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Speaker 1: This Day in History Class is a production of I

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Speaker 1: Heart Radio. Hey, I'm Eves, and Welcome to This Day

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Speaker 1: in History Class, a show that uncovers history one day

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Speaker 1: at a time. Today is July tenth, nineteen. The day

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Speaker 1: was July tenth, nineteen o two. Nicolaus Kien was born

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Speaker 1: in Comagaya, Cuba, the sixth child of ar Helia Bautista

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Speaker 1: Irieta and Nicolaus Giena. By the time he died in

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Speaker 1: nineteen eighty nine, Guienne was a celebrated Afro Cuban poet, writer,

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Speaker 1: and activist. Both of Gian's parents were of African and

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Speaker 1: Spanish descent. His father had been a lieutenant that helped

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Speaker 1: Cuba gain independence from Spain, and when Guian was born,

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Speaker 1: his father was a journalist. Gien's father supported the Partido

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Speaker 1: Libertad or Liberal Party of Cuba and created a paper

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Speaker 1: called La Libertade. Nicolas and his younger brother ran the

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Speaker 1: printing press after school. In nineteen o nine, Gayan's father

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Speaker 1: became a senator, but in nineteen seventeen the Cuban government

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Speaker 1: assassinated Ghaian's father for speaking out against electoral fraud and

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Speaker 1: destroyed his printing press. Guienne was close to his father,

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Speaker 1: and the death affected the family greatly. Nicolas and his

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Speaker 1: brother found work at another liberal paper. Though the family

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Speaker 1: was struggling financially, he was able to complete his secondary

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Speaker 1: education while he worked full time. Racial inequality, segregation, and

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Speaker 1: discrimination against Afro Cubans and people of mixed race were

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Speaker 1: prevalent and pre revolutionary Cuba. Gienne experienced this discrimination in

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Speaker 1: racism firsthand, and he wrote about it. By the time

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Speaker 1: he was seventeen years old, his poetry was published in

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Speaker 1: a Comagway graphical. In nineteen twenty, he moved to Havanah

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Speaker 1: to tend law school, but he was only there for

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Speaker 1: a year. He went back to Comagway and decided to

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Speaker 1: pursue writing instead. In his work, he explored black social issues, folklore,

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Speaker 1: and revolution. He began writing for Cuban newspapers and magazines

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Speaker 1: and founded his own literary magazine. In nineteen he took

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Speaker 1: a job as Interior minister and returned to Cuba. Around

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Speaker 1: this time, he began to publish poems in the journal Orto.

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Speaker 1: The theme of US imperialism popped up a lot in

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Speaker 1: his poetry and in the Sunday supplement of the Diadio

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Speaker 1: de la Marina. Guienne published several articles on the treatment

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Speaker 1: of Black Cubans and racial injustice. In nineteen thirty, Guienne

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Speaker 1: met American poet Langston Hughes, and the two of them

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Speaker 1: would become lifelong friends. Qu's love of music influenced Scian

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Speaker 1: to incorporate into his poetry elements of the Sone, a

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Speaker 1: musical folk tradition with Spanish and African roots. Guienne soon

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Speaker 1: wrote eight poems inspired by the Son, and that same

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Speaker 1: year he released Motivostay Soon, which was his second book

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Speaker 1: of poems but his first to be published. He had

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Speaker 1: already written a collection of poems titled Cerebro, but it

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Speaker 1: wasn't published until nineteen seventy seven. Motivos Days garnered gain

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Speaker 1: a lot of attention and critical acclaim. The poetry combined

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Speaker 1: African Creole dialects and language with Spanish poetic traditions, and

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Speaker 1: it called attention to black culture and life. Though Guienne

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Speaker 1: had already been criticizing the mistreatment of Black Cubans, he

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Speaker 1: began to protest racism and imperialism in a way that

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Speaker 1: uplifted his own heritage and celebrated black life. Throughout the

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Speaker 1: nineteen thirties, he published more poetry, including the books and

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Speaker 1: West Indies Limited Poemas. When the Spanish Civil War started

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Speaker 1: in nineteen thirty seven, he went to Spain to report

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Speaker 1: on it. Inspired by his time in the war, he

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Speaker 1: wrote the narrative epic poem Espana Poema and Atro Angus Esparanza.

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Speaker 1: While in Spain, he also acted as a delegate to

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Speaker 1: the anti fascist Second International Congress of Writers for the

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Speaker 1: Defense of Culture. He also joined the Cuban Communist Party

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Speaker 1: in nineteen forty and nineteen forty eight, respectively. Gianne lost

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Speaker 1: elections for the mayor of Comagway and senator for the

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Speaker 1: Cuban Communist Party. Over the next couple of decades, gian

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Speaker 1: spent a lot of time in Europe and South America,

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Speaker 1: during which time he continued to write for Cuban journals.

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Speaker 1: Pincio Bautista Zaldivar was president of Cuba in the nineteen

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Speaker 1: forties and dictator in the nineteen fifties. Guien, who opposed

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Speaker 1: his oppressive rule, was arrested several times under the regime.

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Speaker 1: Bautista barred Gian from returning to Cuba in nineteen fifty

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Speaker 1: three after his trip to Chile, but he was allowed

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Speaker 1: to return in nineteen fifty eight. Guienne supported Fidale Castro

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Speaker 1: and his nineteen fifty nine overthrow Bautista's dictatorship. In nineteen

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Speaker 1: sixty one, Guienne was appointed president of the Union of

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Speaker 1: Writers and Artists, a position he served in for twenty

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Speaker 1: five years. He continued to write and published several more

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Speaker 1: collections of poetry, touching topics like revolution, social protests, love, nature,

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Speaker 1: and imperialism. Solis de Domingo, his last collection, came out

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Speaker 1: in nineteen eighty two. Gian died on July sixteenth, nineteen

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Speaker 1: eighty nine. Gian is remembered as the national poet of

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Speaker 1: Cuba and as a writer and activist who reaffirmed black

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Speaker 1: culture and was a voice of the Cuban Revolution. I'm

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Speaker 1: Eve Jeff Coote and hopefully you know a little more

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Speaker 1: about history today than you did yesterday. And if you'd

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Speaker 1: like to follow us on social media, you can find

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Speaker 1: us at t D i h C Podcast on Twitter, Instagram,

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Speaker 1: and Facebook. Thank you for joining me today, See you

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Speaker 1: same place, same time tomorrow. M H. For more podcasts

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Speaker 1: from I Heart Radio, visit the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts,

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Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows,