Nothing is harder than to trying to offer an explanation about Africa, that continent, birthplace of the humanity, where we humans stood up for the first time, abandoned the forests areas, entered into the herbaceous plains and from there, began the colonization and conquest of the rest of the continents. Nothing is harder, I repeat, than to explain in short what a continent represents and Roman naturalist Plinio el Viejo said more than two thousand years ago about Africa: “Ex Africa semper aliquid novi” : From Africa always emerge something new. It is a valid truth even in our époque, beginning of the XXI century. Africa always reveals something unknown from his old and wise face.

Its people have a rich history that shows the extraordinary contributions to the development of the civilization, Africa “multiple and only” as Martinique and universal poet Aimé Césaire wrote, Africa from the Mediterranean to the Cape of Good Hope, from Guardafui to the isles of Cape Verde, there, as I said, emerged our human being 5 million years ago, but also it was created the first unified state that it is known: Egypt, emerged as the first monotheistic religion: the cult of Atón and later it was developed other great civilizations and cultures like Napata and Meroé, Numidia, Cartago, Aksum. Ghana , Mali , Songhay, Ife , Monomotapa, Swajili and others.

The oral, literary, musical and plastic arts traditions constitute an important heritage from old Africa . Unfortunately, in our countries there are still just a few people that know all this great patrimony, because of the alienation heritage of the eurocentrism; consequence of the colonial and neo-colonial dominion, protean in its masking.

I consider very important that next CUBADISCO 2008 honor Africa and its traditional and contemporary music, as well as its diaspora in America.

Cuba has always exalted its cultural roots, its deeply Caribbean identity and it is going to be an extraordinary opportunity for our people to state the great historical and cultural ties, in this case the music that connects Africa, the Caribbean and the American Continent. It will help us to become more aware of the necessity of safeguard our identities and cultural patrimonies to FACE up the neoliberal globalization. As an old African proverb status: We must no forget our origins, because the future is full of many contingencies.

As a river of ever changing waters we have to consider the African, old and contemporary, music and the one of its diaspora, not only in America but also in Europe , where many Africans and his descendants live.
I consider, undoubtedly, that a more sustained contact with the new African music and the one of its diaspora, as well as the deepest knowledge of our traditional music, will bring breath of fresh and renewing air to many areas of the Cuban popular dance music and all our music in general. This Cubadisco 2008 will be a tempting invitation to know ourselves better.

Rogelio Martínez Furé.