Evelio Grillo (June 4, 1919 - December 28, 2008) was an American writer and

community organizer Community organizing is a process where people who live in proximity to each other or share some common problem come together into an organization that acts in their shared self-interest. Unlike those who promote more-consensual community bui ...

. He is a well-known advocate for civil rights. He is best known for his book ''Black Cuban, Black American: A Memoir''.

Early life and education

Grillo was born in

Ybor Ybor City ( ) is a historic neighborhood just northeast of downtown Tampa, Florida, United States. It was founded in the 1880s by Vicente Martinez-Ybor and other cigar manufacturers and populated by thousands of immigrants, mainly from Cuba, Spai ...

, Florida to Cuban parents. As a child, Grillo went to segregated schools, noting "Black Cubans were closer to black Americans and white Cubans were closer to white Americans o webecame culturally African American." Later, Grillo went on to the prestigious Dunbar High School before attending

Xavier University of Louisiana Xavier University of Louisiana (also known as XULA) is a Private university, private, Historically black colleges and universities, historically black, Roman Catholic, Catholic university in New Orleans, Louisiana. It is the only Catholic HBCU ...

, where he received a BA. Post-war, he took classes at

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

in New York City, specializing in

Latin American Latin Americans ( es, Latinoamericanos; pt, Latino-americanos; ) are the citizens of Latin American countries (or people with cultural, ancestral or national origins in Latin America). Latin American countries and their diasporas are multi-eth ...

history.

Writing

Grillo is the author of the seminal text, ''Black Cuban, Black American: A Memoir''. This memoir detailed not only Grillo's life but the way segregation affected Black Americans during the

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. It discussed the specific way

Afro-Latinos Black Hispanic and Latino Americans, also called Afro-Hispanics ( es, Afrohispano, links=no), Afro-Latinos or Black Hispanics, or Black Latinos are classified by the United States Census Bureau, Office of Management and Budget, and other U.S. ...

had to live as both

Latino Latino or Latinos most often refers to: * Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America * Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States * The people or cultures of Latin America; ** Latin A ...

s and African-Americans.

Personal life

Grillo died on December 28, 2008, at the age of 89.

References

1919 births 2008 deaths American writers of Cuban descent Activists from Florida {{US-nonfiction-writer-stub