José Martí, Cuban Apostle: A Dialogue by Cintio Vitier, Daisaku Ikeda (review)

The Latin Americanist, September 2015 Stephen further posits that women’s involvement in the movement created a gendered construction of rights. Female teachers often felt relegated to the margins of the union and participating in APPO was a way for women to protest not only the state government’s repression of the teachers, but also stake a claim for women’s respect within the union. In addition to her discussions of political citizenship, gendered constructionof rights, andnewtypesof identityformationforAPPOmembers, Stephen also offers a rich analysis of youth street art that emerged from the movement. Stephen includes pictures of “La Virgen de las Barricadas,” a popular image of the Virgin Mary emerging in November 2006 on posters and walls depicting the Virgin surrounded by burning tires and with a crown of barbed wire, allusions to what was happening in downtown Oaxaca. Stephen also interviewed artists and mayordomos (patron saint fiesta leaders) who created a new image of the much venerated El Santo Niño (little God child). The Santo Niño statue was dressed as an APPO protester and was used in processions in support of APPO, blessing areas under siege by the federal police ordered into Oaxaca in November 2006 by then President Vicente Fox. Stephen argues that the integration of El Santo Niño—an important figure in native communities—suggests the influence of indigenous knowledge and popular religious traditions within APPO. Stephen concludes that while APPO did not oust Governor Ulises Ruiz Ortiz in 2006 (its main goal), it did benefit from new coalitions in 2010 and strong voter turnout that led to Oaxaca’s first non-PRI governor in eighty years taking office. Moreover, an important legacy of the APPO movement was the proliferation of indigenous community radio stations created in 2006, giving alternatives to state-run or commercial media. One limitation of Stephen’s otherwise powerful ethnography is that while she interviews business owners, artists, and teachers who were supportive of the movement, she offers very little insight into the Catholic Church’s role in acting as a mediator between APPO and Governor Ruiz Ortiz’s office. Overall, however, this rich and innovative book offers an incredible contribution to social movement literature. It will be of interest to activists and scholars alike. Kathleen M. McIntyre Department of History Clarion University of Pennsylvania JOSÉ MARTı́, CUBAN APOSTLE: A DIALOGUE. By Cintio Vitier and Daisaku Ikeda. London: I.B.Tauris & Co. Ltd., 2013. p. 190, $50.00. This is a collection of dialogs between two eminent scholars from opposite parts of the world. It reflects the interest of a Japanese Buddhist spiritual master in the life and works of Cuba’s national hero and combines his fascination with Marti with cogent comments and clarification by Cintio Vitier, a Cuban scholar, critic, and poet with a vast knowledge 90 Book Reviews of Martı́’s works. The exchanges or dialogs between the two men first appeared in print in Tokyo as serial submissions in eleven issues of a Japanese magazine, from 1999 to 2000. In 2001 a Spanish version, Diálogo sobre José Martı́ el apostle de Cuba by Daisaku Ikeda y Cintio Vitier, was published by Center for Martı́ Studies in Havana. Now the text is available in English, edited and translated by Richard L. Gage. The quality of the translator/editor’s task is no small part of the book’s success. Footnotes meticulously document the almost constant references not only to José Martı́’s writing but also to quotes from philosophers, poets, reformers, and authors from around the world and through the ages. There is also a very informative glossary and an excellent index which add to the book’s usefulness for researchers. The connection for Latin Americanists is that it provides a unique look at Martı́’s universal appeal. The book is organized into chapters, subheadings , and then a very wide array of topical categories. The format throughout is that Ikeda, who has obviously become very familiar with Martı́’s writing and wishes to link the Cuban writer’s ideas and ideals to Nichirian Buddhism, speaks about some aspect of Martı́ and then Vitier responds. A dialog that began orally, when Cintio Vitier travelled to Tokyo to speak...