"LATINOS SPEAK ON IDENTITY" 2/20 AT 6:30PM EST

I welcome as my guest Cuban born Elder in the Lukumi religion Oba Ernesto Pichardo, responsible for winning the major 1993 Supreme Court ruling which acknowledged Lukumi and other ATR's as bonafide religions. For years he has been an activist and civil servant on many fronts. Years ago he helped create The Institute for Caribbean Studies, a group comprise of specialized scholars: Anthropology, Sociology, History, Religious practitioners. The group organized and held workshops/lectures on Afro-Caribbean religious systems--in police departments, hospitals, state officials, museums, college & universities. Together, they established Miami-Dade county's accredited law enforcement sensitivity training. His community involvment continues. The irrelevance of skin color as it relates to being of African descent is discussed, as well as the complex issues of identity in the Latin American community.