Hollins Professor Part of First Large U.S. Delegation to Visit Cuba Since Opening of Relations

Hollins Professor Part of First Large U.S. Delegation to Visit Cuba Since Opening of Relations

Faculty

January 28, 2015

Hollins Professor Part of First Large U.S. Delegation to Visit Cuba Since Opening of Relations LeeRay Costa

LeeRay Costa, John P. Wheeler Professor of Gender and Women’s Studies and Anthropology at Hollins University, will be traveling to Cuba in February with a “super delegation” of 150 people to mark the recent thawing in U.S. – Cuba relations, particularly the easing of travel restrictions.

Hosted by the activist group CODEPINK and timed for Valentine’s Day, the “To Cuba with Love” delegation will include leaders from the peace and justice movements and the environmental, healthcare and LGBTQ communities, and representatives from Ferguson, Missouri, working on police accountability.

The delegation will meet with high-level government officials, visit members of the Cuban 5, who were recently released from U.S. prison, talk with doctors who combat Ebola in Africa, meet with entrepreneurs about the new business possibilities, and interact with local people about cultural, economic, environmental, educational, agricultural, and healthcare issues.

“I am thrilled to be part of this peace delegation, to have the opportunity to learn more about life in contemporary Cuba, and to talk with Cuban people,” said Costa. “As someone with scholarly interests in social change and social justice, I am particularly fascinated by Cuba’s unique political and social history. I am eager to understand Cuban perspectives on women’s and LGBT rights, race relations, environmental sustainability, and food justice.”

More information about the trip can be found at www.codepink.org/cuba.