November 27, 2007
President George W. Bush
The White House
Washington, DC
Dear President Bush:
We wish to bring to your attention the accompanying letter, dated October 26, 2007, received from Alicia Alonso, Prima Ballerina and Director of the Cuban National Ballet, and also Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). Ms. Alonso has toured extensively in the United States and her work has long been admired by the American performing arts community, cultural critics and the public.
We are writing you as representatives of the cultural sphere in the United States. We write you as American citizens. We write to express our dismay at your administration’s continuing hostility towards Cuba. We write to express our opposition to policies that keep us divided from our Cuban counterparts, preventing cultural interchange between our two countries. We believe the time has come to move towards cooperation and constructive relations with Cuba.
The present policies deny such possibilities of friendship and cultural sharing. We further note that cultural interchanges and relationships are also modes of communication and expression. In denying us the possibility of engaging in such exchanges and relationships, we are being denied our fundamental rights as guaranteed by the 1st, 5th and 14th Amendments of the U.S. Constitution.
This reality seems to run counter to other positions expressed by your Administration. In September 2006, for example, Laura Bush inaugurated your Administration’s “Global Cultural Initiative,” stating that "One of the best ways we can deepen our friendships with the people of all countries is for us to better understand each other's culture by enjoying each other's literature, music, films and visual arts."
As citizens, artists, scholars, educators and cultural workers from all artistic practices, academic disciplines, advocacy and service organizations in the arts, we hope you will read and consider the words of Alicia Alonso as we call upon your Administration to:
1. open a respectful dialogue with the government and people of Cuba in accord with established protocols supported by the community of nations;
2. end the travel ban that prevents U.S. citizens from visiting Cuba and allow for Cuban artists and scholars to visit the United States, thus eliminating the censorship of art and ideas, and
3. initiate, by working with appropriate members of Congress, a process that can result in the development of normal bilateral relations between our countries.
Sincerely,
Mavis Anderson, Latin America Working Group
Sean Barlow, Executive Producer, Afropop Worldwide
Harry Belafonte
Bev Bickel, Professor
Beth Boone, Artistic & Executive Director, Miami Light Project
Jimmy Bosch, Musician/CEO JRGR Records
Peter G. Bourne, M.D., Chairman of the Board, Medical Education Cooperation with Cuba
Joe Boyd, Record Producer & Writer
Bill Bragin, Director, Joe's Pub at The Public Theater*
Carol Brightman, Author
Jackson Browne, Musician
Vinie Burrows, Actor & Activist
Jim Cassell, Berkeley Agency
Regina Cervantes, Cast of SiCKO*
Wilma Colon, Arts Administrator, Puerto Rico Music Conservatory*
Ry Cooder, Musician & Producer
Tré Cool, Musician, Green Day*
Chembo Corniel, Musician/Producer/Teacher, Chemboro Records, Inc.
Maria Costa, Producer/Actress
Peter Coyote
Hector Cruz Sandoval, Filmmaker
Jualynne E. Dodson, Professor
Joan W. Drake, Public Health Specialist (Retired), Women's Intl League for Peace & Freedom
James Early, Smithsonian Institution*
Delvis Fernández Levy, President, Cuban American Alliance Education Fund (CAAEF)
Charles Fishman, Executive Producer, Festivals DC, Ltd.
Dale Fitzgerald, Arts Presenter, The Jazz Gallery
Bill Fletcher, Jr., Writer/Activist, former President of TransAfrica Forum
Albert A. Fox, Jr., President, Alliance for Responsible Cuba Policy Foundation
Jane Franklin, Historian
Michael Franti, Michael Franti & Spearhead*
Elena Freyre, Cuban American Defense League*
Bill Frisell, Jazz Guitarist
Cristina Garcia, Novelist
Carol Gerson Higgs, Graphic Artist
Rob Gibson, Executive & Artistic Director, Savannah Music Festival
Danny Glover, Actor & Producer
David González, Writer/Performer/Producer of Theater and Music
William Goodfellow, Executive Director, Center for International Policy
Jose Griego, President, Northern New Mexico College
Bill Hackwell, Social Documentary Photographer
Patricia Halle, Legal Advocate and Ceramicist
Sandi Hammonds, Art Educator/Artist Adjunct, George Washington University
Fred Harris, former U.S. Senator
LaDonna Harris, President, Americans for Indian Opportunity
Mickey Hart, Musician, Planet Drums & former Grateful Dead*
Tom Hayden, Author & Professor
Louis Head, US-Cuba Cultural Exchange
Stan Herd, Landscape Artist
buck henry, Writer/Actor
Judith Holzer, Elementary Art Teacher
Marguerite Horberg, Executive Director, porto luz*
Suki John, PhD, Dance Scholar & Choreographer
Virginia Johnson, former Principal, Dance Theatre of Harlem & editor, Pointe magazine
Mike Kappus, Agent & Manager, The Rosebud Agency
William Kennedy, Writer
Robert Kraft, President, Fox Music
Sali Ann Kriegsman, Writer & Former President, Dance Heritage Coalition
Craig Knudsen, Artist Management, Knudsen Productions
Alexia Lalli, Consultant, Former Director of Urbanists International
Saul Landau, Filmmaker & Author
Vivien Lesnik Weisman, Filmmaker
Sandra Levinson, Center for Cuban Studies/Cuban Art Space
Lee Lockwood, Writer/Photographer
Chelis Lopez, Director, Acción Latina Cultural
Linda Lucero, Executive & Artistic Director, Yerba Buena Gardens Festival
Roberto Maestas, El Centro de la Raza
Wilma P. Mankiller, former Principal Chief, Cherokee Nation
Robert Mann, Founder & Director, Center for Creative Education
Vivian Mannerud, Cuba Travel Provider, Airline Brokers Co., Inc.
Bill Martínez, Martínez & Associates
Tom Miller, Author
Andy Montañéz, Cantante
Robin Moore, Music History, University of Texas
Tom Morello, Musician, Rage Against the Machine*
Kevin Murray, Senior Vice President, William Morris Agency*
Charlie & Henrietta Musselwhite
Graham Nash
Holly Near, Singer-Songwriter
Joy Olson, Washington Office on Latin America
Michael Orlove, Arts Presenter, Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs
Sandy Pappas, Senator, State of Minnesota*
Sean Penn
Joe Perez, J Perez Associates, Inc.
Lisandro Pérez, Professor, Florida International University
Wendy Perron, Editor in Chief, Dance Magazine
José Pertierra, Attorney
Carol Pierson, President and CEO, National Federation of Community Broadcasters*
Scott Price, Otá Records
Bonnie Raitt, Musician & Activist
Joe Randel, Director of ArtesAméricas, University of Texas Performing Arts Center
Jamie Rauchman, Painter/Filmmaker
Nigel Redden, General Director, Spoleto USA Festival
Arturo Riera, Chairman, San Jose Jazz Festival
Nydia Rojas, Musician/Recording Artist
Naomi Rosenblum, Art Historian
Ann Rosenthal, Executive Director, MultiArts Projects & Productions
Stuart Ross, President, Music Tour Consulting, Inc.
Bernard Rubenstein, Copland/Gershwin New Music Group
David Rubinson, Producer
Rubén G. Rumbaut, Emergency Network of Cuban American Scholars and Artists (ENCASA)
Bobby Sanabria, Musician, Educator, Producer
Carlos Santana
John Santos, Musician
Cynthia Semon, Media Consultant & Promoter
Stanley K. Sheinbaum, Publisher, New Perspectives Quarterly
Brad Simon, Agent
Susanna Sloat, Editor, "Caribbean Dance from Abakua to Zouk"
Wayne Smith, Senior Fellow, Center for International Policy Cuba Program
Andrea E. Snyder, Executive Director, Dance/USA
Isabel Soffer, Director of Programming, World Music Institute
Andy Spahn, Entertainment Industry Consultant
Mavis Staples, Musician
Jean Stein, Author
Gloria Steinem
Sarah Stephens, Executive Director, Center for Democracy in the Americas
Ned Sublette, Author
David Truscello, Professor
Marlene Tsuchii, Music Agent, Creative Artists Agency
Lisa Valanti, President, U.S.-Cuba Sister Cities Association
Nelson P. Valdés, Professor, University of New Mexico
Jesse "Chuy" Varela, Music Director/Freelance Journalist, KCSM-FM 91/SF Chronicle*
Gore Vidal, Writer
Olga Vives, Executive Vice-President, National Organization for Women (NOW)*
Loudon Wainwright III
Tom Waits and Kathleen Brennan
Alice Walker, Author, Poet, Activist
Sandy Waters, Filmmaker
Hollis Watkins, Cultural Worker
Rachel Weiss, Professor, School of the Art Institute of Chicago
Silvia Wilhelm, Puentes Cubanos
Jack Willis, Producer & Filmmaker
Andrew Wood, Arts Presenter, San Francisco Intl Arts Festival*
Erica D. Zielinski, General Manager, Lincoln Center Festival
* Affiliation listed for identification purposes only.
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