As I watched President Obama and the first family descend the steps of Air Force One to Havana Cuba, I reflected on the symbolism and the potential to end over five decades of a ridiculous, antiquated and failed embargo. I also reflected on the parallels between Cuba and my own home town of East St. Louis.
We know the story of Cuba – economically decimated by a 55-year-old American embargo following Fidel Castro’s coup and dictatorship of the Caribbean nation.
East Boogie began its economic decline during that same period, the result of white flight when white people, their businesses and their finances headed for the hills of Belleville, Fairview Heights, O’Fallon and Shiloh, Illinois.
The result for Cuba: financial catastrophe, crumbling infrastructure, corroded plumbing and Third World status in terms of technology and many of the luxuries that Americans take for granted.
East St. Louis similarly suffers in terms of outdated sewers, crumbling streets, abandoned houses and a dearth of business, jobs and economic opportunities.
Both have the benefit of prime locations. Cuba has the most beautiful, yet undeveloped, beaches in the Caribbean just 90 miles from America. East Boogie has an undeveloped riverfront facing downtown St. Louis, a developer’s dream location for townhouses, hotels and infinite development opportunities.
Yet both suffer economically because of a lack of infusion of capital and partnerships with those entities with the wherewithal to convert their potential into profit.
Another important thing that they share is their resilience. Castro and Cuba have survived assassination attempts, economic embargos and 10 U.S. presidents. East Boogie has endured, despite a mass exodus of industry, jobs, financial resources and corrupt, plantation “poli-tricks.”
Both are home to people of color and of African-descent, and are rich with unique cultures and the will to survive in spite of the odds.
And at the end of the day, the solution for the plight of both is similar: for the powerful to remove the economic bolder from the backs of the people, to invest in the rebuilding of their infrastructure and the provision of economic opportunity.
That is the commonality and that is the challenge that I pray will become a reality for both, God wiling.
Email: jtingram_1960@yahoo.com; Twitter@JamesTIngram.
