English Translations of Cubans Writing From the Island
My generation grew up listening to the litany. It wasn’t the only one. It was barely a new one. But I can attest to that: along with a motto I never understood “Pioneers for Communism, we shall be like Ché!”, my legs and my conscious grew up hearing that the country my grandparents had, without … Continue reading “20 Reasons to Doubt / Ernesto Morales Licea”
Algerian Publisher Barzakh Editions to Receive Principal Prince Claus Award of EUR100,000 PR Newswire AMSTERDAM, September 6, 2010 /PRNewswire/ — This year, on 17 December, the Principal Prince Claus Award of EUR100,000 will be presented to the Algerian publisher Barzakh Editions at the Royal Palace in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. In addition, ten other laureates will … Continue reading “YOANI IN THE PRINCE CLAUS AWARDS…!!!! / Orlando Luis Pardo Lazo”
The family of Hector Iznaga lives hand to mouth. His daughter, 18-years-old, was going to have a baby, and they realized that their house was very small. They got to work. Without permission from any state body, they quickly turned the balcony of their small two-bedroom apartment into a new bedroom. Many families in this … Continue reading “Havana Reinvents Itself / Iván García”
There’s a discrepancy between the sign board and program schedule at the Casa Gaia, located in Teniente Rey, between Águila and Cuba Streets in the historic quarter of Havana. That’s where art and thought now come together, but the sign board at the entrance announces the staging of Flechas del Ángel del Olvido (The Angel … Continue reading “Live Culture at Casa Gaia / Miguel Iturría Savón”
As August progresses, as if the summer sun and rain weren’t enough, the official press is punishing us with news that tests the boundaries of even the complete joke represented by the newspaper Granma, the Communist Party organ, and Juventud Rebelde — Rebel Youth — the newspaper for the younger generation, two sides of the … Continue reading “Young But Not Rebels / Miguel Iturría Savón”
Photo / Luis Felipe Rojas I have to admit that the kids of this current generation really manage to try to live with the pulse of the times. Increasingly, I run into more and more people on their way to the babalao* or tarot card reader; there are those who at night go into downtown Holguín to take courses in Positive … Continue reading “Amnesia, Spells, and Survival / Luis Felipe Rojas”
I think that in my subconscious, I felt something more than professional interest when I visited them. Something like personally knowing the two rappers whose music and political positions greatly influenced my decision to confront, with the written word, the lies that embitter my beloved country. I still remember with pleasure my “punisher” using that … Continue reading “Aldeano’s Codes / Ernesto Morales Licea”
Months ago I dreamt I lost a tooth. That tiny one on the side that’s been with me for more than thirty years. An incisor that has never moved and that I should care for, knowing it can’t be replaced. If my grandmother were alive she would have interpreted these dream experiences as “an omen … Continue reading “Losing a Tooth, Winning a Number / Yoani Sánchez”
Amidst Cuban flags, famous boleros, and white flowers, thousands of exiles and hundreds of Latin Americans bid farewell to Olga Guillot on Monday, July 12th. On Friday Guillot checked in to the Mount Sinai Hospital in Miami, that city where she lived in and occasionally performed ever since the 60’s, although Venezuela and Mexico were … Continue reading “The Queen of Bolero/Miguel Iturria Savon”
Photo: Claudio Fuentes Madan The Cuban family is fractured, not only by national separations as a result of emigration, but also by political conflicts between the family members in the country. The other day I was invited to dinner at my friend’s house and by the end of the gathering I was depressed by the … Continue reading “Dinner Among Strangers”
This video was made yesterday at a concert organized by the group OMNI-Zona Franca in Gaia house. There was very little light and the audio is bad, but the song of Raudel shines out above any technological problem. I transcribed what I’ve managed to understand, any contribution from a reader with a better ear than … Continue reading ““We Are the Root of The Change,” by Raudel of the Patriotic Squadron”
It happened on Wednesday night, they told me yesterday, June 22nd, and I give this alert because I do not know what other incident might happen today, which marks five months since the death of Orlando Zapata Tamayo. It started when Caridad Caballero Batista and Mariblanca Avila were in a car headed for Banes to … Continue reading “They Order Punches in Response to Solidarity with @reinaozt”
Miriam is a Habanera of the island, belonging to the generation that has lived torn between disillusionment and hope, whose members reached adulthood in the controversial year 1980. She has published collaborations in the digital magazine Encuentro en la Red, for which she created her pseudonym. Miriam started this blog under the pseudonym Eva Garcia … Continue reading “Miriam Celaya”
Olga Guillot has just left us. Another matchless Cuban patriot is gone without having returned to a free Cuba. In Cuba and in exile there is the same feeling, pain and nostalgia. When I received the news of her death, I remembered Celia Cruz, and like those of my generation here in Cuba, I could … Continue reading “On Olga Guillot’s Death”
Exactly how do minors become affiliated with the Committees for the Defense of the Revolution? When you turn 14 years old they begin contacting you and requiring your presence at meetings of the organization and volunteer works. The parents (legal guardians) don’t have to consent or reject it. Consent is implied, there is no legal … Continue reading “Rooted Custom”
