I heard the Doctor of Sciences Pedro Pablo Rodríguez say, in the middle of a conference, that it is a shame that José Martí and the essence of his thought are on debate only on the dates associated with his passage through this world.
Las Tunas, Cuba.- Of course, the expert was referring to one such as that of May 19, which marks his death, an event not without controversy that sealed the course of the Necessary War in the fields of Dos Ríos.
It is sad, the illustrious academic said, that day; and he is right. We must get closer to the lively patriot who is the Apostle, without empty verbiage and labels, and going discovering his time to fully understand the nobility of his steps.
It has been said that in some circles of the intellectuality, at that time, they called him "crazy;" and, behind the scenes, some even dared to use the term as a nickname because they considered as utopia his struggle and the real possibility of reaching the Cuban fields to change History. José Julián's life must have been difficult, much more than what the books tell us.
A man viscerally in love with his country, buried himself in achieving its freedom; and part of a family that needed him well, not only from a filial, affective point of view but especially from the supreme responsibility of putting bread and wine on the table. How many would be the intimate struggles of his soul?
We cannot teach Martí wrapped in dates; it is necessary to lower him from the marble pedestal and put his lineage to retrace the streets. In the Cuba of the 21st century, it is not achieved with pamphlets and cold readings. In my opinion, it is only taught to love, what is truly loved.
And the Maestro said so much for this moment in the world that, just by delving into his texts, it is learned and founded. It has to be done.
We must not continue repeating speeches because time, the implacable, takes its toll on such deep oblivion. Martí must be really learned, and teachers of all levels of education have to help; the journalists, responsible for finding hideaways that make the publications about him more interesting; and also the institutions, especially those whose supreme reason for existence is the applicability of Marti's thought and its dissemination.
Of course, valuable actions have been done. And those who have followed the walk of the José Martí Youth Movement (MJM) in Las Tunas during the pandemic, as well of other related entities, appreciates each effort and recognizes how much endeavor beats in social media and in more formal virtual spaces, but it is still little.
I remember the days when, from the Plaza Martiana, junior high school students met and talked about sexuality, poetry, generations, dreams, disappointments, and thousands of things, always starting from a text by the National Hero. Those were encounters of light and self-improvement.
We live in difficult times. Martí, visceral and futuristic, prowls around. It is important that we feel him as close as the possible dreams of this country. But that future generations feel him that same way is essential for the long journey of this free Cuba. We cannot fail him. "Doing is the best way to say."
