La Palabra’s journey is as much of an American story as it is a truthful account of a life, which began in Caimanera, Cuba, not far from Guantanamo
On April of 1966, after having their visas approved and without any advanced notice a yellow seal placed
Upon landing in Miami Palabra noticed that photographers were eager to take photos of light-skinned Cuban refugees and he would witness first-hand the racial inequality of seeing the police only put dogs on demonstrators that were black.
Then there was the movie called, “La Sangre Siempre Es Roja,” (Blood is Always Red). “La Sangre Siempre Es Roja,” told the story of a white man who after being in a car accident, in critical condition and in need of a blood transfusion, refused to accept blood from a black man. He although reluctant to do so eventually accepted the black man’s blood and was able to continue living.
A local hotel set up for refugees had so many unknown treats to offer that Palabra got a bad case of diarrhea due to over eating juicy fruit and double mint gum. The next day their plane headed to New York. After their arrival in Brooklyn, Emi bought a piano for Palabra because it made her proud that he won the contest held in Caimanera. In New York, Palabra would come to know more about music especially the blues and soul music. He learned of Wilson Pickett, The Supremes, The Rolling Stones, and the Monkees, however his biggest discovery was yet to come and would fully engage him in the world of race, music and entertainment.
During this time of his exploring America, Mr. Johnson, husband to Palabra’s mother, passed away. Palabra loved New York, it was cultural, had many clubs and venues to perform and above all put Palabra in the heart of the latest R&B groups. Unfortunately, without the help of Mr. Johnson, Palabra and his family would move to Detroit where his mom’s relatives offered to give them help. This would be the foundation that gave Palabra a chance to develop the music called, ‘salsa romantica,” a genre which lays R&B on top of love ballads with a fast, hot, and sexy beat.
Cooley High a fertile ground for growing roots also created the diversion of color and race as a blockade to success. Palabra told 15 Minutes his story of how a Mexican student at the school would not respond when he spoke Spanish because he was embarrassed to be Mexican. There was also the time that a young white woman began to hit him in the back because she thought he was trying to steal her books, when he was only trying to help to pick them up after falling out of the student’s hand. The high school enormously popular gave him inspiration from famous
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La Palabra continues to reinvent and make relevant his special brand of Salsa Romantica. All-time favorites El Tun Tun and Lady (a remake by Lionel Ritchie), can be heard globally and throughout his native Caimanera.
Note: Residents of this remote town are the closest Cuban neighbours to the US military camp and currently prison for combatants from a war in Afghanistan. The North East Gate, located near Boquerón, is the only US-Cuban border crossing point. Due to its proximity to the US Base Caimanera is a forbidden town needing a special permission from the government to visit it.
For more information on La Palabra go to www.palabraonline.com. Journey Beneath My Skin, A Black Latino in Pursuit of the American Dream, can be found on www.amazon.com and at Barnes and Nobles.
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