The Campo di Fiori square, one of the most beautiful spots in Rome, was the perfect site for the launching, before a large audience called to the event.

This testimony novel narrates in first person the story of Esteban Montejo, a slave and fighter in the Cuban War of Independence at the end of the 19th century to whom, already 103 years old, Barnet arrived in 1963, who managed to penetrate into his life and soul to extract and bring to the literary language living memories of exceptional value.

The interviews with Montejo conducted by Barnet over three years reveal a substantial contribution to the study of Africanism in Cuba, which the poet said is “more than an influence, a living presence in its culture, in its national identity”, because “Cuba without the black people would not be Cuba” because it imprints “a seal, a sign of identity”.

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