For this semester I would like to focus on the country of Cuba. As a Cuban American woman who has visited the country twice, I have my own perspective about the country my parents fled from. I would like to speak to Cubans in NYC whose family may be struggling with the social, economical, and environmental issues that have happened and are still happening in 2020.
The second largest population of Cubans in the U.S. is in New Jersey. However, the only Cuban person I have met in NYC was about 5-6 years ago in the building I used to work in. We had a short conversation about what he experienced when he lived there, in which he mentioned how Fidel himself demanded he leave the country or his family would reap the consequences of disobeying his order. I have heard stories like this before from extended family members or friends of the family but I can never be too sure of their validity.
I have to admit that I do not keep up with news regarding Cuba because I can never be certain if it is true or not. I have also been deflecting because I do have family in Cuba that struggles immensely and hearing about it even in the news makes me uneasy. I want to let go of this mindset and really dive deep and get informed. I have recently been communicating more with my family in Cuba via Facebook and they paint an entirely different image of the current issues they’re facing, vs. that of the media in the U.S. I will use this as my foundation for connecting with other sources in the country that will hopefully lead to more in depth interviews.