 |
Original Cartoon and Message Sent by
Gerardo Hernandez to the
VIII
Congress of the UPEC
|
Oakland,
CA April 15(IC)
A
cartoon of Gerardo Hernández Nordelo, drawn at the maximum security prison in
Victorville California, United States, was chosen to illustrate a chapter of a
textbook that will be used in several Spanish schools in France. The book is
being published in Paris and will begin to be used in April 2013 by students in
their preparatory year to college. In its first edition 10,000 copies will be
printed.
The
selected cartoon originally was drawn in 2011 and sent by Gerardo along with a
message to the opening of the VIII Congress of the Union of Journalists of Cuba
(UPEC), an organization to which he is an honorary member. Gerardo began his
career as a self-taught cartoonist, publishing his first work in the humorous
weekly "Palante" in 1982, when he was only 17 years old. When he
learned about the news that this cartoon was being used in a school book, the
Cuban anti-terrorist expressed his surprise and satisfaction, and said: "I
am pleased because besides being in the book the cartoon will resurface at a
time when the Cuban journalists will be back in Congress, and I think that the
message is still relevant and retains its validity."
The
editor of the book, Noé Pérez, found the cartoon while searching online for the
material that he would need, "The cartoon described eloquently one of the
aspects of the chapter of the book where it was included" Perez said.
"It deals with the relationships between information and power and the
problems associated, like bias or impartiality in the coverage of the facts, or
in the transmission of information, as well as different points of view."
The editor adds that "the binary of the image, with the representation of
two visions in the form of two screens focused on different aspects of the same
reality, outlines the problems and perspectives of the different sources of
information. On the other hand, the elegance of the image of the rose and the
thorn acts as a metaphor of the good and difficult aspects that coexist in the
same reality; that caught our attention. The motto that accompanies the image
involves two adverbs "muy" and "tan" that interested us as
a point of grammar to work with."
With
regard to why he thinks that the cartoon will be useful to students, Mr. Pérez
argues that "the image brings the students culturally into a Latin
American reality, specifically Cuban, and at the same time transcends it. The
objectivity in the media is a valid question in any of today's society who
share this principle. It is aesthetic and reasonably easy to interpret for the
level of maturity of the students."
When
selecting the cartoon Noé Pérez was unaware that its author was one of the
Cuban Five, and that Gerardo was serving two life sentences in a prison in the
United States for defending his country from terrorism. It was only when he was
trying to find out to whom he should request authorization to use it that the
editor was able to learn about the difficult conditions in which the cartoon
had been created, and the reasons why Gerardo and his 4 comrades are considered
political prisoners. According to Mr. Pérez the situation of the cartoon's
author "did not influence in any way the selection of the cartoon; that
fact is not mentioned anywhere in the text because it exceeded the limits of
the subject and the teaching objectives of the publication."
This
way the original intention of Gerardo, that included a critique of the
treatment that Cuba receives from the corporate media, and at the same time a
critical exhortation to Cuban journalists at their Congress, transcended
towards a more universal concept about the issue of the objectivity of the
media, and his work will be subject of the analysis and reflection by French
students.
In the textbook in France the cartoon appears with
only the phrase "NI MUY-MUY, NI TAN-TAN" and includes the signature
of Gerardo and the prison's name. The rest of the message was removed by the
authorization of Gerardo.
For more information about the Cuban
5 visit: www.thecuban5.org
DONATE
II Annual "5 Days for the Cuban
5 in Washington DC" May 30 to
June 5
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