U.S. Voices Against the Blockade | Episode 2: Imani Bashir
May 6, 2026
Imani Bashir is a Black American activist from Washington D.C. She visited to Cuba following a radical political tradition, one that includes Malcolm X, Assata Shakur, and Kwame Ture, figures who understood the Cuban Revolution as part of a broader struggle for liberation.
For Bashir, visiting Cuba wasn't just political, it was personal. Seeing Afro-Cuban people, she says, was seeing people who look like her, who share her history, who have maintained their culture and dignity under decades of sanctions.
Her argument on the blockade is straightforward: Cuba has never been a threat to the United States. It has never put U.S. safety, its food supply, or resources at stake. "It has only been the other way around," she says.
And on the U.S. government's stated concern for the Cuban people: "I absolutely don't think that the United States government wants to help the Cuban people, because the United States government doesn't want to help the American people.”
U.S. Voices Against the Blockade is a series featuring U.S. citizens who oppose U.S. sanctions on Cuba. Watch Episode 2 and catch up on all previous episodes in the series.
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“Cuba won't bend the knee,” said Imani Bashir, activist from Washington, D.C.
“Cuban people are strong,” Bashir added.
“Cuban people know what it is to fight,” she said.
“Cuba is important for me for many reasons,” Bashir said.
“I'm a Black American, and in the Black radical tradition, we have celebrated the Cuban people,” she added.
“The Cuban people have celebrated me,” the activist said.
“We have a lot of figures like Assata Shakur or Kwame Ture or Malcolm X that spoke about Cuba,” Bashir explained.
“And seeing how Fidel Castro and Malcolm X had a relationship,” she added.
“They met and they talked and they communed and they understood the liberation for all people,” Bashir said.
“And so for me, as a Black American from the United States, it’s important to uphold those traditions of my ancestors,” she continued.
“One of the things I love the most about Cuba is seeing Afro-Cuban people, seeing people that look like me, seeing people with my skin tone and my shade,” Bashir said.
“Seeing people that have been under the thumb of these sanctions and these blockades still exist in beauty and family and culture,” she added.
“I think it's also important to see with your own two eyes and to hear with your own ears what it is that people are experiencing,” the activist said.
“Because the propaganda that we're seeing on the news makes it seem like the people in Cuba are just these shiftless people that need our help,” Bashir added.
“No, they need our support and they need our solidarity,” she said.
“Cuba does not represent a danger to the United States,” Bashir argued.
“And one of the main reasons is that Cuba, in all the time Cuba has existed in this world, has never been causation for our country to be at stake in anything, whether that be safety, whether that be food or access to resources,” she said.
“We have never had a problem with the Cuban people in terms of how it is that they treat us,” the activist added.
“It has only been the other way around,” Bashir said.
“I absolutely don't think that the United States government wants to help the Cuban people, because the United States government doesn't want to help the American people,” she said.
“So whenever people see the propaganda of what it is that our government is talking about with regards to Cuba, look at the conditions of our people in the United States,” Bashir added.
“If they really wanted to help Cuba, they would start at home,” she concluded.
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