February 17, 2009 (submission date)

President Barack Obama
The White House
Washington, DC

Dear President Obama:

We are artists, arts presenters, arts educators, cultural entrepreneurs and scholars, and cultural heritage and policy professionals from diverse political persuasions. We have been adversely affected by the cultural embargo imposed by the U.S. government against both Cuban and American artists and cultural institutions. We are writing to request that you make concrete changes in U.S. policy towards Cuba that will allow for the uninhibited flow of art, culture, information, ideas and debates, as well as travel by artists, cultural workers and professionals, and arts and cultural aficionados between the two countries.

U.S. policies towards Cuba – worsened many times over by the previous administration and criticized throughout the world – have prevented us from engaging in critical communication and collaboration with our Cuban counterparts, compromising our nation's cherished ideals of freedom of expression and preventing cultural interchange between two societies that share a historic relationship lasting over two centuries.

In 2007 we requested policy changes from the Bush Administration so that respectful, critical dialogue and principled exchange could take place between the peoples of Cuba and the United States and our respective governments. Our petition fell on deaf ears. As citizens, artists, scholars, educators and cultural workers from all artistic practices and from advocacy and service organizations in the arts, we now call upon your Administration to:

1. open a respectful dialogue with the government and people of Cuba in accord with established protocols supported by the community of nations;

2. end the travel ban that prevents U.S. citizens from visiting Cuba, and allow for Cuban artists and scholars to visit the United States, thus eliminating the censorship of art and ideas, and

3. initiate, by working with the U.S. Congress, a process that can result in the development of normal, respectful bilateral relations between our countries.

The artistic and cultural communities in the United States and in Cuba are catalysts of imagination and creativity. We are committed to serve as bridges for our fellow citizens. Now, we need our government to take leadership and re-open the pathways of exchange.

We look forward to working with you to advance the interests of the United States and of Cuba.

Sincerely,

Patch Adams, MD, Clowns Against War, Arlington, VA

Michael Alexander, Executive Director, Grand Performances* & Chair, California Arts Council*, Los Angeles, CA

Mavis Anderson, US-Cuba Cultural Exchange, Washington, DC

Jorge Artiles, Music Event Producer, Havana Productions*, Miami FL

David Asbell, Executive Director, Lobero Theater Foundation, Santa Barbara, CA

Stuart A. Ashman, Cabinet Secretary, State of New Mexico Cultural Affairs, Santa Fe, NM

Bob Augelli, Ph.D., Director, Rosa Blanca Project, Lawrence, KS

Philip Ballman, Co-Founder, Mondo Mundo Agency, Brooklyn, NY

Laura Bickford, Film Producer, Los Angeles, CA

Larry Blumenfeld, Journalist and Music Critic, Brooklyn, NY

Beth Boone, Artistic & Executive Director, Miami Light Project, Miami, FL

Jimmy Bosch, Musician/CEO JRGR Records, New York, NY

Joe Boyd, Record Producer and Author, London, England

Robert Bozina, Professor of Music, Santa Clara University, Santa Clara, CA

Bill Bragin, Director of Public Programming, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts*, New York, NY

Vinie Burrows, Actor & UN Representative, Womens Int’l Democratic Federation, New York, NY

Joseph Cabral, Musician, The Iguanas, New Orleans, LA

Judy Cantor-Navas, Journalist, New York, NY

Jim Cassell, The Berkeley Agency, Berkeley, CA

Regina Cervantes, 9/11 Rescue Worker, Cast of SiCKO*, Yukon, OK

Paul Chin, Executive Director, La Pena Cultural Center*, Berkeley, CA

Aaron Cohen, Music Journalist, Chicago, IL

Neal Copperman, Executive Director, AMP Concerts/¡Globalquerque!, Albuquerque, NM

Wilson Corniel, Musician, Richmond Hill, New York, NY

Maria Costa, Producer, Los Angeles, CA

Susan Criner, Owner, Gulf Coast Entertainment, Houston, TX

Jose Cruz, President, Jazz/Latino, Inc., Guilderland, NY

Hector Cruz-Sandoval, Filmmaker/Producer, Los Angeles, CA

Juan Dies, Executive Director, Sones de Mexico Ensemble, Chicago, IL

Charlie Dos Santos, Producer/Engineer, New York, NY

James Early, Artists and Intellectuals in Defense of Humanity, Washington, DC

Emiliano Echeverria, Independent Scholar, Radio Producer, KPFA/Pacifica Radio*, San Francisco, CA

Jacob Edgar, President, Cumbancha, Charlotte, VT

Cynthia Elliott, Executive Director, Symphony Space, New York, NY

T.J. English, Author, New York, NY

Diana Ezerins, Programming Coordinator, The Kennedy Center, Washington, DC

Cory Fisher, Journalist/Field Producer, SiCKO*, Nevada City, CA

Dale Fitzgerald, Arts Presenter, The Jazz Gallery, New York, NY

Juan and Miriam Flores, Independent Scholars, Brooklyn, NY

Quetzal Flores, Musician/Producer/Pro-Activist, Quetzal, East Los Angeles, CA

Gerald Fried, Composer, Santa Fe, NM

Tom Frouge, Manager/Presenter, Avokado Artists, Placitas, NM

Steve Frumkin, President, Jim Wadsworth Productions Agency, Cleveland, OH

Kathryn Garcia, Director of Programming, Arsht Center for the Performing Arts*, Miami, FL

Keith Ghion, President, Geodesic Management, New York, NY

Rob Gibson, Executive & Artistic Director, Savannah Music Festival, Savannah, GA

Danny Glover, Actor & Activist, San Francisco, CA

Tom Gold, Agent, The Rosebud Agency, San Francisco, CA

Paul Goldman, Agent, Monterey International, Carmel, CA

Arturo Gomez Cruz, Public Radio Mgmt, Jazz89 KUVO-FM/DOCA Commissioner City-County of Denver, Denver, CO

David Gonzalez, Ph.D, Poet/Storyteller, Nyack, NY

Peter Gordon, Composer/Musician/Educator, New Rochelle, NY

Jose Griego, Ph.D., President, Northern New Mexico College, Espanola, NM

Louis Head, US-Cuba Cultural Exchange, Albuquerque, NM

Oscar Hernandez, Musician/Composer, Los Angeles, CA

Ariana Hernandez-Reguant, Cultural Anthropologist, University of California, San Diego

Danny Hoch, Playwright, Actor, Brooklyn, NY

Marguerite Horberg, Chicago, IL

Ralph Irizarry, Musician & Indie Label Owner, Brooklyn, New York

Suki John, Ph. D., Specialist on Cuban Dance, Ft. Worth, TX

Mike Kappus, President, The Rosebud Agency, San Francisco, CA

Robert Kraft, President, Fox Music, Los Angeles, CA

Craig Knudsen, President, Knudsen Productions, Berkeley, CA

Alexia Lalli, Heritage and Preservation Consultant, New York, NY

Greg Landau, Musician, Producer & Professor, City College of San Francisco, San Francisco, CA

Saul Landau, Filmmaker, Alameda, CA

James Lepore, Professor, George Mason University, Arlington, VA

Vivien Lesnik Weisman, Filmmaker, Santa Monica, CA

Sandra Levinson, Director, Cuban Art Space / Center for Cuban Studies, New York, NY

Lee Lockwood, Writer and Journalist, Weston, FL

Alison Loerke, Artist Representative, ALIA Productions, Seattle, WA

Ana Lopez, Professor, Tulane University*, New Orleans, LA

Linda Lucero, Executive/Artistic Director, Yerba Buena Gardens Festival, San Francisco, CA

Howard Mandel, Writer/Broadcaster/Educator, Jazz Journalists Association, New York, NY

Ev Mann, Executive Director, Center for Creative Education, Kingston, NY

Dave Marsh, Writer-Broadcaster, Editor, Rock-Rap Confidential, Norwalk, CT

Robert Martin, General Manager, Lensic Performing Arts Center, Santa Fe, New Mexico

Bill Martínez, Arts Immigration Attorney and Presenter, Martínez & Associates, San Francisco, CA

Ivor Miller, Author & Cuban Culture Specialist, Boston University, Cambridge MA

Marilyn Miller, Professor, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA

Tom Miller, Author, Tucson, AZ

Tom Miller, General Counsel, Send A Piana to Havana, Oakland, CA

Rick Mitchell, Artistic Director, Houston International Festival, Houston, TX

Robin Moore, Associate Professor, University of Texas School of Music, Austin, TX

Kevin Murray, Senior Vice-President, William Morris Agency, Beverly Hills, CA

Lukas Nelson, Musician, Paia, HI

William Ney, Executive Director, UW-Madison Multicultural Arts Inititatives*, Madison, WI

Arturo O'Farrill, Musician & Founder, Afro Latin Jazz Alliance, Brooklyn, NY

Michael Orlove, Senior Program Director, Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs, Chicago, IL

Juan "Papo" Pepin, Master Percussionist, Pepin Productions, Bronx, NY

Scott Price, Artist Manager, OTA Records, Oakland, CA

Dafnis Prieto, Musician, New York, NY

Margaret Randall, Poet, Albuquerque, NM

Joe Randel, Director, ArtesAméricas, University of Texas Performing Arts Center, Austin, TX

Raices Collective of KUNM-FM, Albuquerque, NM

Arturo Riera, Chairman of the Board, San Jose Jazz, San Francisco, CA

Ann Rosenthal, Executive Director, MAPP International Productions, New York, NY

Bernard Rubenstein, Conductor, Copland/Gershwin New Music Group, Santa Fe, NM

David Rubinson, Music Producer, San Francisco, CA

Bobby Sanabria, Grammy Nominated Musician & Educator, Manhattan School of Music, New School, Bronx, NY

Alan Roy Scott, Songwriter, Events Producer & Artist, Music Bridges, West Hills, CA

Cynthia Semon, Media Consultant & Promoter, Los Angeles, CA

Lian Calvo Serrano, Booking Agent, Tempest Entertainment, New York, NY

John Sinclair, Poet, Journalist & Broadcaster, Detroit, MI

Bill Smith, Booking Agent, Eye for Talent, San Francisco, CA

Isabel Soffer, World Music Institute, New York, NY

Vicki Sola, Writer/Broadcaster, Teaneck, NJ

Scott Southard, Director, International Music Network, Gloucester, MA

Patricia Spears Jones, Poet/playwright, Brooklyn, NY

Ned Sublette, Independent Scholar, New York, NY

Clyde Valentin, Executive Director, Hip-Hop Theater Festival, Brooklyn, NY

Manuel Valera, Musician, New York, NY

Jim Wadsworth, Music Promoter, Jim Wadsworth Productions Agency, Cleveland, OH

Jack Walsh, Executive Producer, Celebrate Brooklyn Performing Arts Festival, Brooklyn, NY

Bill Wolfer, Producer/Musician, Palm Springs, CA

Cindi Younker, Director of Programs, Buckman Arts Center, Memphis, TN

Isabel Yrigoyen, Presenter/Producer, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco, CA

Mark Weinstein, Musician, Glen Ridge, NJ

Erica D. Zielinski, General Manager, Lincoln Center Festival, New York, NY

plus 335 others signed online as of January 26, 2009

Visit Online at http://www.cubaresearch.info/cubaletter2009

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