Christina D. Abreu

Rhythms of Race: Cuban Musicians and the Making of Latino New York City and Miami, 1940-1960 - Envisioning Cuba Christina D. Abreu

Marc Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.; Among the nearly 90,000 Cubans who settled in New York City and Miami in the 1940s and 1950s were numerous musicians and entertainers, black and white, who did more than fill dance halls with the rhythms of the rumba, mambo, and cha cha cha. In her history of music and race in midcentury America, Christina D. Abreu argues that these musicians, through their work in music festivals, nightclubs, social clubs, and television and film productions, played central roles in the development of Cuban, Afro-Cuban, Latino, and Afro-Latino identities and communities. Abreu draws from previously untapped oral histories, cultural materials, and Spanish-language media to uncover the lives and broader social and cultural significance of these vibrant performers--Provided by publisher."Commendation Quotes: A much needed contribution to the understanding of the establishment of Cuban identity in the United States, which--until now--has been largely focused on the, for the most part, self-presentation of the Cuban-American community that developed in southern Florida following the 1959 revolution. Christina Abreu persuasively excavates the earlier development of Cuban, Afro-Cuban, and Hispano/Latino identity in the 1940s and 1950s. Commendation Quotes: In this exceptional work of historical analysis, Christina Abreu's nuanced, insightful argument draws on a range of compelling materials--some of which, thanks to her outstanding research discoveries, readers will be encountering for the first time. This is a remarkable, painstaking reconstruction of the story of music and race in Cuban America from 1940 to 1960 as it played out in the everyday spaces and institutions of halls, dance floors, and print culture.--Antonio Lopez, The George Washington UniversityCommendation Quotes: A much-needed contribution to the understanding of the establishment of Cuban identity in the United States, which--until now--has been largely focused on the self-presentation of the Cuban-American community that developed in southern Florida following the 1959 revolution. Christina Abreu persuasively excavates the earlier development of Cuban, Afro-Cuban, and Hispano/Latino identity in the 1940s and 1950s.--Raul A. Fernandez, University of California, IrvinePublisher Marketing: Among the nearly 90,000 Cubans who settled in New York City and Miami in the 1940s and 1950s were numerous musicians and entertainers, black and white, who did more than fill dance halls with the rhythms of the rumba, mambo, and cha cha cha. In her history of music and race in midcentury America, Christina D. Abreu argues that these musicians, through their work in music festivals, nightclubs, social clubs, and television and film productions, played central roles in the development of Cuban, Afro-Cuban, Latino, and Afro-Latino identities and communities. Abreu draws from previously untapped oral histories, cultural materials, and Spanish-language media to uncover the lives and broader social and cultural significance of these vibrant performers. Keeping in view the wider context of the domestic and international entertainment industries, Abreu underscores how the racially diverse musicians in her study were also migrants and laborers. Her focus on the Cuban presence in New York City and Miami before the Cuban Revolution of 1959 offers a much needed critique of the post-1959 bias in Cuban American studies as well as insights into important connections between Cuban migration and other twentieth-century Latino migrations.

Contributor Bio:  Abreu, Christina D Christina Abreu is assistant professor of history at Georgia Southern University.