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The Explosion of La Coubre

Back in the day on March 4th, 1960, the French steamboat, La Coubre exploded in the harbor of Havana, Cuba. The 4,310-ton vessel had been carrying Belgian grenades and munitions. As it was being unloaded at the port, the first blast killed numerous dock workers sending people into panic. Half an hour later, a second more powerful blast proved to be more deadly as victims were being tended to by rescue and medicinal personal including Ernesto ‘Che” Guevara. The final death toll tallied between 75-100 people with two hundred wounded. The Cuban government quickly assigned blame on the United States and the CIA for the blasts liking the incident to “another U.S.S. Maine.” A memorial service and mass demonstration for the victims took place the following day. It was there that Cuban photographer Alberto Korda snapped just two frames of an indignant Che who momentarily appeared before the crowd.

Published more than a year later, one of the two cropped frames would go on to be an international phenomenon prompting the Maryland Institute College of Art to call it “the world’s most famous photo.”

For Uprising, this is your truth professa’ saying it’s no mystery why they conceal our people’s history