Evelio Grillo (June 4, 1919 - December 28, 2008) was an American writer and

community organizer Community organizing is a process where people who live in proximity to each other or share some common problem come together into an organization that acts in their shared self-interest. Unlike those who promote more-consensual community buil ...

. He is a well-known advocate for civil rights. He is best known for his book ''Black Cuban, Black American: A Memoir''.

Early life and education

Grillo was born in

Ybor Ybor City ( ) is a historic neighborhood just northeast of downtown Tampa, Florida, United States. It was founded in the 1880s by Vicente Martinez Ybor and other cigar manufacturers and populated by thousands of immigrants, mainly from Cuba, ...

, Florida to Cuban parents. As a child, Grillo went to segregated schools, noting "Black Cubans were closer to black Americans and white Cubans were closer to white Americans

o we O, or o, is the fifteenth letter and the fourth vowel letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''o'' (pronounced ), p ...

became culturally African American." Later, Grillo went on to the prestigious Dunbar High School before attending

Xavier University of Louisiana Xavier University of Louisiana (XULA) is a Private university, private Historically black colleges and universities, historically black Roman Catholic, Catholic university in New Orleans, Louisiana. It is the only Catholic Historically black c ...

, where he received a BA. Post-war, he took classes at

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

in New York City, specializing in

Latin American Latin Americans (; ) are the citizenship, citizens of Latin American countries (or people with cultural, ancestral or national origins in Latin America). Latin American countries and their Latin American diaspora, diasporas are Metroethnicity, ...

history.

Writing

Grillo is the author of the seminal text, ''Black Cuban, Black American: A Memoir''. This memoir detailed not only Grillo's life but the way segregation affected Black Americans during the

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. It discussed the specific way Afro-Latinos had to live as both Latinos and

African-Americans African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa. ...

Personal life

Grillo died on December 28, 2008, at the age of 89.

References

1919 births 2008 deaths American writers of Cuban descent Activists from Florida Memoirists from Florida {{US-nonfiction-writer-stub