Juan Gualberto Gómez Ferrer (July 12, 1854 – March 5, 1933) was a Cuban revolutionary leader in the

Cuban War of Independence The Cuban War of Independence (), also known in Cuba as the Necessary War (), fought from 1895 to 1898, was the last of three liberation wars that Cuba fought against Spain, the other two being the Ten Years' War (1868–1878) and the Litt ...

against Spain. He was a "close collaborator of Martí's," and alongside him helped plan the uprising and unite the island's black population behind the rebellion. He was an activist for independence and a journalist who worked on and later founded several pivotal anti-

royalist A royalist supports a particular monarch as head of state for a particular kingdom, or of a particular dynastic claim. In the abstract, this position is royalism. It is distinct from monarchism, which advocates a monarchical system of gove ...

and pro-

racial equality Racial equality is when people of all Race (human categorization), races and Ethnic group, ethnicities are treated in an egalitarian/equal manner. Racial equality occurs when institutions give individuals legal, moral, and Civil and political r ...

newspapers. He authored numerous works on liberty and racial justice in Latin America as well. In his later years, he was a "journalist-politician." He defended the revolution against racism and U.S. imperialism and upheld Martí's legacy in print (often under the pseudonym "G") as he served the Cuban state; he was a part of the ''Committee of Consultations'' that drafted and amended the Constitution of 1901, and was a representative and senator in the Cuban legislature. He is best remembered as "the most conspicuous" Cuban activist leader of the 1890s independence struggle and "one of the revolution's great ideologues."

Early life and travels

Gómez was born on the

hacienda A ''hacienda'' ( or ; or ) is an estate (or '' finca''), similar to a Roman '' latifundium'', in Spain and the former Spanish Empire. With origins in Andalusia, ''haciendas'' were variously plantations (perhaps including animals or orchards ...

"Golden Fleece," a sugar plantation owned by Catalina Gómez. His parents, Fermin Gómez (Yeye) and Serafina Ferrer (Fina) were African slaves but managed to buy the freedom of their child, Juan, before birth, in accordance to the law of the time. His status as a free man allowed him to learn to read and write. Because of his literacy skills, rare for Afro-Cubans growing up on plantations in this era of

chattel slavery Slavery is the ownership of a person as property, especially in regards to their labour. Slavery typically involves compulsory work, with the slave's location of work and residence dictated by the party that holds them in bondage. Enslavemen ...

, his parents sent him to school at , in (English: Our Lady of the Forsaken) in Havana, despite the financial sacrifice it meant. In 1868, the

Ten Years' War The Ten Years' War (; 1868–1878), also known as the Great War () and the War of '68, was part of Cuba's fight for independence from Spain. The uprising was led by Cuban-born planters and other wealthy natives. On 10 October 1868, sugar mil ...

broke out. A climate of violence and intimidation prevailed, and after the young Gómez got caught up in a brawl between royalists and independence groups at the ''

Teatro Villanueva Teatro Villanueva (or the Villanueva Theatre) was a theatre in colonial Havana, Cuba. Located on Calle Morro, it was inaugurated in February 1847 under the name Circo Habanero. The circular structure was built of wood and had a reported capacity ...

'', his parents decided to send him to France—with financial help from plantation owner Catalina Gómez—to study the craft of building

horse carriage A carriage is a two- or four-wheeled horse-drawn vehicle for passengers. In Europe they were a common mode of transport for the wealthy during the Roman Empire, and then again from around 1600 until they were replaced by the motor car around 1 ...

s, one of the few trades open to blacks and

mestizo ( , ; fem. , literally 'mixed person') is a term primarily used to denote people of mixed European and Indigenous ancestry in the former Spanish Empire. In certain regions such as Latin America, it may also refer to people who are culturall ...

s in the colonial period. His successes as an apprentice led him to study at engineering school. In July 1872,

Francisco Vicente Aguilera Francisco Vicente Aguilera was a Cuban patriot born in Bayamo, Cuba on June 23, 1821. He had ten children with his wife Ana Manuela Maria Dolores Sebastiana Kindelan y Sanchez. He studied at the University of Havana receiving the degree of Bac ...

and Gen.

Manuel de Quesada Manuel may refer to: People * Manuel (name), a given name and surname * Manuel (''Fawlty Towers''), a fictional character from the sitcom ''Fawlty Towers'' * Manuel I Komnenos, emperor of the Byzantine Empire * Manuel I of Portugal, king of Po ...

arrived in Paris to raise funds for Cuban independence. Needing a translator, Gómez was hired, making his first professional connection. But the political situation in France became more difficult, following the defeat of the Second French Empire in the

Franco-Prussian War The Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, often referred to in France as the War of 1870, was a conflict between the Second French Empire and the North German Confederation led by the Kingdom of Prussia. Lasting from 19 July 1870 to 28 Janua ...

and subsequent violence of the proletarian "

Paris Commune The Paris Commune (, ) was a French revolutionary government that seized power in Paris on 18 March 1871 and controlled parts of the city until 28 May 1871. During the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–71, the French National Guard (France), Nation ...

" amid the rocky founding of the Third French Republic, and soon he faced a difficult economic situation as well. In 1874, his parents experienced economic hardships and informed Gómez they couldn't continue to finance his stay in Paris and advised him to return to Cuba. Gómez, not wanting to return, found low-paying jobs at newspapers as a reporter. Eventually, he suspended his studies to work as a journalist in the ''Revue et Gazette des Theatres'', which was the beginning of his journalistic career. Initially out of financial necessity, then political convictions, Gómez wrote news items and editorials, eventually engaging directly in politics. By 1877, his political personality was solidly formed as a journalist, debater, and public speaker. In 1878, he went to Mexico where he met the abolitionist Nicolas Azcarate, a Cuban exile, and learned of the defeat of the independence forces in Cuba and the end of the Ten Years' War with the

Pact of Zanjón The Pact of Zanjón ended the Ten Years' War, the armed struggle of Cubans for independence from the Spanish Empire that lasted from 1868 to 1878. On February 10, 1878, a group of negotiators representing the rebels gathered in Zanjón, a village ...

. Given the new political situation, many exiles returned to Cuba and Gómez made the move home, going back to Havana in late 1878.

The independence struggle

Once back in Havana, Gómez met

José Martí José Julián Martí Pérez (; 28 January 1853 – 19 May 1895) was a Cuban nationalism, nationalist, poet, philosopher, essayist, journalist, translator, professor, and publisher, who is considered a Cuban national hero because of his role in ...

in 1878, beginning a long friendship founded on shared ideals that united the revolutionary action of both. In that year, he and Martí began conspiring together in preparation for a new uprising; both men were appointed secretary of various revolutionary groups in Havana. Also In 1879, Gómez started the pro-racial justice newspaper ''The Brotherhood'', but its publication was interrupted when he was deported to Spain along with other plotters of the Little War. After arriving in Spain, he spent ten years in

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

, and wrote for many publications, including ''Tribuna'', ''El Pueblo'', ''El Progreso''–each organs of the Spanish republican movement, and other journals, such as ''Abolitionism.'' After Juan Gualberto Gómez returned to Cuba in 1890, Martí hatched the plot for the opening moves of the revolt and assigned Gómez his deputy to prepare for the upcoming uprising in the La Habana province (which was significantly larger then) and he was able to orchestrate the war preparations right under the noses of the relatively unconcerned Spanish authorities. Martí gave the order for armed uprising on February 24, 1895, and Gómez helped lead the failed uprising of Ibarra, Matanzas. Initial attempts at insurrection fell flat, "mainly because the call to revolution received no immediate, spontaneous support from the masses." The rebellion had yet to gain much momentum in early 1895. "The Province of Puerto Principe, for example, remained so quiet that the Spanish waited until June to declare martial law there." On February 28, Spanish forces captured Gómez. He was sentenced to 20 years imprisonment in the dungeons of

Ceuta Ceuta (, , ; ) is an Autonomous communities of Spain#Autonomous cities, autonomous city of Spain on the North African coast. Bordered by Morocco, it lies along the boundary between the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. Ceuta is one of th ...

and

Valencia Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...

but only spent three years in prison. After being released, Gómez moved to New York City where he continued to work with fellow revolutionaries. In December 1898, he accompanied Major General

Calixto García Calixto García y Íñiguez (August 4, 1839 – December 11, 1898) was a Cuban general in three Cuban uprisings, part of the Cuban War for Independence: the Ten Years' War, the Little War, and the War of 1895, itself sometimes called the C ...

to Washington, D.C. as a member of the commission sent to negotiate for the funds necessary for the

Cuban Liberation Army The Cuban Liberation Army (), colloquially known as the Mambises, Mambí Army () was an insurgency, insurgent army which was formed in the last third of the 19th century and fought for independence from Spain and the abolitionism, abolition of ...

and recognition of the rebels. During the second U.S. military intervention (1906–1909) he was a member of the ''Committee of Consultations'', the Advisory Committee charged with amending the Cuban constitution, and a prominent speaker for the anti-U.S. faction. He famously said, "the

Platt Amendment The Platt Amendment was a piece of United States legislation enacted as part of the Army Appropriations Act of 1901 that defined the relationship between the United States and Cuba following the Spanish–American War. He held seats in the Cuban House of Representatives (1914–1917) and Senate (1917–1925), from the province of Havana. He always campaigned to defend

Afro-Cubans Afro-Cubans () or Black Cubans are Cubans of full or partial sub-Saharan African ancestry. The term ''Afro-Cuban'' can also refer to historical or cultural elements in Cuba associated with this community, and the combining of native African an ...

from discrimination, oppression, and violence.

Fighting for racial equality

Throughout the

, and after, "Spain sought, with considerable success, to divide Cubans along racial lines by portraying itself as the defender of white 'civilization'" against blacks who would plunge Cuba into a Haiti-type slave revolt and "Africanize" the island if not suppressed. Colonial authorities fanned the flames of racial fear so widely that the United States, under President

Franklin Pierce Franklin Pierce (November 23, 1804October 8, 1869) was the 14th president of the United States, serving from 1853 to 1857. A northern Democratic Party (United States), Democrat who believed that the Abolitionism in the United States, abolitio ...

, threatened to intervene (See also:

Ostend Manifesto The Ostend Manifesto, also known as the Ostend Circular, was a document written in 1854 that described the rationale for the United States to purchase Cuba from Spain while implying that the U.S. should declare war if Spain refused. Cuba's annex ...

). Since his formative years were spent involved in, then fleeing from, the Ten Years' War, Juan Gualberto knew that one of the most important issues that Cubans had to resolve in order to unite and earn their independence from Spain was the problem of racism on the island. It was not enough to have abolished slavery, pro-independence groups also must abolish prejudice and conspicuous public discrimination if they wanted to unite Afro-Cubans behind the cause of independence. Upon his 1877 return to Havana, Juan Gualberto began his life as a grassroots activist in earnest, fighting not only for Cuban independence, but racial equality. In April 1879, his newspaper The Brotherhood debuted with the banner "General Journal for the defense of the colored race in Cuba." Through The Brotherhood he presented examples and pleas against the abuses and discrimination suffered by blacks and mulattos. In one 1888 article, it reminded its readers that "yesterday we were slaves, today we are free, we want to participate in life, claim our rights, we want consideration and respect." The Brotherhood reported on living conditions: the main concerns and worries of the black population; even publishing the letters of people of color who wrote in about their misfortunes and experiences. The Brotherhood won Juan Gualberto more followers across the island; as he was recognized as Cuba's first true spokesman and defender of black people. Juan Gualberto was also a prominent advocate for black veterans of the War of Independence, and fought for them to get public benefits and recognition. The experience of combat service in Cuba's founding war for independence offered Afro-Cubans "a new and distinct form of claiming the rights of citizenship." Through the advocacy of groups like the ''"Committee of Veterans and Association of the Colored Race,"'' black veterans of the

, decorated war heroes and inconspicuous rank and file troops alike, invoked their status as freedom fighters and citizen-soldiers in demanding voting rights, anti-discrimination measures, and civil service jobs in the new government. Defending the Committee of Veterans, Juan Gualberto urged opponents to yield to their demands for compensation and just treatment, "so that we do not forget the sacrifices of the petitioners in the very recent revolutionary past, a time when skin color was of no importance, but quality and individual virtues were of great importance." "Gómez had become the most notable Afro-Cuban leader in the island by the 1890s, when he presided over the Directorio Central de Sociedades de la Raza de Color (Central Directorate of Societies of the Colored Race) and began publishing the newspaper ''La Igualidad''." The Central Directorate, which brought together roughly 100 black organizations, waged a successful civil rights campaign, gaining Spanish colonial edicts "outlawing restrictions on interracial marriage" as well as ending government segregation of schools and other public facilities. The Central Directorate's pivotal role in the fight for racial equality is "widely acknowledged," and it also gained Afro-Cuban activists important organizational and political experience, tools that facilitated black political involvement and influence for a generation. Unfortunately, edicts from Spanish authorities on the island ending state-sponsored segregation had little real impact, with many towns and villages only opening public parks to blacks in subdivided "

separate but equal Separate but equal was a legal doctrine in United States constitutional law, according to which racial segregation did not necessarily violate the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which nominally guaranteed "equal protectio ...

" areas, and numerous businesses and storefronts were still labeled "whites only." "As a result, most politically active Afro-Cubans remained committed" to breaking away from the Spanish government. When the third war for independence erupted in 1895, the bulk of the activist groups under the Directorate's

umbrella An umbrella or parasol is a folding canopy supported by wooden or metal ribs that is mounted on a wooden, metal, or plastic pole. It is usually designed to protect a person against rain. The term ''umbrella'' is traditionally used when protec ...

shut their doors, their members having taken up arms for the revolution and left their communities. Even after Cuban independence was secured, however, anti-discrimination progress was more symbolic than real, and pressure grew to start an independent political party for Afro-Cubans. Juan Gualberto was always opposed to the formation of a black party, a position he held throughout his political life, despite this stance becoming increasingly controversial. On this issue he was severely criticized and lost popularity among fellow Afro-Cubans, especially in the years following independence. After the first years of the republic passed with nothing done to promote integration or end discrimination, and the August elections of 1908 closed and not one "black candidate from the two traditional political parties was elected to office," political discontent among blacks and mulattos peaked. "Following years of agitation and political upsets, it was clear that black Cubans could not depend on the existing party apparatus. As a result, prominent Afro-Cubans banded together to form the first black political party in Cuba, the ''Partido Independiente de Color'' (PIC)," or

Independent Colored Party Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...

, without Gómez. "Juan Gualberto Gómez and

Martín Morúa Delgado Martín Morúa Delgado (November 11, 1857 - April 28, 1910) was an Afro-Cuban novelist, poet, journalist, translator and statesman who became the first black senate president in the Republic of Cuba. He served in various positions in the early yea ...

, the two most prominent black Cuban congressmen at the time, opposed the movement from the beginning and used Cuba’s supposed history of racial harmony as a justification to put down the ''Independientes''." Most established Cuban politicians of Juan Gualberto's era, both black and white, opposed the development of the PIC, anxious that it would "erode some of their power and popular base" and upset the balance they had spent years building.

Advocacy in the early days of the republic

After Cuba was declared a republic May 20, 1901, Juan Gualberto Gómez, writing under the pseudonym "G," was a skillful fighter against

Tomás Estrada Palma Tomás Estrada Palma (; July 9, 1835 – November 4, 1908) was a Cuban politician, the president of the Republic of Cuba in Arms during the Ten Years' War, and the first President of Cuba, between May 20, 1902, and September 28, 1906. His colla ...

, Cuba's first president, and the

Platt Amendment The Platt Amendment was a piece of United States legislation enacted as part of the Army Appropriations Act of 1901 that defined the relationship between the United States and Cuba following the Spanish–American War.Juan Gualberto Gómez Airport Juan Gualberto Gómez Airport , formerly known as Varadero Airport (), is an international airport serving Varadero, Cuba, and the province of Matanzas. The airport is located 5 km from the village of Carbonera, closer to the city of Matan ...

in his honor.

Bibliography

Juan Gualberto Gómez authored numerous Spanish-language works on liberty, racial justice and independence in Latin America, including: *''The Cuban Question in 1884'' (1885) *''The Marianas and Caroline Islands'' (1885) *''The Island of Puerto Rico'' (1891)

Footnotes

References

* * * * * * * *

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gomez, Juan Gualberto 1854 births 1933 deaths Freedmen Cuban senators Spanish colonial period of Cuba People of the Little War People of the Cuban War of Independence Cuban independence activists Cuban essayists Cuban male writers Male essayists Cuban writers Cuban journalists Expatriates in Mexico 19th-century Cuban people