Los negros esclavos

Los negros esclavos (Black Slaves) is a work by Fernando Ortiz, a Cuban anthropologist and philologist. Published in 1916, the book examines Cuban Black people based on their regions of origin in Africa. Ortiz pioneered the study of neo-African cultures in the Americas, particularly in Cuba, and his work significantly influenced the Afro-Cuban movement, which celebrated the African heritage in Cuban arts and culture.1

Cuba's history is deeply intertwined with slavery, driven by the expansion of the sugarcane industry. By the 19th century, the slave population dramatically increased, with hundreds of thousands of African slaves imported despite international agreements to end the slave trade. This system, while generating immense wealth from sugar production, led to the exploitation and dehumanization of enslaved Africans, with racial ideologies used to justify their subjugation. Slavery was not abolished in Cuba until 1886.23