GOOD MONDAY MORNING, P.O.U.!
This week, we’ll take a look at a few notable Afro-Cuban political figures.
ANTONIO MACEO GRAJALES
(1845-1896)
Lt. General José Antonio de la Caridad Maceo y Grajales (June 14, 1845 – December 7, 1896) was second-in-command of the Cuban Army of Independence.
Fellow Cubans gave Maceo the sobriquet of the “Bronze Titan” (Spanish: El Titan de Bronce), which was a reference to his skin color, stature and status.[1] Spaniards referred to Maceo as the “Greater Lion” (El Leon mayor). Maceo was one of the most noteworthy guerrilla leaders in 19th century Latin America, comparable to José Antonio Páez of Venezuela in military acumen.
Early years
Maceo was the son of a Venezuelan farmer and dealer in agricultural products, Marcos Maceo, and an Afro-Cuban woman of Dominican descent, Mariana Grajales y Coello. His father moved from Caracas, Venezuela to Santiago de Cuba, Cuba, in 1823, after some of his comrades were exiled from South America. José Antonio Maceo y Grajales (full name) was born June 14, 1845, in the town of San Luis, in the Oriente Province outside Santiago de Cuba, in a farm known to locals as Jobabo,. Although his father taught him skills in the use of arms and management of their small properties, it was his mother, Mariana Grajales, who inculcated in him a sense of order. This maternal discipline would be important in the development of Maceo’s character and would be reflected later in his acts as a military leader.
At the age of sixteen, Maceo went to work for his father, delivering products and supplies by mule. He was a successful entrepreneur and farmer. As the oldest of the children, he inherited his father’s leadership qualities and later would become a decorated general. Maceo developed an active interest in the political issues of his time and was initiated in the mysteries of Freemasonry. The Cuban Freemasonry movement was influenced by the principles of the French Revolution – “Liberty, Equality and Fraternity” – as well as the Masons’ main guidelines: God, Reason, Virtue.
Ten Years’ War (1868–78)
Approximately two weeks after the October 10, 1868 revolt led by Carlos Manuel de Céspedes against Spain known as “The cry of Yara” (“El grito de Yara”), Maceo, together with his father and brothers joined the war. Mariana Grajales, followed her family members into the manigua (the woods and most thick countryside) in order to support the mambises, as Cuban rebels were known in the 19th century. The Maceos enlisted as privates when the Ten Years’ War (1868–78) began. Within five months, Antonio Maceo was promoted to Commander (or Major), and within a matter of weeks after that he was again promoted to Lieutenant Colonel.
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