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Offline Christian Zionist

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More US Hispanics drawn to Islam
« on: October 15, 2006, 11:29:40 PM »

http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0928/p03s02-ussc.html

More US Hispanics drawn to Islam >:(
Marriage, post-9/11 curiosity, and a shared interest in issues such as immigration are key reasons.
By Amy Green | Contributor to The Christian Science Monitor

ORLANDO, FLA. – With her hijab and dark complexion, Catherine Garcia doesn't look like an Orlando native or a Disney tourist. When people ask where she's from, often they are surprised that it's not the Middle East but Colombia.
That's because Ms. Garcia, a bookstore clerk who immigrated to the US seven years ago, is Hispanic and Muslim. On this balmy afternoon at the start of Ramadan, the Islamic holy month, she is at her mosque dressed in long sleeves and a long skirt in keeping with the Islamic belief in modesty. "When I was in my country I never fit in the society. Here in Islam I feel like I fit with everything they believe," she says.



Garcia is one of a growing number of Hispanics across the US who have found common ground in a faith and culture bearing surprising similarities to their own heritage. From professionals to students to homemakers, they are drawn to the Muslim faith through marriage, curiosity and a shared interest in issues such as immigration.

The population of Hispanic Muslims has increased 30 percent to some 200,000 since 1999, estimates Ali Khan, national director of the American Muslim Council in Chicago. Many attribute the trend to a growing interest in Islam since the 2001 terrorist attacks and also to a collision between two burgeoning minority groups. They note that Muslims ruled Spain centuries ago, leaving an imprint on Spanish food, music, and language.

"Many Hispanics ... who are becoming Muslim, would say they are embracing their heritage, a heritage that was denied to them in a sense," says Ihsan Bagby, professor of Arabic and Islamic studies at the University of Kentucky.

The trend has spawned Latino Islamic organizations such as the Latino American Dawah Organization, established in 1997 by Hispanic converts in New York City. Today the organization is nationwide.

The growth in the Hispanic Muslim population is especially prevalent in New York, Florida, California, and Texas, where Hispanic communities are largest. In Orlando, the area's largest mosque, which serves some 700 worshipers each week, is located in a mostly Hispanic neighborhood. A few years ago it was rare to hear Spanish spoken at the mosque, says Imam Muhammad Musri, president of the Islamic Society of Central Florida.

Today there is a growing demand for books in Spanish, including the Koran, and requests for appearances on Spanish-language radio stations, Mr. Musri says. The mosque offers a Spanish-language education program in Islam for women on Saturdays. "I could easily see in the next few years a mosque that will have Spanish services and a Hispanic imam who will be leading the service," he says.

The two groups tend to be family-oriented, religious, and historically conservative politically, Dr. Bagby says. Many who convert are second- and third-generation Hispanic Americans.

The two groups also share an interest in social issues such as immigration, poverty, and healthcare. Earlier this year Muslims joined Hispanics in marches nationwide protesting immigration-reform proposals they felt were unfair.

In South Central Los Angeles, a group of Muslim UCLA students a decade ago established a medical clinic in this underserved area. Today the nonreligious University Muslim Medical Association Community Clinic treats some 16,000 patients, mostly Hispanic, who see it as a safe place to seek care without fear for their illegal status, says Mansur Khan, vice chairman of the board and one of the founders.

Although the clinic doesn't seek Muslim converts, Dr. Khan sees Hispanics taking an interest in his faith because it focuses on family, he says. One volunteer nurse founded a Latino Islamic organization in the area. Another Hispanic woman told Khan she felt drawn to the faith because of the head covering Muslim women wear. It reminded her of the Virgin Mary.

The trend is a sign that Islam is becoming more Americanized and more indigenous to the country, Bagby says. As Republican positions on issues such as immigration push Muslim Hispanics and blacks in a less conservative direction, Islam could move in the same direction. Muslim Hispanic and black involvement in American politics could demonstrate to Muslims worldwide the virtues of democracy, eventually softening fundamentalists. He believes the Osama bin Ladens of the world are a small minority, and that most fundamentalists are moving toward engagement with the West.

"The more Hispanics and other Americans [who] become Muslim, the stronger and wider the bridge between the Muslim community and the general larger American community," Bagby says. "Their words and approach have some weight because they are a source of pride for Muslims throughout the world."

Garcia left Colombia to study international business in the US. Always religious, she considered becoming a nun when she was younger. But her Catholic faith raised questions for her. She wondered about eating pork when the Bible forbids it, and about praying to Mary and the saints and not directly to God.

In the US she befriended Muslims and eventually converted to Islam. Her family in Colombia was supportive. Today she says her prayers in English, Spanish, and Arabic, and she eats Halal food in keeping with Islamic beliefs.

"It's the best thing that happened to me," says Garcia in soft, broken English. "I never expected to have so many blessings and be in peace like I am now."
Isaiah 62:1 -  For Zion's sake I am not silent, And for Jerusalem's sake I do not rest, Till her righteousness go out as brightness, And her salvation, as a torch that burns.

Offline MasterWolf1

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Re: More US Hispanics drawn to Islam
« Reply #1 on: October 16, 2006, 12:51:13 AM »
Not surprised are you .. Notice Islam attracts any bottom of the barrel that they can find.
RIGHT WING AMERICAN AND PROUD OF IT. IF YOU WANTED TO PROVE YOU WEREN'T A "RACIST" IN 2008 BY VOTING FOR OBAMA, THEN PROVE IN 2012 YOU ARE NOT AN IDIOT FOR VOTING AGAINST OBAMA!

Offline cjd

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Re: More US Hispanics drawn to Islam
« Reply #2 on: October 16, 2006, 09:25:43 AM »
Not surprised are you .. Notice Islam attracts any bottom of the barrel that they can find.


I am amazed that anyone can be drawn to that nonsense. Their has to be more to it than the religious message?
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Offline MasterWolf1

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Re: More US Hispanics drawn to Islam
« Reply #3 on: October 16, 2006, 01:01:57 PM »
Not surprised are you .. Notice Islam attracts any bottom of the barrel that they can find.


I am amazed that anyone can be drawn to that nonsense. Their has to be more to it than the religious message?

Oh absolutly brother these people are distructive and what is the best way for them to be attracted to destructivness then Islam itself.  Thats why a lot of scum that are in jail end up converting Islam prys on the weakest possible as well as the most destructive.
RIGHT WING AMERICAN AND PROUD OF IT. IF YOU WANTED TO PROVE YOU WEREN'T A "RACIST" IN 2008 BY VOTING FOR OBAMA, THEN PROVE IN 2012 YOU ARE NOT AN IDIOT FOR VOTING AGAINST OBAMA!

Offline Hail Columbia

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Re: More US Hispanics drawn to Islam
« Reply #4 on: October 16, 2006, 07:30:45 PM »
My parents work in Washington Heights, and I hadn't yet seen any Hispanic Muslims, and I hope not to see them anytime soon.  I'll let you know when I see a mosque being built in that neighborhood.


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Offline davkakach

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Re: More US Hispanics drawn to Islam
« Reply #5 on: October 17, 2006, 03:12:52 PM »
I just remember what Jorge Wahabbi Bush said, "Family values don't stop at the Rio Grande."...   :-\
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Offline Hail Columbia

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Re: More US Hispanics drawn to Islam
« Reply #6 on: October 17, 2006, 05:39:40 PM »
I just remember what Jorge Wahabbi Bush said, "Family values don't stop at the Rio Grande."...   :-\

I wonder if it occoured to him that the Rio Grande is also where Homeland Security begins?


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In thy power Almighty, trusting,
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Strengthen then, O Lord, their children
To defend, to love, to hold
That the heritage they gave us
For our children yet may be:
Bondsmen only to the Highest
And before the whole world free.
As our fathers trusted humbly,
Teach us, Lord, to trust Thee still:
Guard our land and guide our people
In Thy way to do Thy will.

Offline cjd

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Re: More US Hispanics drawn to Islam
« Reply #7 on: October 17, 2006, 06:48:47 PM »
I just remember what Jorge Wahabbi Bush said, "Family values don't stop at the Rio Grande."...   :-\

I wonder if it occoured to him that the Rio Grande is also where Homeland Security begins?
I don't think it has. As a card carrying Republican I have to say that this issue above all others has annoyed me more with the Republican party. President Bush is as bad or even worse on this  than congress. They allowed two terms to slip through their hands where Republicans held the majority and were able to do something about the illeagle  problem and did nothing. . Now they are trying to get some legislation through at the 11 hour but have no provisions to fund it. This isn't flying with right wing voters like me. I will not vote spitefully come election day but if an opposition candidate has a better position on border control he will get my vote. Party line voting is no longer an option.
He who overlooks one crime invites the commission of another.        Syrus.

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Offline davkakach

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Re: More US Hispanics drawn to Islam
« Reply #8 on: October 27, 2006, 07:13:09 PM »
I just remember what Jorge Wahabbi Bush said, "Family values don't stop at the Rio Grande."...   :-\

I wonder if it occoured to him that the Rio Grande is also where Homeland Security begins?
I don't think it has. As a card carrying Republican I have to say that this issue above all others has annoyed me more with the Republican party. President Bush is as bad or even worse on this  than congress. They allowed two terms to slip through their hands where Republicans held the majority and were able to do something about the illeagle  problem and did nothing. . Now they are trying to get some legislation through at the 11 hour but have no provisions to fund it. This isn't flying with right wing voters like me. I will not vote spitefully come election day but if an opposition candidate has a better position on border control he will get my vote. Party line voting is no longer an option.
I listened to C-SPAN this morning, and one of the callers (or was it a guest being interviewed?) said that the Republican Party had no idea about who Bush really was, and they were shocked, after he was elected, to discover his positions on illegal-immigration and foreign affairs.  Judging Bush Sr.'s crooked ways and Bush Jr.'s obvious intellectually-challenged demeanor, the Republican Party must have gotten an idea about Bush Jr.'s limitations (to put it mildly), but, I guess they didn't realize the extent of his ignorance and insistence to expand the authority of the Executive branch (at the expense of the Legislative branch).

The Republicans alienated many conservative libertarians, who are appalled by the current impossible national debt and the size of our government, both of which keep growing.  These same conservative libertarians always accepted reluctantly their tenuous alliance with the Christian Right, and the last 8 years give them a good reason to identify more with their libertarian side than conservative side.  The elections this November and in '08 will not be a walk in the park for any Republican candidate.  I bet there are quite a few Republicans who secretly wish the George Bush would just drop dead and stop screwing their political careers...   ::)
Tolerance becomes a crime when applied to evil.   --Thomas Mann

Offline cjd

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Re: More US Hispanics drawn to Islam
« Reply #9 on: October 27, 2006, 08:56:14 PM »
President Bush is not the best president nore is he the worst. Sometimes half a loaf of bread is better than none and thats what Conservatives got with Bush 2. The dynamics of the country is such that getting a full Conservative in office would be very difficult. He has appointed two halfway decent judges to the supreme court and has somehow managed to avoid another major terrorist attack on our soil. As a Conservative I didn't get all I was hoping to get out of his presidency however as I have said before the alternatives would have been no better. I have come to see that he is trying to do what he can without starting civil war in a country that is very closely divided on important issues.
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Re: More US Hispanics drawn to Islam
« Reply #10 on: November 04, 2006, 01:09:43 AM »
What many people don't understand is that lump us all in with "hispanics" is not a very educated term. I'm a Cuban of pure Spanish descent. There are Mexicans, Colombians, Puerto Ricans etc... We Cubans don't identify with any of those other nationalities and the only similarities are a common language and rice and beans. Most of us Cubans came here in the 60's and are Christians by faith and no muslim religion can attract us to them. They can attract the newly arrived hispanics as most of them are not as educated, are mostly poor and impressionable. 200,000 hispanic muslims are hardly a cause for concern but I believe this is a passing phase and the number will fall off as soon as they see what islam really is. If you read aboutthe Columbian woman who said she never felt she fit in in her country, you can understand the kind of people that fall for that shiit.

And masterwolf, I wouldn't talk about bottom of the barrel if I were you, Itlaians kept tthe FBI busy and in business all of the 20th century.

Offline cjd

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Re: More US Hispanics drawn to Islam
« Reply #11 on: November 04, 2006, 07:27:16 AM »
What many people don't understand is that lump us all in with "hispanics" is not a very educated term. I'm a Cuban of pure Spanish descent. There are Mexicans, Colombians, Puerto Ricans etc... We Cubans don't identify with any of those other nationalities and the only similarities are a common language and rice and beans. Most of us Cubans came here in the 60's and are Christians by faith and no muslim religion can attract us to them. They can attract the newly arrived hispanics as most of them are not as educated, are mostly poor and impressionable. 200,000 hispanic muslims are hardly a cause for concern but I believe this is a passing phase and the number will fall off as soon as they see what islam really is. If you read aboutthe Columbian woman who said she never felt she fit in in her country, you can understand the kind of people that fall for that shiit.

And masterwolf, I wouldn't talk about bottom of the barrel if I were you, Itlaians kept tthe FBI busy and in business all of the 20th century.
I can see your point not wanting to be lumped in with the hispanic name plate however the fact that you are of pure Spanish descent is not the case for all Cubans. I have meet many Cubans over the years and some are as you say Spanish. Then again I have meet other Cubans  who can almost be considered black. Most folks I meet that come from Spain look almost French or Italian even a touch of German. Cuba's population  like many other of the island countries in the Caribbean is made up of many different nationalities what else would account for the vast difference in the way Cubans look. The original Cubans who came from Cuba were for the most part hard working folks who came to America and have embraced the American way. They have Conservative values and are in my opinion an asset to America. The same however can not be said for the later arrivals that Castro let leave Cuba in the 80s. I knew someone who lived in Miami then and he said that he would have to drive home with his gun out on the seat of his car because of the marauding gangs of Cubans committing crimes at that time. Further your comment to masterwolf left me scratching my head. True the Italians, Jews, and Irish all kept the FBI busy however they keep their business to people who seeked  them out such as prostution drugs and gambling. You sort of had to go looking for trouble to find it. They plied their trade on people who were looking for it.  Today we have various Hispanic drug cartells and gangs that are so vicious in their tactics that guilty and innocent bystanders alike are murdered with no regard. Drugs are sold to the youngest of children. If you cross any of this new breed of Mafia they kill not only the source of trouble they kill the entire family children and all something the Italians would never do. This is not to say that Italian organized crime is better or worse than Hispanic however its not right to paint all Italians with that brush. I have to be blunt the immigrants who came here in the early part of  the last century built this country into what it is today. They had none of the crutches the hispanics have had such as bilingual education and affirmative action programs. Everything you touch today has to be labled with that gibberish on it so hispanics will be able to see what they buy. With all this help the Hispanic contribution to America has been minimal to say the least. Finally 200,000 Muslim hispanics are a great concern to me because being that most of them are illegal aliens they would be susceptible to being coerced into doing terrorism for large sums of money something a person who came here legally might not do.
He who overlooks one crime invites the commission of another.        Syrus.

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Offline Johnson Brown

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Re: More US Hispanics drawn to Islam
« Reply #12 on: November 04, 2006, 08:03:11 AM »
All I can say is go down to Miami and see what all the GOOD cubans did to it.
Lets face the facts Cuba is made up of mutts, it was an island where any ship from any country docked and humped the women so don't say the people are all from Spain.

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Re: More US Hispanics drawn to Islam
« Reply #13 on: November 04, 2006, 09:17:17 AM »
All I can say is go down to Miami and see what all the GOOD cubans did to it.
Lets face the facts Cuba is made up of mutts, it was an island where any ship from any country docked and humped the women so don't say the people are all from Spain.

Yes, go see what the Cubans did: re-built Miami when it was dying, fed the economy, least of hispanics on welfare, hard workers, Conservative Christian values,made Miami the banking capital and gateway of South America, built the infrastructure that is now South Florida, etc... Too bad you look at the criminals of my people to make a statement about them, I'm sure if you were man enough to say where your people came from I can find your dregs and worst and make a stupid comment like you.








El Cabong!

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Re: More US Hispanics drawn to Islam
« Reply #14 on: November 04, 2006, 09:41:31 AM »
What many people don't understand is that lump us all in with "hispanics" is not a very educated term. I'm a Cuban of pure Spanish descent. There are Mexicans, Colombians, Puerto Ricans etc... We Cubans don't identify with any of those other nationalities and the only similarities are a common language and rice and beans. Most of us Cubans came here in the 60's and are Christians by faith and no muslim religion can attract us to them. They can attract the newly arrived hispanics as most of them are not as educated, are mostly poor and impressionable. 200,000 hispanic muslims are hardly a cause for concern but I believe this is a passing phase and the number will fall off as soon as they see what islam really is. If you read aboutthe Columbian woman who said she never felt she fit in in her country, you can understand the kind of people that fall for that shiit.

And masterwolf, I wouldn't talk about bottom of the barrel if I were you, Itlaians kept tthe FBI busy and in business all of the 20th century.
I can see your point not wanting to be lumped in with the hispanic name plate however the fact that you are of pure Spanish descent is not the case for all Cubans. I have meet many Cubans over the years and some are as you say Spanish. Then again I have meet other Cubans  who can almost be considered black. Most folks I meet that come from Spain look almost French or Italian even a touch of German. Cuba's population  like many other of the island countries in the Caribbean is made up of many different nationalities what else would account for the vast difference in the way Cubans look. The original Cubans who came from Cuba were for the most part hard working folks who came to America and have embraced the American way. They have Conservative values and are in my opinion an asset to America. The same however can not be said for the later arrivals that Castro let leave Cuba in the 80s. I knew someone who lived in Miami then and he said that he would have to drive home with his gun out on the seat of his car because of the marauding gangs of Cubans committing crimes at that time. Further your comment to masterwolf left me scratching my head. True the Italians, Jews, and Irish all kept the FBI busy however they keep their business to people who seeked  them out such as prostution drugs and gambling. You sort of had to go looking for trouble to find it. They plied their trade on people who were looking for it.  Today we have various Hispanic drug cartells and gangs that are so vicious in their tactics that guilty and innocent bystanders alike are murdered with no regard. Drugs are sold to the youngest of children. If you cross any of this new breed of Mafia they kill not only the source of trouble they kill the entire family children and all something the Italians would never do. This is not to say that Italian organized crime is better or worse than Hispanic however its not right to paint all Italians with that brush. I have to be blunt the immigrants who came here in the early part of  the last century built this country into what it is today. They had none of the crutches the hispanics have had such as bilingual education and affirmative action programs. Everything you touch today has to be labled with that gibberish on it so hispanics will be able to see what they buy. With all this help the Hispanic contribution to America has been minimal to say the least. Finally 200,000 Muslim hispanics are a great concern to me because being that most of them are illegal aliens they would be susceptible to being coerced into doing terrorism for large sums of money something a person who came here legally might not do.

I understand what you're saying, but I had to say something back to people who throw stones and live in glass houses. I look at all the Hispanic people coming into America today and they aren't at all Hispanic. The majority of them coming from Central America are mostly of Indian descent and have very little if any Spanish in them. Therein lies the difference in the way they behave in this country and the way they were brought up in theirs. Being Cuban is a nationality not a race and the fact that you understand that pleases me. The Cubans you see coming here today didn't grow up in the same Cuba as I did. They grew up in a dirt poor communist dictatorship with no religion, no food, no freedoms, and no decency. If  a black man in this country comits a crime, and his last name is McAllister or Buchanan, he is labeled as an Africa-American. If another black man commits a crime and his last name is Garcia or Rodriguez, he is labeled a Hispanic. Why is that? They are both black and African descendants of slaves brough over here by whites. It's all part of the idea to lump us all in and put us all in the same category which is a disservice and an insult to any race.

As far as me saying what I had to say about Italians, you brought in other nationalities that I also suffered under. It is not right for anyone to paint all Hispanics with the same brush either. How come it's ok for others to do it and not me?  I lived in the Italian neighborhoods here in Philly, I saw extortion, murder, drug dealing prostitution etc... I lived in the Irish neighborhoods and saw worst. So really there are good and bad I saw in all the peoples here in America but I don't go around expounding their people's worst attributes. Both my sister married Irish guys. One is devout Crhistian just like my sister, the other Irish guy she married after divorcing her first husband who was Italian who went to jail for racketeering.. This Irish guy turned out to molest my nieces and went to jail for it. So you see, I can bring out any derogatory comment on anyone who wants to lump me in with criminals because I have seen the worst of all peoples here the U.S. and yet I don't lump them all in one criminal group. However I'm tired of standing by and letting people insult me and my heritage and not say anything about it.

Offline cjd

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Re: More US Hispanics drawn to Islam
« Reply #15 on: November 06, 2006, 07:08:41 PM »
I must say you are quite right when it comes to Miami El Cabong. I had visited Collins Avenue in the early ninety's and the revitalization work had just started around then and for the most part it was being done by Cuban Americans. You could see how run down and crime ridden it still was in parts however where the Cubans started to move in there was quite an improvement. I have never been back but people tell me it is quite nice along there now. Also what you say is true Cubans are quite Conservative in their leanings and very religious. Castro did the people of Cuba a real disservice when he sent many criminals and people with mental problems to the USA in the eighties when immigration was opened. Some of the immigrants were real problems and it made Americans believe all Cubans are trouble. The poor hard working Cubans that were here in the USA for a quarter century were over shadowed by this bad element. When the occasion arises now and then I wish you would write about pre Castro Cuba a bit I would like to hear about it.
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El Cabong!

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Re: More US Hispanics drawn to Islam
« Reply #16 on: November 06, 2006, 07:43:46 PM »
I must say you are quite right when it comes to Miami El Cabong. I had visited Collins Avenue in the early ninety's and the revitalization work had just started around then and for the most part it was being done by Cuban Americans. You could see how run down and crime ridden it still was in parts however where the Cubans started to move in there was quite an improvement. I have never been back but people tell me it is quite nice along there now. Also what you say is true Cubans are quite Conservative in their leanings and very religious. Castro did the people of Cuba a real disservice when he sent many criminals and people with mental problems to the USA in the eighties when immigration was opened. Some of the immigrants were real problems and it made Americans believe all Cubans are trouble. The poor hard working Cubans that were here in the USA for a quarter century were over shadowed by this bad element. When the occasion arises now and then I wish you would write about pre Castro Cuba a bit I would like to hear about it.

Thanks for the reply. Yes the Cubans did help rebuild Southern Florida and I was also talking about the 60's when Miami had lost its glory toward the late 60's. The Cubans who had come there helped the economy, built schools churches and a vibrant business infrastructure. Also many Cubans started working for Jews who were living in Miami and learned how to run businesses here in the States.

Yes I was thinking of writing about the Cuba I remember in the late 50's, early 60's. I will also upload some good pictures since my father always hired a photographer for any silly and important occasion. We also have color 8mm movies of Cuba from around 1956-57. Will try to upload those too, if not here, maybe youtube as soon as I can get them from my sister. We had them transfered to VHS in the 80's and now I need to copy them to DVD.