people. The Cuban people beg of us to force President Biden to lift Cuba from the list of state sponsors of terrorism.
When I met everyday Cubans and told them I am from Alabama, they expressed a profound understanding of Angela Davis, MLK, Rosa Parks, and Fred Shuttlesworth. Such anecdotes stand in comparison to the fact that recent NAPE scores indicate large swaths of our nation’s 8th graders do not understand the structure of our own government.
Process this information with me for just a second. Cuba devotes 30% of its GDP to education. In the U.S. we dedicate 3.5% of the GDP to educating K-12 students. A full 21% of people in the United States, the wealthiest nation in the history of the world, are illiterate. On the other hand, Cuba boasts a literacy rate of 99.1%.
Alabama’s literacy law retains 3rd graders if they do not meet reading standards. We have all seen the research on the damage that holding a student back does to a student’s socio-emotional wellbeing. While Cuba, a nation which has been under economic attack by the U.S. for over 64 years, can ensure its students self-determination through literacy, we punish children in our country for problems propagated by adults.
In his letter from the Birmingham jail, King wrote that we have a moral obligation to break unjust laws. Together, we must overturn two unjust laws in the name of education.
One, we deny Cuba participation in international markets by an unsubstantiated claim that they are a terrorist country. This means schools and children suffer.
Two, Alabama legally penalizes students for not being able to read on grade level without providing appropriate and effective supports to ensure they meet said standards.
Cuba apparently has a solution to illiteracy, but because of an archaic, imperialist mindset here in the U.S., we would rather demoralize students than look to Cuba as an example.
Under false pretenses President Trump placed Cuba on the list of state sponsors of terror, and now Cuba cannot secure any international infrastructure investment.
President Biden can lift Trump’s false designation with an executive order and has promised to do so. His inaction, though, defines the white moderate Dr. King blamed for injustice. King also reminded us from his jail cell that a threat to justice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.
Teachers from Hueytown to Havana deeply feel this truth as we continue to dream for our students despite the circumstances.
Fellow Alabamans, we have a unique history of liberation. I call on you each to take direct action to demand Biden remove Cuba from the list of state sponsors of terror now so Cuban schools can receive greater investment and teachers in the U.S. can look to the Cuban model to end our literacy crisis.
– Michael Franklin, on his recent trip to Cuba
