Culture Is The Beliefs, Customs, Arts, Acupuncture

Culture is made up of different elements; symbols, language, values and norms. Every culture has a different perspective of the way individuals should lead their lives. Cuba is known for its cultural diversity that is made up from Spanish, African, French and Asian influences.

Culture is defined by specific values and belief systems. Culture is who you are, your surroundings, and your traditions. Culture helps shape our behavior, since we're born,a nd raised into a specific culture. The vidoe what is culture, states that culture is learned behavior inspired by people that come from a specific group. I was raised in a Haitian family, and growing up Haitian was definately interesting. Growing up in a strict family, and being the only girl, out of 4 brothers, I grew uo literally walking on a straight line. It was like, if you are a girl, you are looked down on, if you do anything wrong. You are also looked at, as if you've shamed your own family. Growing up in the haitian culture has raised me to be just like my mother.

President Obama addressed the situation and policies between Cuba and the United States in his State of the Union Address. " In Cuba, we are ending a policy that was long past its expiration date. When what you're doing doesn't work for fifty years, it's time to try something new. Our shift in Cuba policy has the potential to end a legacy of mistrust in our hemisphere, removes a phony excuse for restrictions in Cuba, stands up for democratic values, and extends the hand of friendship to the Cuban people. And this year, Congress should begin the work of ending the embargo," the President said regarding Cuba and the antiquated policies.

A culture can be defined as a way of life of a group of people- their behaviors, beliefs, values that are passed along by communication and imitation from one generation to the next. It also includes the customs, arts, literature, morals/values and traditions of a particular society or group (Virginia Encyclopedia). Culture can also be considered as a way of thinking, behaving, or working that exists in places or organizations. This topic is of huge importance to our society mainly in the state of

Culture is according to Zimmermann (2015), “the characteristics and knowledge of a particular group of people, defined by everything from language, religion, cuisine, social habits, music and arts”. One culture that I am not affiliated with and did not grow up in is the Hispanic/Latino culture. Today, this culture is one of the fastest-growing cultures in the United States of America (“Understanding the Hispanic/Latino,” n.d.).

The United States is known for being one of the greatest and strongest countries in the world looking at past events and in this day and age. What might strike some people as shocking is that the U.S. would not be as strong without close ties with other countries or allies. Examples would be France, England, and Canada, plus many more. What people don’t talk about is the U.S.’s rivals or countries that the U.S. has had trouble with in the past leading up to now. One of the most renowned countries is only ninety miles away from the southern tip of Florida and that is Cuba. Cuba is known for the fantastic beaches, some of the most well-known baseball players around, and, of course, Cuban cigars and rum. But, the past with Cuba is not as bright as the U.S. wants it to be because of historical events such as the embargo, the Bay of Pigs, and the Cuban missile crisis during World War II that caused the two countries to separate as allies and close tied nations. Over the past year the U.S. and Cuba have been trying to put the past behind them and have diplomatic and cultural relations once again.

“Change is hard in our own lives and in the lives of nations” President Obama said "Change is even harder when we carry the heavy weight of history on our shoulders. But today we are making these changes because it is the right thing to do"(cnn.com). The poor relations with Cuba and the United States have been like this since the cold war. Fidel Castro seized power in Cuba in 1959 by removing from power Fulgencio Batista who was in charge at the time. Castro taxed the United States hard on their imports. Which lead President Kennedy into a full economic embargo that included stringent travel restrictions that are still in effect today.

In December 2014, President Obama started restoring diplomatic relations with Cuba. Cuba and the United States have been hostile since the Cuban Revolution of 1959, when Fidel Castro overthrew the US-supportedbacked dictator, Fulgencio Batista, and established a Communist regime. The US rejected Castro’s bid for equal economic partnership because they wanted to maintain economic dominance. As such, Castro began seizing US assets, causing back-and-forth actions that culminated in Presidents Eisenhower and Kennedy placing an embargo in 1960-61. The embargo was intensified in the 1990s, and attempts to relax sanctions cannot succeed without Congress repealing the laws responsible for the embargo. Despite arguments that it would help fight human rights violations, the US embargo on Cuba should be lifted because of its historic ineffectiveness, the potential economic advantages of a repeal, and the democratic values shown by the popularity of a repeal.

After the Cuban Revolution, Castro visited the USA in April 1959 in hopes to gain support and aid from the U.S. to improve the Cuban economy. Castro specific pointed out his land reforms to better the Cuban standard of living. Castro addressed the UN nation and pledged that like any other developing nation, Cuba would remain neutral in the Cold War. Castro’s hopes of U.S. was unlikely after President Eisenhower declined to meet Castro and Vice- President Nixon did not fare very well either (Stanley). When Castro returned back to Cuba, he implemented a radical land reform system, which limited large estates to 1000 acres. Castro was able to break off the monopoly held by the wealthy few in Cuba by introducing this Agrarian Reform Law. This law allowed the majority of Cuban to own a portion of land and be part of the larger

The decision made by the personal representatives of the US and Cuba to open up trade relations was an historic announcement. Presidents Castro and Obama showed a level of political will that is not seen in the world very often, such as that to undertake such a transformational act. Both presidents have overturned years of hostility of people that share the same blood but that live in a new world. They were able to leave history in the past and have discussions based upon mutual respect. In Cuban author, Jose Marti’s “Cultivo Una Rosa Blanca”, he made an offering of friendship and peace to his friend and his enemy (Macias, p. 25). This is the same offering that Barack Obama made to Raul Castro- a saludo de paz, a greeting of peace, and to burn

The Cuban culture widens from all across the United States, but 65% of the Cuban- Americans are in Florida. The moment where President Obama really started to get the audience attention was when he started to talk about the democracy the many capabilities it has. President Obama knew that he can’t change Cuba political affiliation, but he wanted to speak his mind about the communism and tell them his perspective of what this country could have. Every person should have human rights and be freely to speak their mind were some of the example he said, and with democracy comes many benefits of these two. President Obama never seemed to tell Raul Castro for change, but he simply spoke his mind that having a people vote for their own president would be beneficial for

In the recent months, the media has been in a frenzy with the topic of the new emerging relations evolving between the United States and Cuba. This new development, following merely years after Raul Castro was succeeded by his brother Fidel, prompted an inquiry. Why new relations now? Has there been a significant current event to prompt the end to a 50 year embargo? Is Cuba becoming more liberal? Or is the United States merely become more sensible? In essence, we are aiming to unearth the underlying forces this modern direction of joint Cuban and U.S forces.

In a newspaper article published by Reuters Media, written by Matt Spetalnick, Daniel Trotta and Jeff Mason, president Obamas historical visit to Cuba is widely talked about. Obama is now known as the president who boldly went where no one has before, his historic visit now makes him the first president in “88 years” to visit Cuba. While this visit is historical, he was there on business, talking with the leaders and people of Cuba. Lastly Obama has broken the “US policy of trying to Isolate Cuba.” The President has broken a long standing Policy, opening up new doors for interactions with Cuba.

On March 21, 2016, President Barack Obama delivered a joint press conference with Cuban President Raul Castro at the Revolution Palace in Havana. Obama is the first United States president to visit Cuba in nearly a century. Having it been the first official contact between their two governments in an extraordinarily long time, the two engaged in awkwardly blunt exchanges throughout the press conference. Both mentioned that they were committed to continuing on a path to “normalizing relations.” Although this was mentioned, there was an underlying hostility between the two as they criticized each other’s countries throughout the press conference.

Culture is a way of life. It can be defined as a group of people linked by geographical location, ethnicity, gender or age. Culture can be reflected through language, clothing, food, behavior, spirituality and traditions. The behavioral patterns developed through culture are difficult to change.