Tucked away from Havana’s busiest streets, Plaza del Cristo is home to a monument of Gabriel de la Concepción Valdés, better known as Plácido. More than a poet, Plácido was a voice for freedom—an Afro-Cuban writer who, despite his mixed-race heritage, was seen as a threat to the colonial system. He was executed in 1844 during the Escalera Repression, a brutal campaign against Black intellectuals and revolutionaries.
Standing in front of his bust, we begin to uncover how Black voices in Havana have always been at the forefront of resistance, even when history tried to erase them.
The power of Black identity isn’t just in words—it’s also in how it’s expressed. Dandyism, a movement that started among European elites, was reclaimed by Black communities as an act of defiance and elegance.
At Café El Dandy, we explore how Black dandyism evolved—from its origins in France and England to its modern expressions in places like the Congo and the Caribbean. It’s a conversation about style, pride, and reappropriation, all while enjoying the laid-back atmosphere of one of Havana’s most eclectic cafés.
The African footprint in Havana is also in its businesses—projects built from resilience and history.
San Isidro, once a marginalized neighborhood, now pulses with cultural energy. Walking through its streets, you witness the Afro-Cuban presence in art, music, and daily life, a reminder that these spaces were historically shaped by Black communities.
Cuban medicine owes much to African and Haitian traditions, yet history often credits European influences instead. At the Sarrá Pharmacy Museum, an elegant Spanish-style apothecary, we take a deeper look at how enslaved Africans and their descendants contributed to Cuba’s knowledge of herbal medicine, healing practices, and natural remedies—many of which are still widely used today.
The contrast between the European aesthetics of the pharmacy and the Afro-Caribbean wisdom behind many of its treatments speaks volumes about how African heritage has shaped Cuban identity in ways often unrecognized.
Havana’s colonial plazas are often admired for their beauty, but they also carry stories of the Black hands that built them and the struggles of the people who once walked them.
At Plaza Vieja, we shift the perspective from architecture to history:
Here, we also discuss the Neocolonial period, when Afro-Cuban political movements like the Partido de Independientes de Color fought against racial discrimination, only to be violently suppressed.
On Calle Amargura, a simple plaque marks the site of one of Cuba’s greatest acts of racial resistance—the Partido de los Independientes de Color and their struggle for equality in the early 20th century.
This was more than a political party—it was a movement, a declaration that Black Cubans deserved the same rights as anyone else. But their demands were met with violence, culminating in the 1912 massacre of thousands of Afro-Cubans.
Standing here, we honor their legacy and reflect on the continuous fight for Black identity, recognition, and justice in Cuba.
We end the journey in a local market on Calle San Ignacio, a place that embodies the ongoing presence of Afro-Cuban culture in daily life. Here, Black heritage isn’t just in monuments or museums—it’s in the voices of vendors, the food, the music playing in the background.Markets have always been gathering places for Afro-descendant communities, spaces of exchange, survival, and cultural preservation. And so, fittingly, we end our journey here—among the people, the traditions, and the spirit of Havana’s Black legacy.
The African presence in Havana isn’t a thing of the past. It’s alive in its people, in its streets, in its history waiting to be uncovered.
Through African Footprints in Havana, we invite you to walk this journey with us—to see the city through a different lens, to hear the stories that don’t always make it to guidebooks, and to honor the Black legacy that shaped Cuba as we know it.Are you ready to see Havana like never before?
Book your experience now!
Address: Lamparilla 404 entre Bernaza y Villegas, Old Havana, Cuba
