Driving through Calle Ocho, I thought I had stumbled upon another Occupy Miami protest. However, this group of veteran Cubans and a few other Latin Americans would never consider occupying Miami. No, they search for answers, a resolution to their motherland’s precarious situations. They wave flags, hoping that one of their turns would somehow affect corrupt governments, miles away across bodies of water as blue and as recognizable as the color of the flags’ stripes.
While the effort generates reactions from onlookers, I cannot help but feel this adds to the problem. Instead of gaining a voice, the protest borders on the level of spectacle. It had to do with the location. Though Calle Ocho is recognized for its diversity, tourists tend to inhabit the area. After having seen this Saturday afternoon display of discord, they would have confirmed the suspicions placed in travel brochures and websites. It does not also help their cause if protestors meet by the “legendary” Versailles Café. Major news stations use it to report on Cuban affairs. Is this what Cubans have left, an icon associated with a French palace ransacked by revolutionaries and now overtaken by tourists?
Besides the theatrical shouts of “Cuba libre,” I found the color white to carry greater weight than the actual event. Protestors use it as a unifying symbol of hope. They show that each country’s problems resonate throughout the rest of Latin America. As the white garments reflect the sun’s heat, protestors gain support from passersby. White invokes peace, compassion, and the desire for a clean slate, a blank canvas. Thus, instead of viewing this as a product of what a city’s impression has done to a culture, it should instead present the steps a people take to preserve and foster their heritage.
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