A national hero in Cuba and a champion of independence across Latin America, Jose? Marti? produced a body of work that has been theorized, criticized, and politicized. However, one of the most understudied aspects of his life remains his time in the United States and how it affected his attitudes toward racial politics. Marti? saw first-hand the treatment of slaves in the Cuban countryside and as a young man in Havana had mourned the death of Lincoln. But it was in New York City, near the close of the century, where he penned his famous essay "My Race," declaring that there was only the human r