Race , Class and Gender
Within the Limits of Survival Between the State and the Informal Labor Market
Maricel Nápoles Journalist and Historian Santiago de Cuba , Cuba
T
he female population , especially the Afro-Cuban one , is the most affected by the economic crisis since the 1990s . There is not a secret that blacks and mestizas are overrepresented in trades of lesser social prestige . Many of them are forced to combine their state employment with the so-called struggles in the underground economy as street vendors , collectors or domestic servants . Santiago de Cuba has one of the highest concentrations of Afro-Cuban population . It is common to find women in the streets in search of daily sustenance . They do not need to advertise so loudly their merchandise , because they walk around showing it
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