Havana, May 25 (RHC) -- Cuba celebrates Africa Day this Sunday, an opportunity to celebrate and evoke the roots and traditions of a continent with a strong presence in the nation's culture.

The entry of African slaves into the country and their customs, lifestyles, religious beliefs, songs, and dances have left their mark on Cuban identity and culture, shaped by a broad process of transculturation resulting from the blending of Indian, Hispanic, African, and other roots.

A study warns that this process forges knowledge about the history of the nation and constitutes a legacy that new generations must defend.

African heritage can be perceived in all expressions of Cuban culture: in literature, music, the visual arts, skin color, culinary traditions, and religion.

"It's in the look, in the way of walking, in the way of feeling, in the sense of independence, in that freedom of the soul, of resilience, of resistance, but also in the fervor of being Cuban. We are all different, but we are one and the same," Ulises Mora, director of the Timbalaye International Festival, once said.

One of the institutions that promotes the history, culture, and art of the African continent in Cuba is the Casa de África Museum, located in Havana's Historic Center.

Regarding this space, Eusebio Leal once said: "We didn't want to create an ethnological and ethnographic museum about the remains of the African people. Rather, everything here was a gift from the nations, a gift of gratitude. And it was Commander-in-Chief Fidel Castro who gave to the Casa de África everything he had received as Head of State from the leaders of the national liberation movements and the presidents of the Black continent."

"This is how this collection emerged, which has served to explain history here all these years, to teach classes and lessons, to discuss African spirituality, its deep, bloody, and moral presence in Cuba, because Cuba cannot be explained without Africa, just as it cannot be explained without Spain," he continued.

"We cannot achieve clarity in our national question if we do not transcend the purely racial issue and enter into the essentially moral issue. We are a people of mixed blood and culture," the eminent historian warned.

Various Cuban initiatives and institutions evoke the anniversary, not only today, but every day with gratitude, solidarity, homage, and the certainty of a nation that feels inseparable from African culture.