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U n i v ers i t y o f m i a m i
Peace Sullivan/James Ansin High School Workshop in Journalism and New Media
Young journalists explore changes in the contentious U.S. - Cuba relationship
Icon or assassin! American Dream?
In Miami, teens are expressing them-
Cuban teens question a concept that may be fading
selves about Che Guevara in good and
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bad ways
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PEACE SULLIVAN/JAMES ANSIN HIGH SCHOOL WORKSHOP IN JOURNALISM AND NEW MEDIA SUMMER 2009
Warming Trends
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com.miami.edu/workshop/2009/
Table of Contents
for videos, blogs and more
Peace Sullivan/James Ansin High School Workshop in Journalism and New Media
Online Exclusives “Shopping for Faith” A visit to a botanica in Hialeah. “Designing a Dream” A young immigrant dreams of her future. “The Man Who Rescued Elián” Ten years ago, he plucked a young boy out of the ocean. Then came a firestorm.
Summer | 2009
“Inside the Pink Bedroom” Behind the scenes with the Chongalicious girls. “Soul Food” Shabbat dinner with Miami Jewbans. “Havana, Florida”
Religion
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PEACE SULLIVAN/JAMES ANSIN HIGH SCHOOL WORKSHOP IN JOURNALISM AND NEW MEDIA SUMMER 2009
Religion in South Florida has been influenced by Cuban values and the harsh realities of the Castro government. A look at faith in the Cuban and Cuban-American communities.
Cuban through and through, Ralph Duharte lives in two worlds. “Gua-Gua” An enchanting journey through Cuban Miami. “Facing Che” Che Guevara T-shirts divide the generations. “Know What I’m Sayin’, Broder?” Los Primeros explain young Cuban slang.
Behind the scenes “Reporters’ Notebook” Young journalists share their experiences at the workshop.
Chongalicious
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Jeeyoon Kim // Montage Staff
In two years, the “Chongalicious” music video on YouTube drew more than four million hits and made Internet stars of two Aventura girls. Chongas have developed a culture of their own by mixing traditional Cuban roots and urban American lifestyle. Some say it’s “trashy,” others describe it as an adolescent phase.
Calle Ocho
Cruising La Calle; take a journey along iconic 8th st and experience the music,culture,foo, sight and sounds of Havana North
Miami Montage thanks its sponsors Major support provided by: Ansin Family Foundation (James Ansin) and The Bunnelle Charitable Trust (Peace Sullivan) Other support provided by: Dade Community Foundation; Dow Jones Newspaper Fund Inc.; Office of the Provost & School of Communication, University of Miami; St. Petersburg Times
Workshop Presenters University of Miami: Chris Delboni, Jazmane Morgan, Sam Terilli, Craig Stevens, Joe Garcia, Giancarlo Soto, Francis Sullivan, Juan Tamayo, Vanessa Lopez, Myriam Marquez, Hugh Gladwin, Jack Virtue, Bob Radziewicz, John Lantigua. The Miami Herald: Rick Hirsch, Jeff Kleinman, Suzanne Levinson. Others: Carina de la Paz, Nicole Martinez.
Workshop Director Yves Colon, University of Miami
Special Thanks University of Miami Donna Shalala, President
Associate Director Fred Blevens, Florida International University Faculty Lyn Millner, Florida Gulf Coast University, multimedia ; Noelle Theard, photography; Alex de Carvalho, web design; Felipe Lobon, graphic design; Trevor Green, Knight Center for International Media at The University of Miami, video. Housing Directors Sophia Funk Mupalia Wakhisi, University of Miami Housing Assistants Rudy Tomarchio, Brittnay Starks.
online
UM School of Communication Administrators: Sam Grogg, dean; Robert Hosmon, vice dean for advancement and external affairs; Bruce Garrison, professor and workshop founder; Blyth Daylong, assistant dean, scheduling events and production; Sig Splichal, program director, journalism; Tonya Sautier, assistant dean of administration and finance; Tsitsi Wakhisi, associate professor/managing editor University of Miami Miami News Service, and Ileana Oroza, associate professor. Staff: Todd Landess, Tom Ortiz, Melissa Rubi, Ethan Time, staff of Hecht Residential College The Miami Herald David Landsberg, publisher; Anders Gyllenhaal, senior vice president/executive editor; Gus Perez, production manager; Pat Germaine, executive assistant
“Doing Our Homework” Experts in Miami speak about Cuba. COVER: Photo collage created using Shape Collage by Emma Singer design by Felipe Lobon
From the South Florida Sun-Sentinel newsroom Tessa Metayer, Kathleen Pellegrino. From the Miami Herald newsroom Elinor J. Brecher, Jose Pagliary, Frances Robles. WSVN Channel 7 Reed Cowan, Lily Pardo. And also thanks to: Nancy Mendoza, workshop administrator; Steve Pierre, Daniela Cioffi, Aura Stella Altamiranda, Savanna Stiff, from the 2008 workshop; Reiter and Associates, LLC: Robin Reiter-Faragalli, principal Miami Montage is written, edited and designed by high school students attending the Peace Sullivan/James Ansin High School Workshop in Journalism and New Media hosted by the School of Communication at the University of Miami. The newspaper is printed by The Miami Herald. For information go to www.miami.edu/com/ workshop or call 305-284-3752.
Stories from a storm opportunity to bring their business to Cubans. “We are at least extending a hand, and hoping Cuba will react,” said Juan Tamayo, a research associate a t the Cuban a n d Cuban
South Florida teens look at politics and culture from 50 years of turmoil by Alexa Volland Seminole High, St. Petersburg
American Institute at the University of Miami. Most experts agree chipping away at the embargo will require gradual work and an openness to change. Sopo said, “You can’t just rip off a scab.” Some young South Floridians speculate that Obama’s diplomatic approach may lead to democratic values in Cuba, including freedom of speech and religion. Obama hopes to positively influence civil rights for the communist country and has asked for the release of political prisoners.
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This is a regime that intends to stay in power forever.
– Joe Garcia Obama advisor on Cuba policy
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“We can expect the State Department to continue to have bilateral talks with the Cuban government about migratory accords,” Sopo said. “What I hope is that we can have an honest and open discussion with the Cuban government about human rights, freedom for political prisoners and the Cuban people’s right to determine their own future.” Joe Garcia, an unsuccessful democratic congressional candidate and an architect of Obama’s Cuba policy,
“What’s important is that we pursue a policy toward Cuba that is consistent with our values and recognizes the Cuban people’s God-given right to live in freedom,” Sopo said. Not all local politicians are as enthusiastic with the new policy. In press reports, U.S Rep. MarioDiaz Balart (R-Miami) described the Obama policy as a “serious mistake.” At the heart of the contentious political relationship are two countries with different social values. For nearly five decades, the Cuban government restricted the practice of any religion. In the ‘90s those restrictions were lifted, after which 60 percent of Cubans said they were Catholic, 5 percent said they were Protestant and the other 35 percent varied. Many immigrants to Miami live a life that does not include religion, as they weren’t raised in homes where religion was central. As Mina Radman writes, a large number of younger Cuban-Americans are atheists. Jeeyoon Kim writes in this issue about the growing acceptance of the gay community in Cuba. Kim found that Cuba is closer to legalizing gay marriage than ever before. Last year, sex change
operations were legalized and covered under the universal health care system. You’ll find many articles throughout this issue about the generational divide between young Cuban-Americans and their parents and grandparents. Older generations of Cubans feel that teens are not as closely connected to the culture as they are. Fewer CubanAmerican teens speak Spanish, eat Cuban food, celebrate quinceaneras, or participate in Cuban dance. In addition, unlike the grandparents who played baseball and soccer, many Cuban teens have been turning to American sports like football. Increasingly, Cuban teens identify more with American culture than their own, considering themselves AmericanCubans, rather than Cuban-Americans. Daniela Lazo Cedré reports an increase in arts being influenced by the Afro-
Cuban community in Miami. Native Cubans as well as Cuban Americans have begun to influence each other, which has become evident through the use of new instruments, forms and styles. With the Obama administration attempting to create a relationship between the United States and Cuba, a lot of commotion can be expected in the future from the last remaining Communist country in the Western hemisphere. “Cuba makes a tremendous amount of noise,” Garcia said.
PEACE SULLIVAN/JAMES ANSIN HIGH SCHOOL WORKSHOP IN JOURNALISM AND NEW MEDIA SUMMER 2009
During the presidential campaign, candidate Barack Obama promised to bring changes to Cuban policy. As president, he has since fulfilled one of those promises, lifting restrictions on family travel and on remittances that were imposed by the Bush administration. We’ve devoted this issue of the Miami Montage to the changing relationship between the United States and Cuba. The prospect of more open relations between the two countries touches all aspects of Cuban and CubanAmerican culture, including the arts, religion, travel, the economy, family relationships, sports and gay rights. For the past 50 years of Fidel Castro’s leadership, the United States has attempted unsuccessfully to change Cuba’s government. Only President Jimmy Carter attempted to make a complete normalization of relations. Now the United States is extending a hand to the Castro government in an attempt to better relations between the two countries. “The old policy has been a dismal failure. It has never worked because it was completely unilateral,” said Giancarlo Sopo, a young CubanAmerican involved in Democratic politics in Miami Dade County. Part of Obama’s promise is to open up telecommunications with Cuba, which could improve phone connections between the United States and Cuba. The United States is authorizing telecommunications service providers to enter Cuba and operate under agreements with Cuba’s government system. Satellite radio and television operators have been given the
says it will be an uphill battle. Obama recently nominated Garcia to be director of the Office of Economic Impact and Diversity for the U.S Department of Energy. “This is a regime that intends to stay in power forever,” Garcia said, echoing Sopo.
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U.S.-Cuba relations
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Taking the pulse of teens Montage poll reveals youth views on issues on U.S.-Cuba relations by laura herrera Dr. Michael M. Krop Senior High
PEACE SULLIVAN/JAMES ANSIN HIGH SCHOOL WORKSHOP IN JOURNALISM AND NEW MEDIA SUMMER 2009
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Caitlin Irigoyen, a junior at La Salle High School, is Cuban-American, eats typical Cuban food at every meal and talks Cuban politics with her family, yet she has never visited Cuba. “I’ve never been out of the U.S. and I would like to see (Cuba), and everything that happened even before I was alive with them (her family),” Irigoyen said. Nearly three-quarters of young South Floridians are backing President Barack Obama’s attempts to ease relations with Cuba and believe that the controversial, 50-year-old trade embargo is ineffective, a poll conducted by the Miami Montage reveals. The embargo was instituted by former President Dwight Eisenhower in 1961 through the Cuban Democracy Act to economically isolate Cuba. Over time, the embargo has left conflicting views among Cuban-Americans on its efficiency. In March 1991, Hugh Gladwin, director of the Institute of Public Opinion Research at Florida International University and creator of the Cuba Poll, asked those polled how effective the embargo was. Only 33 percent of Cuban-Americans replied “not at all.” In the most recent Cuba Poll, conducted just after the November presidential election, 56 percent of CubanAmericans thought the embargo is not working at all, an all-time high. A July 2009 Miami Montage survey of South Florida youth included four questions used in the Cuba Poll. The 20-question poll asked young people, ages 15 to 25, their opinions on topics ranging from gay marriage to universal healthcare and education in Cuba. Through e-mail and social networking sites like Facebook, MySpace and Twitter, Montage polled more than 200 people. Those surveyed in the Miami Montage poll were asked: “Overall, do you think the United States embargo of Cuba has worked very well, well, not well, or not at all?” Out of those who responded, more than half thought the embargo has not worked very well, 27.7 percent said it has worked well, while 18.5 percent said it has not worked at all. The number of people who thought the embargo was working “very well” was significantly higher than
those with the same answer in IPOR’s Cuba Poll. “I don’t feel (the embargo) works at all,” said Mario Funk, a 25-year-old insurance specialist from Cutler Bay. There is still support from Canada, Europe and South American governments. If we trade with Venezuela, Venezuela will trade with Cuba. All it serves is to ruin families and destroys the overall quality of life. American dollars could be helping Cuban families.” The 2004 Cuba Poll showed that the majority opposed lifting travel restrictions in general, yet the majority favored lifting the restrictions in 2007. Then in 2008, Cuban-Americans were asked if they favored or opposed ending travel restrictions for Cuban-Americans. They were also asked the same question in regards to all Americans. The group favored eliminating the restrictions for everyone. A significant majority of youth polled by the Miami Montage believed in ending travel restrictions to Cuba for CubanAmericans as well as all Americans. “I understand why they (the restrictions) are in place, but for people born in Cuba that came here and want to go back to see family, they should be able to do so,” said Shannon Stewart, a 20-year-old graduate from American InterContinental University. Most of those polled would also consider visiting when the limits were lifted. But Stewart is part of the 23.7 percent of people who would not, even without travel limits. To her, visiting Cuba would be like visiting communist North Korea. “Even if the ban was lifted for North Korea I wouldn’t go and visit,” Stewart said. “I wouldn’t want to be associated with that country.” While the United States and Cuba follow different values in regards to the economy, social services and lifestyles, the policies and view of the embargo leave a mark. Cuba’s systems of universal education and healthcare have been portrayed as benefits of the communist revolution; however, results from Montage survey showed that a significant majority of young people believe that the United States has a more adequate system of both education and healthcare. “I think it’s better here,” Irigoyen said. “We have more supplies to educate people with even adults. In Cuba, you either go to school, or you don’t, and if you go you’re lucky.” Vanessa Lopez, a research associate of the University of Miami’s Institute of Cuban and Cuban-American Studies, explained that the problem with Cuba’s
healthcare is a lack of materials and doctors. There are currently about 10,000 Cuban doctors working in Venezuela in exchange for oil. Joe Garcia, a Miami Democratic politician known as the architect of Obama’s Cuba policy, said healthcare and education might be free but most citizens live in poverty either way. “Cubans pay a huge price for universal healthcare and universal education,” Garcia said. “Cubans in the United Sates make the whole gross national product of Cuba.” Despite controversy around individual state legalization of gay marriage, the majority of youth polled by Montage supported gay marriage and believed the United States would legalize same-sex marriage nationally before Cuba. “I support gay (marriage). I think that people should be happy,” said Melissa Schwartzbaum, a senior at Miami Beach Senior High School. “The United States (would legalize gay marriage first) because Cuba, as a country, is much more hard-headed. People believe what they believe and they’re very conservative.”
Contrary to the Montage poll results, Cuba is more progressive than many believe. Mariela Castro, President Raul Castro’s daughter, advocated the legalization of gender reassignment surgery in 2005. Three years later the gender reassignment surgery bill was passed. Mariela Castro is now working on the legalization of gay marriage. When asked, only 10.3 percent of those polled by Miami Montage thought “Che Guevara was an intellectual and a revolutionary” despite his face being printed on thousands of T-shirts, messenger bags and hats. On the contrary, the most popular opinion was that “Che Guevara was a dictator and executioner” rather than a pop culture icon. Almost all of those polled also did not own any Guevara merchandise, and most of those who did avoided wearing it in public for fear of inciting controversy. “Revolutionaries are not always all good. I don’t understand why people idolize him. It’s ridiculous. He did more bad than good,” Stewart said. “Whoever decided to market merchandise just snuck it in and managed to become very successful because people are very ignorant.”
Miami Montage Poll Which country do you believe has a better system of healthcare
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2 cultures bond in history, food and persecution
MATZO
by amanda epstein Miami Beach Senior High
Maia pineiro // Montage Staff
SHABBAT FOR GENERATIONS: Raquel Epelbaum (left) and grandson James Egozi light candles for Shabbat as Ruthy Wigoda and daughter Chloe look on. In spite of the hardships – slavery, mass persecution, and discrimination, Jewish people have always stuck with tradition – even when it was easier to break away Notwithstanding the setbacks, Jews have lived in almost every country on the globe. They even made it to that small lush green island on the crystal blue waters of the Caribbean. During Hitler’s rule, thousands of Jews were driven out of their homes and into torture chambers and death. Many fled with their families to unknown but welcoming countries. Cuba was one of the first to offer relief and a tolerant home to these refugees. The Jews’ stay in Cuba was short-lived, however. As the revolution progressed and as Castro tightened the country’s reigns, Cuban Jews’ rights to practice their religion, own businesses and speak
their minds without persecution were suppressed. Gone were the freedoms that had led them there in the first place; so they packed up their belongings and left, refugees yet again. Of the 15,000 Jews that once lived in Cuba, fewer than 1,500 remain today, according to the Union for Reformed Judaism. Many of those Cubans came to sunny Miami Beach, where they fashioned a community among fellow Jewbans; a society held in place by the city’s synagogues. Temple Menorah, located in north Miami Beach, opened its doors to Cuban refugees at the dawn of their arrival in 1959. “Never turn a fellow Jew away,” Pearlson said. “My predecessor gave them [the Cuban refugees] the opportunity to join this congregation for whatever they could afford. The 1950s were a mere 10 years after the holocaust.
He couldn’t turn anyone away from a synagogue.” Pearlson believes the reason that all Jewbans cherish their Cuban culture is because they never faced the hostility and anti-Semitism there that they had known all their lives in Europe. Pearlson explained that when his father came from Poland, he immediately began to learn English as he simultaneously applied for college. Six months upon his arrival, he went off to study at the University of California in Los Angeles. Forty years later, when Pearlson asked his father to translate a word for him in Polish, he looked at him like he was crazy. “Why? Because the Polish culture was anti-Semite,” he said. “Cuba wasn’t. That’s why the Cuban Jews didn’t have to shrug off the Cuban culture.”
Melissa Schwartzbaum, a 17-year-old Miami Beach Senior High School student, is a thirdgeneration Jewban. As an active member at Temple Menorah, her Jewish side remains a constant in her everyday life. She’s had a bat mitzvah, has Shabbat dinners, often goes to temple, and has even worked as a volunteer in her synagogue three consecutive summers. However, as far as her Cuban roots go, Schwartzbaum only relates to it at dinner time. She doesn’t feel she will uphold the Cuban culture like her grandparents and parents have. She thinks she doesn’t have the experiences and stories to make her Cuban enough. She has only lived her Cuban side through the older generations of her family. “Each generation feels less Cuban,” she explained. “My grandparents took a lot from Cuba. But they are still around. So you never know how it will be when they’re gone.” Reinaldo Winer, 59, immigrated with his brother and both parents to Miami Beach from Havana when he was 11. He says he is not a practicing Jew; he is not religious. However, he keeps the Jewish culture just as close as the Cuban and American. Although Winer had a bar mitzvah and never turns away from helping Jewish organizations, the way he rolls his Rs clearly makes him Latin. His house smells of those spices only known to Latinos. The passion with which he lives every day, his love for cubilete (a traditional dice game), his fondness for conversation and the habit of speaking Spanish at first sight of an opportunity make him unmistakably Cuban. “Even though we have become Americans, we’re still Cuban. I’m just as Jewish, too,” Winer said. “I became more American because I’m in this country, but I still root for the Cuban girl in ‘So You Think You Can Dance?’ you know?”
PEACE SULLIVAN/JAMES ANSIN HIGH SCHOOL WORKSHOP IN JOURNALISM AND NEW MEDIA SUMMER 2009
What do you eat for dinner when you’re both Jewish and Cuban? “You can ask for matzo ball soup or black bean soup,” said Marcos Gerbel, the president of Cuban Temple Beth Shmuel. The synagogue was founded in 1961, only two years after the communist revolution, when a large wave of Jewish Cubans immigrated to Miami Beach. Jewish Cubans, otherwise known as “Jewbans,” have created a community in Miami that has flourished considerably since Fidel Castro’s rise in Cuba. And although many consider it an unexpected combination, Jews and Cubans share certain values that make them a natural mix. Judaism is more than a religion. Being Jewish means never refusing food and always worrying over someone going hungry for more than a minute; it’s matzo, gefilte fish and latkes; always having an excuse to get together as a family; dancing and singing more loudly than optimal; belonging to a community and always knowing who’s to your left and right every Friday night at services. Being Cuban doesn’t differ. It’s all about the rice and beans and platanos; the loud, happy, colorful family dinners; always being “too skinny”; the perpetual salsa music and dance; the belief in family before everything else; a sense of neighborhood and community. “Cuban and Jewish cultures are so similar that you don’t have to practice one to the exclusion of the other,” said Rabbi Eliot Pearlson of Temple Menorah, another synagogue with a Cuban majority. “Being Cuban and being Jewish are complementary.”
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Arroz, frijoles y
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Cuba moving faster than U.S. on gay marriage Tradition, values play big role in public opinion
PEACE SULLIVAN/JAMES ANSIN HIGH SCHOOL WORKSHOP IN JOURNALISM AND NEW MEDIA SUMMER 2009
by jeeyoon kim School for Advanced Studies
After years of forced attendance at Catholic Church services, 17-year-old South Miami High School student Giselle Dominguez found solace with her mother’s gradual acceptance of her sexuality. “She used to tell me, ‘Stop dressing like a boy. When I was your age I would wear dresses.’ I’ve been a skater, I’ve been a punk. I’ve known that this is who I am since I was 7 years old,” Giselle Dominguez said. Yet, when she came out to her mother about her sexuality after disagreements such as cutting off her long locks of hair right before taking her traditional quince pictures, she was relieved to be met with affection rather than objection. As a member of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community, she has experienced first-hand the struggles that homosexual youth face as Cuban-Americans. And she was shocked to learn that most Cuban citizens openly and publicly respect the gay community on the island. Junior Ramos, an 18-yearold straight Cuban who just immigrated to Southern Florida seven months ago, said that the island’s culture is more accepting of homosexuals than some parts of the United States. “Anybody who wants to do it [be homosexual] can do it,” Ramos said nonchalantly in an interview translated from Spanish. Cuba is considering a bill that, if passed, would change family law to permit gay marriages anywhere in the country, an indication that the LGBT community coexists peacefully and broadly, unlike America, where acceptance varies regionally. One might be welcomed with open arms in Maine, yet shunned in Mississippi. Though the older generations of Cubans, in Cuba and in the United States, continue to oppose homosexuality because of traditional patriarchy (male superiority and role as head of the family), the possibility of its ratification exemplifies the surprising and increasing
jeeyoon kim // Montage Staff
acceptance of homosexuality in modern-day Cuba. This reform may be due in part to Mariela Castro, 46, the daughter of the current Cuban President, Raul Castro, and niece of legendary former President Fidel Castro. She stands at the forefront of her country’s efforts to recognize LGBT rights. “This is a wonderful festival of equality,” Mariela Castro said in the opening of her speech as a keynote speaker at the recent Pride London parade, an annual event that promotes LGBT rights. Many find it hard to believe that Cuba would legalize gay marriage, but Mariela Castro has a record of accomplishing her
goals. In 2005, she campaigned heavily for the legalization of sex reassignment surgery. That law was passed subsequently in 2008 and Cubans have been granted free sex reassignment procedures as part of their universal health care system ever since. Victor Espinosa, a 17-yearold Westland Hialeah High School senior, was also astonished to hear of the situation in Cuba. He is a member of his school’s gay-straight alliance. If gay marriage were to be legalized in Cuba, Espinosa said he would be inspired to fight harder for the cause here in America. “I can’t imagine gays in
Cuba having more rights than here in America,” Espinosa said. “Nobody should ever be judged for their sexuality. We need personal freedom.” Miami-Dade College student Angel Dominguez, 19, is one of 750,000 members of the Human Rights Campaign, a global organization funded solely by charity and donations working toward establishing safety and equality at home, work and in the community. Angel Dominguez, who donates monthly to the HRC and is anxious to recruit new members, faced a lot of resistance when he told his parents he was gay more than a year ago.
Miami Montage Poll Which country would be more likely to legalize gay marriage?
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Cuba
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“My parents are divorced,” Angel Dominguez said. “I wrote it in a letter to my dad and then stayed at my mom’s house. He called me and just asked, ‘Is this true?’ ” He then recounted the bitter memory of his father later accosting him about his sexuality and questioning him based on what Angel Dominguez called absurd stereotypes that were so outrageous he couldn’t help but laugh. He conceded that even though his father continues to make borderline offensive comments at times, he is a great father and very loving. He said his mother reacted more positively. “She just said, ‘Oh, Angel, just don’t be a drag queen,’ ” he said with a chuckle. He said that the disparity between their reactions stems from the Cuban principle of the “macho” male figure. Even so, he feels lucky to be growing up as a Cuban-American rather than a young gay teenager in a country, other than Cuba, where the penalties for being gay are harsher, maybe even lethal. Regardless of the reason, Cuba is moving toward a more LGBT-friendly society, an irony not lost on Giselle Dominguez. “America is supposed to represent freedom,” she muttered.
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Regardless of where or when, artists find ways to stoke their passions for a beloved homeland by daniela lazo cedrÉ Baldwin School of Puerto Rico
art based on the compilation of selective items to convey a message – as the primary art form. [Cubans] are trying to do whatever they can with what they’ve got.” Cuban artists have an especially tough time succeeding financially. Although this is a universal problem for all artists in Cuba, there are not many people who have the money to buy art, Pavón said. Those who do buy art buy paintings because writings aren’t hung on walls.The lives of writers and poets in particular are seldom successful because “people won’t buy poems the way they would buy a painting,” Pavón said. A diminishing number of people are also becoming writers because the economic situation is so difficult, said Juan Tamayo, a Miami Herald staffer who also is a research associate
daniela lazo cedrÉ // Montage Staff
OPENING DOORS: Ernesto Blanco, a Cuban-American artist native to Havana, Cuba, said he found the expressive freedom he longed for when he reached the shores of Miami. cate despite these pressures,” Roitstein added. Despite the difficulties all Cubans face, all of the interviewed artists agreed that the lack of canvases, paint, brushes, and other materials is the most difficult thing about being an artist in Cuba. “In Cuba, one lacks many things. Here (in the United States), whatever you want, you get. There, you are stuck,” Pavón said. Whereas Cuban artists’ work is restricted by the tools available on the island, CubanAmericans have largely resorted to using paint. “The art of painting in exile has flourished,” Santis said. “The lack of tools in Cuba has rendered installations – a modern form of
at the Institute of Cuban and Cuban-American Studies at the University of Miami. “They’re more worried about putting food on the table, [and] don’t have existential thoughts about freedom,” Tamayo explained. “Musicians have the highest chances of becoming internationally renowned,” said Junior Ramos, an 18-year-old Cuban immigrant who is learning English at Hialeah Center Library. “Musicians have the possibility of getting out. They can come and go as they wish to give concerts in other countries.” But coming to the United States has not changed Pavón’s style. “Now I continue to maintain my same
style but have more materials to create what I want,” she said. Cuba also has left its cultural mark on the style of Cuban-American bands. “Some Cuban-American artists tend to include more nostalgic, musical, and lyrical elements in their music…perhaps reflecting their ‘Cubanidad’,” Roitstein said. “My main influences are Cuban son – a fusion of Spanish guitar with African rhythms and percussion – guaracha, salsa, and AfroCuban styles as well as American funk.” But differences will always exist. “Cuban music is very percussive,” Trelles said. “Cuban-American music is a hybrid of African beat and American jazz sounds.” Cuban-American music has influenced music in Cuba as well. “Creative people flock to creative people,” Trelles said. “They gravitate to other artists and use that influence.” There are several genres of music in Cuba that are moving in different directions, including what Trelles calls “a huge hip-hop scene.” The well-known Spanish rap group Orishas – the name given to the main family of Santeria gods and goddesses – mixes American hip-hop style with Cuban instruments and lyrics often related to the Afro-Caribbean religion. Santeria is a common theme in CubanAmerican visual art as well: About 85 percent of Cuban-American artists embrace magical realism as seen in José Badía’s art, Santis said. The other 15 percent favor conceptual art like Alberto Rey’s. “Colors, people, painted bodies, dancing, movement, passion, and sacrifices render a mysterious and provocative feeling for the artists,” Santis said. “Many Cuban-Americans commonly explore identity, exile, and spiritual motifs,” Trelles said. Pavón said her creative style is shaped more by a personal, spiritual vision. “Because there are so many refugees in South Florida, art is particularly unique,” Trelles said. “It seethes into the ideal of exile and solitude. An artist here is distinct because of the self-evaluation that occurs here and the question of identity.” Santis agreed. “Many of the exiles want to put Castro in the past and evoke an American way of painting,” he said. “They want to paint beautiful things. Sometimes it’s too difficult to remember the pain. The art of exile is less political.” But the refugees’ art is still part of the larger category of Cuban art. “There are Cubans all over the world that feel just as Cuban as if they were still in Cuba,” Santis said. Ramos agreed. “A Cuban immigrant will continue to be Cuban for the duration of his life,” he said. “He will always have his Cuban roots. No one can take that away.”
PEACE SULLIVAN/JAMES ANSIN HIGH SCHOOL WORKSHOP IN JOURNALISM AND NEW MEDIA SUMMER 2009
Ibrahim Miranda’s painting “Los Pasos Perdidos” includes a cartoon-like blue man with what seems to be a map of a river on his face. The vibrant red background contrasts with carriages moving in the opposite direction. The piece symbolizes political viewpoints that sometimes cause trouble. “Artists, by law, are a creative group. Universally, they are curious beings – exploring, inventing, and always looking for answers. They are able to somehow find a way around censorship,” said Emma Trelles, poet and former art critic for the Sun-Sentinel. Ernesto Blanco, a Cuban-American artist born in Havana, agreed. “All people with artistic inclinations should pursue them; if a door is shut, you can always open others.” Miranda has experienced a rare success seldom achieved by other Cuban artists, as Castro’s communist government makes the lives of artists more difficult than those of average Cubans. “[In Cuba] I had my family, my house and my friends, but i was still missing freedom, said Blanco. Steve Roitstein, co-songwriter of the Cuban-American funk band PALO!, said he knows why. “Music can be extremely powerful in communicating emotions and ideas. Some very clever artists are able to communicate almost any emotion they desire through their skillful lyrics,” Roitstein said. Rap music has enjoyed the most liberty. In recent years, Anónimo Consejo, an AfroCuban rap duo composed of MC Sekou and MC Kokino, have produced political lyrics that criticize the realities of being young and black in Cuba. Several years ago, they would have been imprisoned. In recent years, Cuban artists have been relieved to some degree. “Some of the best work [in Cuba] since 1980 has been critical of the government,” said Jorge Santis, the curator of collections at the Museum of Art in Fort Lauderdale. In recent years, Cuba has been allowing more freedom to promote the success of the artists and bring economic revenue into the country. That freedom has extended to filmmakers as well. Tomás Gutiérrez Alea, one of Cuba’s most influential directors, was known for his
criticism of the social, economic and political conditions of the country. In 1993, Gutiérrez Alea also participated in co-directing “Fresas y Chocolate (Strawberries and Chocolate)”, the first Cuban film to ever be nominated for an Academy Award. “No political symbols or critical wordplay in titles may be used,” said Yunia Pavón, a 32-year-old recent Cuban immigrant and artist. In spite of the government’s pressures on artistic expression, some political critique manages to seep through. “There are different kinds of pressures on artists in different places,” Roitstein said. In Cuba, those pressures would be the constant concern with the food supply and limits on free speech. “A great artist finds a way to communi-
7 MONTAGE
Cuban art at home and in exile
MONTAGE 8
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Religion attracts and repels Cubans Despite controls, the culture finds faith in churches, icons and Santeria
PEACE SULLIVAN/JAMES ANSIN HIGH SCHOOL WORKSHOP IN JOURNALISM AND NEW MEDIA SUMMER 2009
by MiNA RADMAN Marjory Stoneman Douglas High
Abel Iraola is an atheist. His parents, Gisela and Abel Iraola, born in Matanzas, Cuba, are not practicing Catholics, attending services only on holidays. But they don’t mind the choice Abel has made. “I’ve talked with my mom about atheism and she’s very indifferent,” said Iraola, 17, a senior at Hialeah Senior High. “I just wear my cross out of respect for her.” Like many Cuban and Cuban-American teens today, his beliefs are complicated by the legacy of the Cuban government, which in 1959 declared Cuba an atheist nation. Even though the parliament relaxed restrictions 33 years later, allowing Cubans to practice the belief of their choice, it has taken time for Cubans to adjust, said Michelle Gonzalez Maldonado, an assistant professor of religious studies at the University of Miami. “I have a few friends who came to the United States, and their religion depends on how they were raised,” said Carina De La Paz, 18, a CubanAmerican graduate of the School of Advanced Studies. “Even though the government doesn’t support religion, it can’t completely suppress it.” Sixty percent of Cubans are Catholic, 5 percent Protestant, and the rest are a variety of religions, according to the 2008 U.S. State Department International Religious Report. Santeria is an Afro-Cuban religion that is popular on the island – especially with young Cubans. “[Sixty] percent of
mina radman // Montage Staff
LOOKING FOR FAITH: Cubans and Cuban-Americans often seek to define or shape their beliefs by collecting iconic artifacts in botanicas and churches. Statues like this one for Santeria are available in shops that sell such items.
Cubans may be Catholic, but 100 percent of Cubans are Santeros,” said Vanessa Lopez, a research assistant at the Institute of Cuban and Cuban-American Studies at the University of Miami. Santeria originates from the Yoruba ethnic group in Nigeria and centers on the worship of the Orishas (Gods). The religion has many rituals, including the sacrifice of birds and animals. “The only thing that this religion can provide is happiness, peace and tranquility,” Carlos Alonzo, a salesperson at La Caridad Botanica in Hialeah, a store that sells Santeria supplies and paraphernalia. Juan Tamayo, a research associate at UM’s Cuban institute, said that Santeria was originally a “release valve” for Cubans to get through rough
times. Junior Ramos, 18, who recently immigrated to Miami from Havana, sees Santeria as ineffective. “Santeria appeals to the people first for money, then for power,” Ramos said, in an interview translated from Spanish. “People who go to Santeros are wasting money because nothing’s going to change [in their lives].” The lack of religious emphasis in Cuba has changed each generation. Today, most young Cubans see religion as a personal choice, and many continue to choose to be atheist. “It’s harder to be religious in Cuba and people don’t go through the trouble,” Iraola said. “I realize that a lot of people my age have become indifferent to religion.” But, many churches, including the Catholic Church,
have noticed the apathy toward religion and fight to maintain religious values in Cuba. The Catholic Church historically has had a difficult relationship with the communist government. While priests were persecuted and imprisoned, Catholicism became a “house religion.” Cubans still practiced their faith, but inside their homes instead of in churches. But, the church has become proactive in Cuba, reacting to the competition in Santeria and other unacceptable AfroCuban religions. “In essence, Santería is no different from medieval witchcraft, and the Catholic Church has never changed its official position on the subject,” Carlos Eire, a professor of history and religious studies at Yale University, said in an email.
“Yes, many Cubans think that they can blend it with their Catholic faith, and that it’s all right to do that…but Cubans who practice both Santeria and Catholicism are either ignorant, or simply don’t care to follow the church’s teaching.” Religion has slowly become accepted by the government as more people join religious groups each year. But Cuban teens, including Ramos and Iraola, believe that religion is not an immediate concern. “Are Cubans looking for religion or some sort of fundamental value? I haven’t seen a sign of that,” said Tamayo, also an editor at The Miami Herald. “They’re so busy with their daily lives and trying to make ends meet that they just pray day to day, trying to find that rice.”
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9 MONTAGE
Chipping away at the
Cuba rock
Politics keep embargo in place as president moves ahead with great caution
For local Democratic politician Joe Garcia, the U.S. trade embargo against Cuba is like a boulder in the middle of a farm field. “The farmer breaks the plow only once,” he said, “then he figures out he’s got to plow around the rock. He then chips away at the rock.” Garcia and other Miami experts on U.S.Cuba relations say President Barack Obama is attempting to ease relations between the two nations through gradual change rather than abrupt policy shifts. “It is clear that the policy has failed,” said Giancarlo Sopo, a Democratic strategist at Bendixen & Associates. “It has never worked because it is completely unilateral.” During the administration of former President George W. Bush, CubanAmericans could only travel to Cuba once every three years. In April, Obama changed the restriction to once a year. As more Cuban-Americans travel to Cuba, additional money will pour into the Cuban economy, based on purchases of hotel rooms and luxuries by U.S. visitors to the island. And Obama’s administration also is allowing U.S. telephone companies to expand into the Cuban market. Decisions by the Obama administration “have been criticized by hard-line antiCastro groups but praised by liberals,” said Juan Tamayo, a research associate at the University of Miami’s Institute for Cuban and Cuban-American Studies. A poll conducted in late 2008 by the Institute for Public Opinion Research at Florida International University found that only 21 percent of Cuban-Americans think the embargo is working. For the first time
States gives other countries, including Cuba, but many business people are opposing such a move. Many Cuban-Americans say they hope for a closer relationship with Cuba. But this will depend on how Cuba responds to Obama’s new policies, Sopo said. “U.S. policy lays the groundwork so that [Cuba] can determine its own government,” Sopo said, noting that Cuba’s past responses to liberalize relations have not always been positive. Garcia said Obama still supports the embargo as a political tool, but plans to “chip” away at existing policies to ease tensions with Cuba. Garcia, a former spokesman and executive director of the Cuban-American National Foundation, an influential voice of the Cuban exile community, was deeply involved in the Obama administration’s new Cuban initiatives. “Compromise is essential to politics and foreign relations,” Garcia said. Former Cuban President Fidel Castro has always blocked U.S. attempts at
negotiation. Cuban-Americans eager for openness are preoccupied with his health, speculating that his death may bring about change. “The embargo is a philosophical positioning, not a course of action,” Garcia said. “Cubans love it because they think it hurts Castro.” The embargo was first intended to bring down the Cuban government, but it has not succeeded. “The embargo does have an adverse effect on Cuba,” Sopo said, “but it is not to blame for its ailments.” Some of those ailments are prices of oil and food as well as import restrictions. In 2008, the price of oil and food imports increased dramatically while Cuban nickel exports weakened. The poor economic condition of Cuba has caused the country to cut its imports severely and delay payments to its creditors. The Cuban government also has imposed many restrictions on use of electricity. “If the embargo is lifted, there would no longer be an excuse for the economic situation that is currently in Cuba,” said John Virtue, director of the International Media Center at Florida International University. Both Sopo and Virtue say the embargo needs to be dealt with carefully to allow for negotiations. Many countries, including Venezuela, Spain and China, have resumed business with Cuba, but the U.S. embargo still creates significant tension in those trade relationships. Many people say the United States does not trade with Cuba at all, but in reality, Cuba can buy food if it pays in cash before delivery. John Block, former secretary of agriculture under former President Ronald Reagan, estimates that if the embargo were lifted, food sales would quadruple from $500 million to $2 billion per year. And, Tamayo said, that would be significant because Cuba imports about 70 percent of its food. With Obama’s approach, Sopo said, “the ball (is) in Cuba’s court.”
PEACE SULLIVAN/JAMES ANSIN HIGH SCHOOL WORKSHOP IN JOURNALISM AND NEW MEDIA SUMMER 2009
by Aimee Allen John I. Leonard High
in the nearly 20 years of the Cuba Poll, a majority, 79 percent, said that the embargo is not doing well. Fifty-five percent said they do not support continuing the embargo. In a poll conducted among young South Floridians, Miami Montage found that 71.1 percent thought the embargo was not doing well. Vast majorities of the youth also back the easing of travel restrictions and more than 65 percent said they would like to visit the island. The U.S. embargo, imposed in 1960 by former President Dwight D. Eisenhower, ended sugar purchases, stopped deliveries of oil to the country and extended the arms embargo that began in 1958. But the embargo does not affect exports of food and medicine. The United States’ current Cuban embargo, last revised by former President Bill Clinton in 1999, restricts U.S. companies from carrying out business with Cuba. Congress has proposed a reform bill that would initiate a plan for global development and evaluate the assistance that the United
MONTAGE 10
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Ivy League rushes Miami for best and brightest Recruits have mixed emotions about distance
PEACE SULLIVAN/JAMES ANSIN HIGH SCHOOL WORKSHOP IN JOURNALISM AND NEW MEDIA SUMMER 2009
by Juan Arevalo John A. Ferguson Senior High
When the Ivy League schools open their doors to the incoming freshman class, Carina De La Paz, Christian Vazquez, Kevin Montiel and Barbara Rassi will be among the increasing number of CubanAmerican students walking through them. But the Ivy League was once uncharted territory for CubanAmericans and other Hispanics, who often drop out before completing high school. In 2007, the Center for Labor Market Studies at Northeastern University in Boston reported that of the nearly 6.2 million people dropping out of high school, 27.5 percent were Hispanic. That has begun to change as the nation’s top universities continue to look for diverse, highachieving students through their recruitment processes. De La Paz, 18, who will attend Princeton University, has experienced this change personally. The Hialeah native graduated with honors from the School for Advanced Studies in Miami-Dade County as a National Hispanic Scholar. At Princeton, De La Paz will study international relations and pursue a career in diplomacy. She was approached by various universities eager to increase the diversity of their schools. “Some offered more money if I would go to their schools or offered to extend their registration deadlines,” De La Paz said, noting that some of her peers believe her admission was based only on affirmative action. “I’ve had people who go, ‘Oh, well, you only got in because you’re Hispanic,’ ” she said. “People assume that the only reason I got in was for diversity.” De La Paz said she is bothered that Hispanics were judged as a group rather than individuals with their own achievements. Montiel, 18, will attend Columbia University, which “rejoices in the fact that it has diversity.” He graduated second in
AIMEE ALLEN // Montage Staff
ivy’s triple threat: Kevin Montiel, Christian Vazquez and Barbara Rassi, all 18, were top students at Hialeah-Miami Lakes Senior High School; all are atending Ivy League schools this fall.
his class at Hialeah-Miami Lakes Senior High and will double major in neuroscience and behavior and statistics. When he applied to Columbia, Montiel doubted he would be accepted into such a prestigious school. “I was thinking ‘A kid from Hialeah ain’t getting into Columbia,’ ” he said. But like other Ivy League schools, Columbia competes for diverse students like Montiel. “There’s always going be an interest in minority students,” he said. While they remain eager to accept students from all backgrounds, Ivy League universities insist they have no set goals for accepting minority students. “We have no formal set of quotas,” said Jennifer Cleveland, the multicultural admissions coordinator at the University of Pennsylvania, another Ivy League school. Major recruiting efforts at Yale University have steadily increased the school’s enrollment of students of color, Dean of Admissions Jeffrey Brenzel said in an e-mail. Brenzel said Yale uses
“targeted mailings, regional information sessions, school visits, and special programs run in conjunction with local, community-based organizations or national college access-related organizations such as Questbridge and College Summit.” Yale has tapped into Miami’s Hispanic student market by accepting Vazquez, 18, another graduate of Hialeah-Miami Lakes Senior High. Vazquez, who graduated third in his class, experienced Yale’s convincing methods of recruitment after an information session at the Miami Museum of Science & Planetarium. “It got me to look more into the college,” Vazquez said. Hialeah High School, which is 90 percent Hispanic, has benefited from these methods. Schools such as Johns Hopkins University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology accepted 17 Hialeah High seniors last June. Many colleges have started similar endeavors to present Hispanic and Latino students with admissions and housing information while strongly encouraging them to apply. For Penn, these plans include
a multicultural diversity day, when students of different ethnicities gather at the university for an oncampus open house. David McCain, a Brown University alumnus who interviewed De La Paz for possible admission, said her recruitment was an example of Brown’s attempts to attract the best and brightest students, regardless of race or need. “I was a ‘financial aid farmer,’ ” McCain said. “Some think that people who go to Brown are wellto-do people with old money, and that’s not true.” Many Ivy League colleges now offer full tuition to families with parents whose combined incomes are less than $60,000. While most families focus on the financial issue when choosing the right college, Cuban-American parents use location as a deciding factor. Cuban families are known to be tight-knit; colleges have had to deal with the cultural, gravitational pull of South Florida and Cuba. Rassi, 18, the HialeahMiami Lakes class valedictorian, attributes much of her academic success to her parents, who taught her hard work and Christian
values, although at times they could be overprotective. She will be studying government at Harvard University. “My single, biggest obstacle was getting my family to accept the fact that I was going away for college,” Rassi said. During a visit to campus, she met Cuban-Americans with the problem of having to choose between a state school and Harvard because their families were uncomfortable with the distance. Nonetheless, Rassi believes that the “Cuban-American population among the Ivy League is growing.” Vazquez, on the other hand, toured Yale’s multicultural house and noticed the school had a small number of Cuban-American students. Both of Montiel’s parents are hesitant about letting their son study far from home. “(My parents ask) ‘Why are you going so far?’” Montiel said. “It’s one thing they can’t get across their mind. My parents don’t like it, but they accept it.” He credits some of his success to his father, who was unable to finish his education in Cuba because he was arrested for distributing propaganda that opposed Fidel Castro. Soon after, he was threatened with death and later exiled from the island while still in high school. Thirty years later, he was able to get an education in Florida. Montiel feels that his father’s resentment toward Cuba was the reason for his focus on his son’s education. De La Paz’s parents were also focused on her academics. “My parents saw education as very important,” De La Paz said. “There was definitely a sense of education being valuable. My family has done everything to make it easier for me. (They say) if you need something, we’re going to sacrifice ourselves.” Their sacrifice is as evident as the orgullo (pride in Spanish) they have for their college-bound daughter. De La Paz recalls her father’s reaction when she received her acceptance letter online: “I ran downstairs and told my dad and he looked up and said, ‘Thank you, God!’”
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11 MONTAGE
CHE GUEVARA Capitalist T-shirts put him back in the eye of the storm by stephanie lopez Miami Lakes Educational Center
stephanie lopez // Montage Staff
TWO FACES OF CHE: Pablo Suarez shows his disdain for Che Guevara with a shirt that reads, “assesino,” while Moses DeVeaux displays reverence for the revolutionary icon. “We can in no way accept that my father should appear on women’s underwear or men’s underwear or that it should be on the back pocket of a pair of jeans or that they use it as a commercial image for a pair of glasses,” Aleida Guevara told a British newspaper in 2003. “We think that is lacking in respect and we won’t accept that.” “The media and Hollywood, as well as many popular music bands, promote Che Guevara,” said Pablo Antonio Suarez, 20, a sophomore at Miami Dade College and the son of Cuban exiles. “I think most teens that wear Che shirts are greatly misinformed,” Suarez said. “As a Cuban-American who knows the ‘true’ Che, it is in my opinion that Che was a coward, and despite being claimed by many as a visionary guerilla leader, he died as a coward hiding out in the mountains of Bolivia,” he said. Guevara died in the Bolivian
mountains in 1967, where he had gone to help lead another revolution. David Muñoz, 16, a Hialeah Miami Lakes Senior High junior
This includes T-shirts that depict Guevara himself wearing a Che T-shirt and others that
“
. . . I think that his values, and the ideas he fought for, are admirable. – Joseph Coto, Miami Beach Senior High
of European-Colombian descent, said he had to burn his Che T-shirt after a fight erupted at church when he wore it. “My mom wanted me to dispose of it,” he said The fad has inspired other kinds of shirts that satirize the novelty of Guevara as a T-shirt icon.
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Che Guevara
have the phrase “cliché” printed underneath his picture. Other teenagers wear Che T-shirt because they admire Guevara and the romanticism of revolution. “I know that Che gets a lot of flak regarding his ties to communism and such, but I think that his values, and the ideas he
PEACE SULLIVAN/JAMES ANSIN HIGH SCHOOL WORKSHOP IN JOURNALISM AND NEW MEDIA SUMMER 2009
When the trouble started, Moses DeVeaux was sitting with some friends wearing a Che Guevara hat backwards. Someone said he was “supporting a communist and murderer.” “I said, ‘dude, it’s nothing like that,’ ” said DeVeaux, 17, a Hialeah Miami Lakes Senior High senior of Bahamian descent. “ He didn’t want to listen to what I said and he pushed me, and I got up and punched him.” For some, Ernesto “Che” Guevara was a rebel, revolutionary and hero who tried to bring about social, economic and political change in many countries throughout Latin America. To others, the Argentine doctor, was a monster in Fidel Castro’s years-long battle to oust dictator Fulgencio Batista. When the revolutionaaries took power in 1959, Guevara was commandante in charge of La Cabaña, a fortress in the Havana harbor where hundreds of executions took place. Che T-shirts have been made popular by celebrities like Madonna, Johnny Depp, Gisele Bündchen, and Jay-Z, and the release of movies like “The Motorcycle Diaries,” starring Gael García Bernal, and another titled “Che,” starring Benecio Del Toro. The popularity of the shirts is increasingly adding to the conflict between Cuban-American teens and older Cuban exiles in Miami. According to the Havana Journal news site, the exclusive rights of the 1960-era, black-andwhite line image of Guevara’s face were purchased by David Williams, corporate executive officer of Fashion Victim, a screen printing company. A substantial portion of Fashion Victim’s $4 million to $5 million annual sales come from Che merchandise, the Journal reported. But even Guevara’s daughter objected.
fought for, are admirable,” said Joseph Coto, 16, a junior at Miami Beach Senior High School, and the grandson of a Cuban exile. Those teens are at odds with another group of teens who oppose Guevara, his actions and principles. Anti-Che teens wear T-shirts that show Guevara in a different light, some portraying his image, reading “Murders Aren’t Martyrs” and “Assassin.” Suarez owns several anti-Che shirts. “These shirts are very controversial, but it is my firm belief that when I wear them, I am making the right statement against this man. I get many compliments when I wear these,” Suarez said. Anti-Che teens are the Cuban-American children and grandchildren of older Cuban exiles. “My parents fled their homeland because of the oppressive actions that Fidel Castro and Che implemented in their revolution,” Suarez said. “Generally, older people, especially Cubans, look upon the symbol of Che negatively,” Coto said. “I know my grandfather, a Cuban native, would attack me for wearing the shirt, which is why I have never worn it near him.” Miriam Perez, 69, a Cuban exile, said she would not like it if her grandson was wearing a Che T-shirt; she would ask him to take it off. “The ones who don’t know anything about (Che) are the young people,” said Perez, in an interview conducted in Spanish. “They’re the ones who are wearing the shirts and propagandizing communism.” DeVeaux says he feels that people should stick to their beliefs. “I’ve had people actually scream at me, saying ‘Why are you wearing that murderer?’ ” he said. “I’ve had people tell me, ‘Do you even know what that means?’ and then I’ve had (people in) cars honk at me and say, ‘Yeah, keep the revolution strong,’ ”
MONTAGE 12
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Culture clash: chonga From YouTube to Hialeah streets, a new rebellion creates a roar by Jessica Moulite North Miami Beach Senior High
PEACE SULLIVAN/JAMES ANSIN HIGH SCHOOL WORKSHOP IN JOURNALISM AND NEW MEDIA SUMMER 2009
( Hurr12 )
In 2007, chongas jiggled their way into American pop culture, when the “Chongalicious” music video hit YouTube. Inspired by Fergie’s “Fergalicious,” the song drew 4 million hits in two years and made Internet stars of Mimi Davila and Laura DiLorenzo of Aventura. In the video, they rap about wearing Brazilian jeans, brightly colored pants made of Spandex to accentuate the thighs, hips and behind. UrbanDictionary.com defines chonga as “a Hispanic girl from Miami, Florida, who expresses a desire or regard as ghetto through her form of dress and speech.” The chongas have developed a culture of their own by mixing traditional Cuban roots and the urban American lifestyle into one. Some people, of course, may see that as “inappropriate and trashy.” Chongas are one more instantly recognizable hybrid of two cultures that are cross-breeding in the favorable climate that the Obama administration is creating by thawing relations between two long-hostile nations. “A lot of girls who are chongas are less assimilated. These girls have recently arrived from Cuba,” said Myra Mendible, a professor at Florida Gulf Coast University who specializes in Latina culture and the Latina body in pop culture. Other songs about chongas have also entered the mainstream, like “I’m in Love With a Chonga” by The Chongas featuring the Act Up Boys, and “I Love Chongas” by KC Chopz. “The reason ‘Chongalicious’ is so funny is because it’s true about how chongas dress and look,” said 17-year-old senior and “reformed” chonga Anaily Pedraza from North Miami Beach Senior High School. “They have lots of lip liner, super long acrylic nails, belts with
their names on them, anything super tight, their stomach showing no matter how much muffin top they have, Chinese slippers, fake eyelashes and five billion piercings.” Even though “the clothes were uncomfortable and stupid,” Pedraza said she became a chonga because everybody else was doing it. Perhaps, but they definitely intend to send a message. Chongas “think guys are very visual, so they dress the part to get the attention,” said 18-yearold Lauren Lopez, a Florida International University freshman who grew up in Hialeah.
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“Once the video [‘Chongalicious’] got out, everyone wanted to do it,” she said. “When fashion changes, so does what people think. “ Although some teenagers agree that the media play a role in this phenomenon, others believe that peer pressure drives the look. Chongas are both trying to fit in and stand out, according to Elena Ruiz, a Latin-American philosophy professor at Florida Gulf Coast University. “Since South Florida has a large Cuban community, a number of chongas dress the way they do to be distinct,” Ruiz said. “For example, goths wear black to stand
Chongalicious definition, arch my eyebrows high. They always starin’ at my booty and my panty line. You could see me, you could read me, ‘cause my name is on my earrings. – YouTube song “Chongalicious,”
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uVHdqmN7-XE It may not always be the attention they want. “It’s not attractive. It’s disoriented,” said Lazaro Vaquez, a Cuban-American 17-year-old senior at Coral Gables High School. Chongas are not always seen as desirable to their male counterparts, said Vaquez, noting that he has never dated a chonga and doubts he ever will. Lopez believes some teens become chongas because of the media attention.
out and be different, but in reality they aren’t that unique because there are so many of them.” Pedraza explains how she thinks it all started. “I think one girl wanted to wear clothes like a chonga and her friends did and more friends and everyone became one. I guess chongas want to look a certain way but it doesn’t mean they look good.” Lopez says that while dressing like a chonga may look like a form of rebellion, it’s not
Jeeyoon kim // Montage Staff
an extreme one like vandalism or criminal mischief. “It’s not like they’re out robbing places,” Lopez said. “It’s just how they dress.” Ruiz said it’s hard to say whether they’re rebelling. “I think they’re doing this all semi-unconsciously,” she said. “What’s a 13-year-old rebelling about? They’re ‘supposed’ to be that way, in their opinion.” By dressing the way they do, they defiantly conform to a stereotype that results in prejudice from people who don’t understand them. “People love to label others and we like to treat people on the basis of what we see. When we need to understand them, we make up phrases to describe them,” Ruiz
said. Pedraza and Ruiz both think these girls are going through a phase. Ruiz believes that it’s one that will continue to fascinate the nation. “They’re just trying ‘to be’,” she said. “Just like everyone else.”
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Cuban-American teens adapting family traditions to suit their needs by Bianca Cassouto Miami Beach Senior High
As a little girl, Carina De La Paz never wanted to have a quince to celebrate her 15th birthday. She did not want the big flowing gown, the ballroom filled with decorations, the music, the crying parents. For some girls, the dream
of having a quinceañera is not as appealing as it used to be. Many young Cuban-Americans are moving away from common traditions such as eating Cuban food, speaking Spanish, dancing salsa, attending church and dating only within the Cuban community. “I went to my cousin’s quince and realized that the party was for everyone but her,” De La Paz, 18, said. “She spent more than half the night kissing ever yone on the
Photo: jeeyoon kim // Montage Staff
Americans are moving away from. Several young Cuban-Americans do not know how to speak Spanish, affecting relationships within the family. “My Cuban relatives mostly speak Spanish, so we do not communicate much,” Madrigal said. The household situation for Adriana Chait, 16, a CubanAmerican junior at Miami Beach Senior High, differs. “My mom says that whoever does not speak Spanish in her home doesn’t eat,” she said. “I surely don’t starve at home.” “It’s just not, and never was, an option for Adriana not to speak Spanish,” said Magaly Chait, a 50-year-old bookkeeper who works from home. “It would be unacceptable.” Not only are there differences between the young CubanAmericans and their Cuban relatives, but the teens themselves disagree. Madrigal can tolerate some Cuban food but does not enjoy it much because it is composed of “mostly starches and lard.” Her parents, on the other hand, like to eat vaca frita, Cuban shredded beef, and caldo gallego, Spanish Galician soup, typical Cuban food. Daniel Mejido, 18, a graduate of Miami Beach Senior High who will attend Cornell University, said he does not care about the nutritional value of Cuban food. He says the food is a main part of his culture and he loves it. “Learning to cook is a must in a Cuban family,” Mejido said. Dancing salsa plays a large role in Cuban culture. The loud music, swift foot movement and nonstop arm swinging set the scene for a traditional Cuban party. Chait claims to have the rhythm because she is Hispanic; Mejido claims to dance “a mean Salsa”; and Madrigal asserts that she does not know how to dance at all. “I do not want to learn how to dance t o
Cuban traditional music,” Madrigal said. “I do not feel that it would accomplish anything.” Additionally, religion has become a contentious topic for some young Cuban-Americans. “I’m not devout, though older generations of my family are,” Mejido said. “I just pray along to avoid problems within the family.” Besides situations in which the Cuban-American youth disagree with older generations, there are also cases in which the parents themselves are not religiously affiliated and therefore do not enforce it. The topic of relationships does not bring much concern in Mejido’s family. “My family has been pretty slack about dating,” Mejido said. “They prefer I date someone of Cuban origin but don’t really care.” Chait’s family also does not have any problems with dating someone outside the Cuban community. “They don’t care what nationality or race my significant other is,” she said. “They care more about morals and how the individual carries himself.’’ Cuban-American teens, like Chait, are taking old traditions and giving them a modern twist. Modern celebrations of old traditions are becoming more commonplace with South Florida teens. Several cruise-ship lines offer “Quince Cruises” for girls to celebrate with their family and friends on the high seas. Many girls celebrate their 15th birthday together in one night but are each given individual attention throughout the evening. “There were about 20 girls in total and most of them were from Miami,” Chait said. “We spent time on a seven-day cruise together and there’d be a photographer and cameraman going around at the ports and around the ship.” Generations within CubanAmerican families are learning to live together and adapt to social changes. “My parents don’t mind the American lifestyle,” Mejido said. “They have their complaints like any other parent would, but they let me be. They’ve come to terms with that fact that lifestyles and society change with time.”
PEACE SULLIVAN/JAMES ANSIN HIGH SCHOOL WORKSHOP IN JOURNALISM AND NEW MEDIA SUMMER 2009
cheek. She didn’t get to enjoy it fully.” Instead of having a quince as her mother, grandmother, aunts and cousin did, De La Paz took a twoweek Mediterranean cruise, with stops in Italy, Greece and Croatia. She made this choice, she said, because she would rather spend money for an experience than a party. Danielle Madrigal, 17, a senior at Miami Beach Senior High and second-generation CubanAmerican, agrees. “I found it completely ridiculous and a big waste of money,” Madrigal said. Madrigal said she believes that because she was brought up in a more “Americanized” environment, she did not feel the need to have a quince. Her mother did not have a quince, either. At a young age, Madrigal became fluent in Spanish. She now does not use the language, and has mostly forgotten it. Her father is the only member of the family of four who still speaks Spanish and uses it at home. Beliefs such as De La Paz’s and Madrigal’s are not rare. It is not only quinces that young Cuban-
13 MONTAGE
as, quinces and Cuba
MONTAGE 14
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Cuba’s black-market news Stealth training aids journalists by EMMA SINGER Coral Reef Senior High
PEACE SULLIVAN/JAMES ANSIN HIGH SCHOOL WORKSHOP IN JOURNALISM AND NEW MEDIA SUMMER 2009
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Claudia Marquez began writing about the Castro government at 27. The government took notice and threatened to send her 7-year-old son to a corrections facility, not an unusually harsh penalty for independent journalists in Cuba. Some face imprisonment and exile as a result of their work. Marquez was a stateemployed secretary at the time; she had no formal training in journalism. Yet her writings had reached such a large audience that she had been profiled in The New York Times. Her writing appeared in American newspapers such as the San Antonio Express-News, as well as in the independent Cuban publication De Cuba. But Marquez has stopped writing. Her dissident husband is in prison, and she wanted to protect her son from government harassment. When she was nominated for a prestigious journalism award, she declined in order to protect her family. Marquez learned the trade of journalism surreptitiously, under the guidance of John Virtue, the director of the International Media Center at Florida International University. Virtue has trained more than 2,000 journalists in Latin America the past 10 years. Twohundred of them are now working independently in Cuba. “A lot of these journalists were housewives, lawyers, farmers, even a train engineer,” Virtue said. Virtue has the aid of the U.S. Agency for International Development. In 2003, after the arrest of 22 of Virtue’s students in Cuba, USAID awarded Virtue’s center an $890,000 grant. Since then, his center has obtained additional USAID funding. In Cuba, a journalist may face prison simply for disrespecting the government. Such is the case of Du Bouchet Hernandez, who was sentenced to three years on May 14, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists. Reporters Without Borders says that at least 23 journalists are being held in Cuban prisons. Some
have been incarcerated simply for daring to disagree with the status quo. Nineteen of these journalists are in their seventh year in prison. Virtue said journalistic training in Cuba is inadequate. To become an official or staterecognized journalist in Cuba, citizens need to pass through a series of government inspections to ensure that they are not affiliated with any independent or antigovernment groups. No one can become a Cuban journalist if any family members have ever participated in an antiCastro demonstration, or are suspected of being disloyal. All major newspapers in Cuba are government owned and run. Cuban news idealizes all decisions made by the Castro government, and criticizes and exaggerates American problems. The main newspaper in Cuba, Granma, has printed headlines that epitomize the paper’s bias. Some headlines from the past month include: “Tens of Thousands of People Die Each Year in the United States from Lack of Medical Attention,” “Our Defense is Much Stronger,” and “Thank You, Fidel, Thank You, Cuba.” Journalists are not permitted to criticize the government or write about topics the Castro government wants kept quiet. For that reason, any journalist who wishes to function independently of the government is unable to receive training. This is where Virtue’s program becomes vital. “I owe Fidel Castro a great debt of gratitude for providing me with a career,” Virtue said. Virtue strives to educate as many writers as possible but needs to exercise extreme caution. For that reason, Virtue’s lessons need to be conducted over long distance, or in a highly discreet manner, so as not to provoke harrassment. A native of Canada, Virtue can access areas in Cuba off limits to Americans and those with connections to American press organizations. In order to send his students information packets and lessons, Virtue must ship the packets first to his contacts in Canada. From there, they are forwarded to Virtue’s students in Cuba. However, writers do defy the government. In fact, Cuban blogger Yoani Sanchez was listed as one of Time magazine’s 100 Most Influential People in the
Photo courtesy of John virtue
A LIFE WITH CASTRO: A young John Virtue covers Cuba in the 1960s. Today, he spends his time training upstart independent journalists who must circumvent suppression on the island. World in 2008. Sanchez’s blog, Generacion Y, has gained such an international following – the site is translated into 17 languages – that the Cuban government appears to be hesitant to shut her down. She has said she created this blog to allow herself and other oppressed writers to publish their work. “The Cuban government so fears a free press that it will harass individual, independent writers,” Virtue said. The government confiscates pens and unused note pads from independent writers in an attempt to stop the flow of information, Virtue said. In response, the International Media Center has been sending
shipments of reporter’s pads and pens into Cuba. The situation may be changing for independent journalists as a result of two main factors. In April, President Barack Obama authorized U.S. telecommunication companies to provide satellite connections and fiber-optic cables for the first time. Also, a leadership transition is taking place, as Raul Castro, unanimously voted into presidency in February, is slowly taking over for Fidel. “Raul Castro seems to have a more open idea about the way national Cubans can cover their own issues, in particular criticisms of government,” said Tala Dowlatshahi, a representative
of Reporters Without Borders. “Dissident journalists have been searching for protection, and this may provide their shield.” Giancarlo Sopo, a Democratic strategist at Bendixen and Associates, agrees. “Increased communication brings freedom,” Sopo said, speaking of Obama’s new telecommunications policy. While Dowlatshahi and Sopo are optimistic about the potential for improvements in Cuba, there are those who are less sanguine. Vanessa Lopez, a research associate at University of Miami’s Institute for Cuba and CubanAmerican Studies, says, “As long as there is a Castro in government, Cuba will not be changing.”
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15 MONTAGE
Students eager to travel to Cuba Humanitarian groups await permission from government to resume trips to island after hiatus by Maia Pineiro Dr. Michael M. Krop High
aimee allen // Montage Staff
READY TO TRAVEL: Agencies such as Marbella Travel and Immigration, located in Hialeah, specialize in booking travel to Cuba. Agencies are gearing up for more demand as travel restrictions are eased.
“On the tourism side, it was like Hollywood,” he said. “You could get everything in the hotels, but outside there was no food. When you go out there you see only poverty.” His daughter, 18-year-old Natalia Noguera, also noticed the difference between the two areas. “(In) the hotels, the people from Cuba are dressed pretty,” she said. “It’s perfect, but fake perfect.” Students visit Cuba for many reasons. Some are second- or third-generation Cubans, while others are simply curious to see it. Students interested in the environment go to observe the island’s nature, preserved by isolation. Canadian students who travel to Cuba typically do so with their families or with educational and humanitarian groups. They explore the island through their own interests, which vary from photography to environmental studies. One such group is the PhotoCuba! Workshop. Every year since February 2005, this group has gone to photograph “the real people of Cuba” for a week.
“(Cuba) is a place where people have been so open to having their picture taken,” said Trina Koster, director of PhotoCuba! Workshop. “I’ve never been anywhere people have been so inviting.” There’s a variety of age groups who go, ranging from 16 year olds and 18 year olds to retirees. Seventy-year-old Darlene Lamb from Guelph, Canada, has traveled to Cuba twice with the PhotoCuba! Workshop. “The Cuban people are probably the highlight,” Lamb said. “They share (food) with us even though they don’t have enough themselves.” Visitors to Cuba may take one extra suitcase. Lamb and those who go on the trip take the extra luggage with art supplies, shoes and hygiene products. “(Cubans) are so used to not having anything that even if you just give them a toothbrush, they just smile and say thank you, thank you, thank you, gracias!” Lamb said, “It’s kind of sad on our part because we have everything and they don’t.” The American human rights organization Global Exchange also hopes to resume sending students to Cuba. Global
Exchange Reality Tours continues to send professionals to Cuba. But Reality Tours director Malia Everette said students have not been sent since January 1, 2004, after the Bush administration changed the travel policy. “Graduates want to learn about AfroCubans (but) like (high school students) don’t have the constitutional right to travel to Cuba,” Everette said. In 2003, 500 students went to Cuba with various groups. Most trips lasted 10 days. “You should have the right to see it for yourself,” Everette said. “(They) go and learn about an issue or learn about a theme while they’re there.” Visits on these trips are set up so that students may see primary and secondary schools. The tour starts in Havana and moves around to different provinces. Everette said Obama has not done enough. “He’s changed travel restrictions for those with family, but what about all the other people?” she says. “Cuba’s not a national security threat. It’s time to think of new ways to engage Cuba.”
PEACE SULLIVAN/JAMES ANSIN HIGH SCHOOL WORKSHOP IN JOURNALISM AND NEW MEDIA SUMMER 2009
The last time Craig Heller sent students to Cuba, Bill Clinton was president. With President Barack Obama starting to ease travel restrictions, Cuba is back on Heller’s mind. Obama announced in April that the United States would loosen rules on travel to Cuba for family members. While travel restrictions haven’t changed for humanitarian groups, there are indications that Obama may reevaluate those, too. That has Heller, executive director of Fort Meyers-based Global Community Engagement, and other non-profit groups, eying future trips to the island. Heller hopes to take Florida high school students to Cuba in the near future. In 1999, Heller sent University of Georgia students to Cuba, where they went to concerts and museums and met with other students and learned about language and culture. The trip would offer another perspective on the situation in Cuba. Students would get to see the positive and negative aspects of a communist country. Global Community Engagement has a group registered to go but is involved in the long process to get permission. The organization sponsors humanitarian projects during spring break, taking middle school, high school and college students to the Dominican Republic to help children. Heller said Cuba is strict about who foreign volunteers can help when they go there. For the first time, he plans to travel with the high school group because he wants to see Cuba before Fidel and Raul Castro die. Because Cuba has a communist political system and ideology, it’s difficult to get a realistic picture of life on the island. “It’s crucial that young people understand that there is more than one perspective to seeing things,” Heller said. Tourists who visit Cuba are likely to stay in the area where hotels are located while residents generally live outside. “You never hear about the other part of what’s going on in Cuba,” he said. Juan Pablo Noguera, 46, from Puerto Rico, took his family to Cuba 11 years ago with the goal to see the firsthand story and not the media story.
MONTAGE 16
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Haitian-American teens share Cuba’s pain History, geography bind their cultures, despite the wet foot/ dry foot policy
PEACE SULLIVAN/JAMES ANSIN HIGH SCHOOL WORKSHOP IN JOURNALISM AND NEW MEDIA SUMMER 2009
by Andrea O’Neal Alexander W. Dreyfoos School of the Arts
McNell Francois is a 17-year-old senior from North Miami Beach Senior High School who is Haitian American. He doesn’t eat cats. “If I tell someone I’m Haitian, the first thing they ask me is what I eat,” Francois said. He eats rice and beans, a common food in Haiti. It is also a common food in Cuba. His story is personal, but it reflects some Haitian-Americans’ larger feelings that their country is treated differently from Cuba by the United States, even though the two are Caribbean neighbors close to the U.S. coast. While President Barack Obama has made headlines by reaching out to Havana, some Haitian-Americans feel that Haiti, the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, deserves more attention. Some say the United States doesn’t pay closer attention because Haiti doesn’t, like Cuba, have a long-time stake in a geopolitical struggle, nor does it have valuable natural resources like oil. “Haiti has been exploited by the U.S. so long that there is nothing to take,” said Venelle Jasmin, a 16-year-old HaitianAmerican junior at Alexander W. Dreyfoos Jr. School of the Arts. “The U.S. doesn’t do anything without a [reason]. Cuba will give the U.S. more to gain.” According to the American Friends Service Committee, a Quaker organization, the United States has been involved in Haiti “for more than 200 years, engaging in the very worst of discrimination, intervention, violence and exploitation, as well as very positive and life-giving actions at times.” Despite the “positive and life-giving actions” and the recent appointment of former President Bill Clinton as the U.N. representative to Haiti, some young HaitianAmericans are angry at the way the United States treats Haiti. “There is never any relief effort for Haiti,” Francois said. “There is always some Cuban rally.” Many Haitian-Americans feel that the so-called wet foot/dry foot policy is at the root of the problem, because it allows Cubans to enter the United States more easily. Under the policy, Cubans can enter the United States if they touch American soil. However, Haitians who arrive without proper visa are deported. The Obama administration recently indicated that the United States would continue to deport Haitians caught at land or sea.
Daniela lazo cedrÉ // Montage Staff
RIDING HIGH: Due to similar living conditions, Haitian-American teens can relate to their counterparts in Cuba. “The policy is really not fair,” said Michelle Simon, a 17-year-old HaitianAmerican senior at North Miami Beach Senior High School. “If I grew up in Haiti and faced hardships, I would be kind of envious and upset.” Gregory Louis, a Haitian-American junior from William T. Dwyer High School,
“
No one should be treated the way they are.
– Michelle Simon, Haitian-American senior, North Miami Beach Senior High
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said the reasons behind the wet foot/dry foot policy are complex. “It’s a two-fold thing,” the 15-year-old said. “First of all, communism is America’s enemy.” The second factor, he said, is race. Haitian activists say the American government treats undocumented Haitians
and Cubans differently because Cubans are considered political refugees and Haitians are considered people fleeing economic distress. The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service of the Department of Homeland Security decides whether Cubans who have reached American soil have “a well founded fear of persecution” and are eligible for asylum in the United States or a third country. No such policy exists for Haitians; all Haitians who enter the United States illegally are forcibly returned. Joe Garcia, Obama’s nominee for director of the Office of Economic Impact and Diversity for the U.S. Department of Energy, says the policy doesn’t force Cubans to prove that they’re refugees if they have been in America for a year and a day. One reason that some Haitians are unsympathetic toward Cuba has to do with the state of Haiti’s education and healthcare system. It remains inferior to Cuba’s system, which is now deteriorating. “Cubans are often better educated than Haitians,” historian Frances Peace Sullivan said in an e-mail interview. “[Cubans] come to the U.S. with more ‘social capital’ than Haitians…the distinctions there might cause a tremendous
discrepancy between employability” and other matters. In Miami, Haitians don’t have much social capital, which means they don’t necessarily have the relationships needed to affect change for their community. “Anywhere Haitians go they feel that they’re undesirable,” said Gerald JeanBaptiste, a 19-year-old sophomore at New York University who is Haitian-American. “A large percentage of Haitians that go to [other] countries are poor. They have nothing to bring to the table.” Some young Haitian-Americans, like Simon, recognize that both Haitians and Cubans are disadvantaged. She has sympathy for the plight of Cubans. “No one should be treated the way they are,” Simon said. “In Cuba you have no say. I think it’s sad.” Francesca de Castro, a 17-year-old freshman at St. John’s University in New York, has a unique perspective. She is of Haitian and Cuban descent, and says both groups face long odds in their respective countries. “It’s just as hard to be Cuban as it is Haitian.”
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17 MONTAGE
¿Que bola acere? What’s up? New language redefines culture for youth, upsets older generation by Kevin Bertrand Palm Beach Central High
LAUREN BEHAR // Montage Staff
SPANISH SLANG: Due to the influences of Spanish rappers like Los Primeros, the Spanish language has diversified into today’s version of “Espanglish.” In many cases, the level of Spanish is shaped by how parents rear their children. “In some homes the Spanish is better in the newer generation than in the previous,” Trelles said. “There are so many Spanish speakers plus a constant wave of immigrants coming in, that the Spanish is still strong.” That’s not always the case. In fact, some Cuban-Americans don’t speak any Spanish. Jon Rukes, 16, a junior at West Boca High School, is among them and he experiences problems as a result. To communicate with his grandmother, he has to have his mom translate. That bothers Rukes. “I think it’s a shame, because we’ll never really be as close as we would be had we shared a common language,” Rukes said. It’s a shame for kids not
to know Spanish, says Barbara “Carina” de la Paz, 18, who recently graduated from the School
“
not learned Spanish, she wouldn’t be able to talk to her family. She describes her own Spanish
Spanish has changed a lot because they (teens) speak it very poorly. – Marta Guerra Cuban-American grandmother in Miami
”
for Advanced Studies at Miami Dade College. “The kids could be more cultural by being bilingual,” she said. De la Paz says that if she had
as “archaic,” because she learned it from her grandmother. She calls it “grandma Spanish.” Her parents also forced her to speak Spanish. Once when her dad
asked a question in Spanish and de la Paz answered in English, her dad said, “Why did you answer in English? I didn’t ask you in English.” For Nicole Martinez, 19, Spanish was her first language. “It’s hard to understand how a Cuban family wouldn’t teach their kids Spanish,” said Martinez, a student at Florida International University. Spanish was encouraged by her family, and when she spoke incorrectly, her grandparents corrected her. Similarly, grandparents may misunderstand when teens use slang, but that probably won’t stop the language from shifting. Aunque no le cuadre a los abuelos (Even though grandparents don’t like it) y parezca algo fula, (and feel it’s annoying) a la juventud le parece que todo está en talla (the youth feel there is nothing wrong with it.)
PEACE SULLIVAN/JAMES ANSIN HIGH SCHOOL WORKSHOP IN JOURNALISM AND NEW MEDIA SUMMER 2009
Say mariposa to a Cuban grandmother and chances are, she’ll think of a butterfly. To a teen, it’s slang intended as an insult to a gay person. Spanish is shifting, especially in Miami, where Cubans have transformed the language into a new one by introducing slang: Dale, broder (Go for it, bro), ¿Que bola acere? (What’s up?), ¡Oye, meng! (Hey, man), ¿Donde está la guagua? (Where is the bus?), and more. As a result, some teenagers struggle to converse with Spanishspeaking family in their native tongue. “The first generation has proper Spaniard European Spanish,” said Emma Trelles, a Cuban-American poet. By contrast, she said, the younger generation has made up words like frisando (freezing) that grandparents don’t relate to. Some of the change for young Cuban-Americans is being driven by Cuban-American rap artists such as Los Primeros. In a group interview, the rappers said their Spanish is “more modernized,” mixing in English to create a new language they called “Espanglish.” The musicians say they use this mixture to create slang that reaches out to the younger generation. Younger Cuban-Americans even change the language in ways that might upset their grandparents. “The Spanish has changed a lot because they (teens) speak it very poorly,” Marta Guerra, a Cuban-American grandmother in Miami, said in a Spanish interview. “(Even) people that come from Cuba speak very badly. I can’t understand them.” “The young people speak English all day and they do not practice the Spanish.” Trelles said she believes the changing language is not a result of the generation gap.
MONTAGE 18
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Through the looking glass A glimpse into the lives of Cuban teens living in Havana
PEACE SULLIVAN/JAMES ANSIN HIGH SCHOOL WORKSHOP IN JOURNALISM AND NEW MEDIA SUMMER 2009
by Amilynn Soto Felix Varela Senior High
Stephanie Rosell blended into a crowd of white-collared uniform shirts and short yellow skirts. She was graduating from the ninth grade at Conservatorio Alejandro Garcia Carturla and saying goodbye to her classmates in Havana, Cuba. They had been very close for the past four years. “We signed each other’s uniforms before leaving,” Rosell said in Spanish. “Everyone got along at school and so we all started to cry.” Like her peers, she feels unprepared and is not looking forward to high school, where professors will replace the classroom television screens that taught her and classmates for years. The Cuban school system, once hidden, will now be subject to the eyes of Americans, as President Obama’s travel policies open relations with the communist nation. On the island, many teachers have left for better paying professions and televised classes are taking over the classrooms. Students feel teachers are more like babysitters than teachers. “I don’t like school,” Rosell said. “No one cares about anything.” Like Americans going through a period of teen angst, what kept Rosell going was participating in the music program with 50 other students in her middle school. She is now awaiting acceptance into the Escuela Nacional de Arte, one of the only art schools in Cuba. “I hope I got accepted so that I can continue to study the violin at the high school level and then later study at the university level at the Instituto Superior de Arte, which is the only art university here in Cuba,” she said. “I want to be part of a jazz group when I grow up.” Rosell is unlike most Cubans teens reared as atheists. She is a
COURTESY ricardo rosell
LIFE IN FOCUS: Stephanie Rosell, 14, sits on the most well-known emblem of Cuba, El Malecon, with her violin. practicing Baptist and feels God is an important element in her life. On Sunday, while people on the island are going about their day, Rosell goes to church at Iglesia Bautista de El Cerro, where her father is pastor. She also participates in a Saturday church program that focuses mainly on youth problems in Cuba, and frequents casas culto, worship services held at church members’ houses. Casas culto emerged as a result of limited places of worship due to the growing population of evangelical Christians. Rosell attends these often with other teens as they pray, sing and discuss religious topics. Most teens in Cuba are not reared with religious beliefs and so they find other outlets of expression in art and music. Yet unlike in Miami, the options are limited because of the lack of entertainment venues.
One of the only well-known teen hang-outs in Havana is El Parque G (G Park), a place where rockeros (rockers) listen to metal music over loud speakers as others stand near the park filled with tiny trees. “Some people even make engravings on the bark, such as hearts and initials,” Naivi Texier said in Spanish. The 14-year-old immigrated to the United States two months ago. When she lived in Havana, Texier’s friends went to Discoteca Ticoa, a club where teens go to dance salsa and reggaeton. As in Miami, where reggaeton is one of the most popular forms of music, the majority of Cuban teens listen to local reggaeton groups from Havana, such as Baby Loren y El Chacal and Clan 537. Music from more popular artists, such as Daddy Yankee and Wisin y Yandel, can also be heard from iPods and radios on the streets.
“I don’t really like these groups much because their lyrics are very offensive,” Texier said. “In Cuba, many teens love it because they don’t care that the songs have bad words as long as it has a good rhythm.” In Cuba, Texier always wanted a $180 iPod and an $80 pair of Converse sneakers, but in order for her father to afford that, he would have to forgo his salaries for a year and a half. “The money we had was mainly for food and basic stuff,” Texier said. “Only people who received money regularly from family in la Yuma (U.S.) could get them. My parents would’ve never been able to afford an $80 pair of shoes.” It was not until Texier moved to the United States two months ago that she bought her first pair of Converse sneakers. She wears them almost every day. When watching movies at her
local Muvico 14 theatre in Hialeah, Texier remembers the dubbed versions of “Ice Age” and “Harry Potter” she watched in Cuba. “My favorite movie is ‘The Devil Wears Prada’,” Texier said. “I love all the different clothes Hathaway would wear and all the different things she had to do,” she said, wearing a white Aeropostale top and an Old Navy patterned skirt she bought one month after her arrival. While teens are in tune with pop culture, adults are more preoccupied with what they will eat the next month. Rosell’s family, like most other families in Cuba, is given a monthly ration card known in Cuba as la libreta de racionamiento. Texier’s father, Orlando, 44, remembers that finding food was a constant struggle. “The rations only served me for 10 days,” the elder Texier said in Spanish.“The rest of the month, I had to find other means for food.” Every month, people are allowed to buy about 1 pound of rice, 1 pound of chicken, half a pound of fish, 10 eggs, 4 pounds of white sugar and 10 pounds of brown sugar. The ingredients serve to make Rosell’s typical rice and bean meals, but her heart lies elsewhere. “I also love pizza, which is harder to find.” she said. Texier shares Rosell’s passion for the American-style combination of cheese and dough. “It was so hard to find even one pound of beef,” she said. “The only way others could find it was por la izquierda,” she said, referring to the black market, which has become a parallel economy that many Cubans rely on to survive each month. Texier now lives in a twobedroom Hialeah apartment with her parents and grandparents. Every night, she takes out her foldable mattress and sleeps beside her parent’s bed, her grandparents in the next room. “I miss my brothers, my aunt, my other grandparents, my cousins, my friends, and even my neighbors, but I’m happy here because I get to experience something different,” she said. “I love my country, but here, there is more opportunity for adolescentes.”
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19 MONTAGE
Mixed feelings Emotions run high in families still hurting 50 years after fleeing Castro’s revolution by Lauren Behar Immaculata-Lasalle High
“
I have my whole life here, and I don’t need to go.
”
– Olelia Barreto, Cuban grandmother in Homestead
the older women like Anabel’s music, and the 17-year-old doesn’t share their passion for bolero music and telenovelas. One thing they agree on, though, is their hate for former Cuban President Fidel Castro – and their promise to never return to the island as long as Castro and brother Raul, the current president, are in power. This is significant, given that President Barack Obama recently loosened travel restrictions for Cuban-Americans, allowing family members in Miami to see loved ones more often and send greater amounts of money to Cuban relatives, among other changes. In a 2009 poll by Miami public opinion research firm Bendixen & Associates, 72 percent of Cubans and Cuban-Americans said they still do not plan to travel to Cuba. The survey did show that more than 240,000 Cuban-Americans want to travel to Cuba in the next two years.
And a Miami Montage poll conducted this month indicated that more than 67 percent of South Florida teens, regardless of race, ethnicity or nationality, would consider traveling to Cuba when travel restrictions are eased. “I have my whole life here, and I
don’t need to go,” said grandmother Olelia Barreto, who was reared in Cuba and only speaks Spanish. Vilma Miguelez shares those sentiments. “There are limitations, and their way of living is horrible,” said Vilma, a Spanish
speaker who occasionally drops in a few words of English. She recalled having to work in the fields during school, memories that still haunt her. Anabel works part-time at a Cold Stone Creamery ice cream shop in Kendall. Unlike her mother and grandmother, Anabel mainly speaks English at home and with friends, and she doesn’t share an intense passion for the Caribbean island. That disparity comes to light on a Sunday night, when the family gathers in the kitchen. A news report about Fidel Castro appears on the television and a shaken Olelia calls her daughter, Vilma, who becomes rattled as well. The image of the Cuban dictator makes both women grow cold with anger. Vilma takes a moment to calm her mother down. But that image draws few emotions from the youngest woman in the group, a Miami native who feels she can’t relate to the loss felt by her mother and grandmother when they fled Cuba’s communist government, a reality Anabel has never experienced. The teenager has never visited the island and feels she can’t be attached to something she doesn’t know. “I don’t know anyone there,” said Anabel, a senior at John A. Ferguson Senior High School. “Why would I go if I have everything here?” She is not alone, but Cuban-American families have mixed feelings about the idea of returning to the island. Barbara de la Paz, who was born in Havana and fled on a shrimp boat when she was 15 years old, doesn’t care to return to the communist nation. Her daughter Carina, 18, who recently graduated from the School for Advanced Studies at Miami-Dade College, would like to go, because she wants to finally see the island that her parents have always spoken about. “I want to see the places my parents and grandparents talk about for myself,” Carina said. Like Anabel and several young CubanAmericans, Carina respects her parents’ and grandparents’ feelings about Cuba, but she is trying to follow her own path. “I’m happy to know that I’ll be allowed to visit soon,” she said.
PEACE SULLIVAN/JAMES ANSIN HIGH SCHOOL WORKSHOP IN JOURNALISM AND NEW MEDIA SUMMER 2009
Anabel Miguelez sits down in the kitchen while her mother, Vilma, cooks arroz con pollo. Nearby, her grandmother, Olelia Barreto, watches the telenovela “Mañana es para siempre.” With buds in her ears, Anabel is listening to the American pop techno singer Lady Gaga on her iPod. Anabel, her mother and grandmother represent three generations of CubanAmericans under the same roof of their Homestead house. But the three women hold different sentiments about the island’s dictator – and none can agree on whether returning to the island would be a blessing or a curse. Like many other Cuban-American families with multiple generations living in Miami, they share few interests. Neither of
MONTAGE 20
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Spreading common knowledge
through uncommon means Cuban teens share American trends, pop culture, but must be clever in how they get them
PEACE SULLIVAN/JAMES ANSIN HIGH SCHOOL WORKSHOP IN JOURNALISM AND NEW MEDIA SUMMER 2009
by Anthony cardona Archbishop Curley Notre Dame High
If you go shopping at Lincoln Road Mall, Aventura Mall, Sunset Place or The Falls, you’ll see teens sporting colorful Converse sneakers, listening to iPods, talking about “Twilight” or gossiping about the latest news on Facebook. You’d see little of this in Cuba, where high-tech gadgets and U.S. fashions cannot be exported to Cuba because of the economic embargo established 50 years ago. However, the Cuban government can do little to Cuban citizens who manage to get these products into the country. Many Cuban teens get their hands on the latest electronics through relatives in other countries or on the black market. “(Cubans are allowed to) use things like iPods, laptops, cell phones” and other products, said Gretchen Betancourt, 16, a young actress in Cuba who now attends International Studies Charter High School in Coral Gables. During the administration of former President George W. Bush, family visits were limited to once every three years, but people knew how to get around this by flying to Mexico, the Cayman Islands or Canada, then catching a flight to Cuba. President Barack Obama has loosened this restriction to once a year, further easing the economic embargo on the island, making it possible for Cubans to buy more U.S. consumer goods. The U.S. Department of State
Zack Schwartz // Montage Staff
YOU HAVE MAIL: In Cuba, teens receive cell phones, cameras and iPods via the black market and relatives, as they are hard to come by in Cuba. allows people to bring books, films, tapes and CDs but not blank tapes and blank CDs, which the Cuban government will seize. Given that the baggage weight limit is 44 pounds, the image of a Cuban-American walking into Miami International Airport wearing several layers of clothes, multiple hats – all in order to be able to carry more items back home – has become iconic. What teens want the most are not necessarily the latest fashions, but clothing in general. “Brands are not really a concern. If they think it’s American, they probably want it,” said Andrea Pino, a 17-year-old senior who is Cuban-American and attends International Studies Charter High School in Coral Gables.
If visiting relatives don’t bring clothes, fantasy novels and music, teens can usually find the items they want on the black market. Junior Ramos, a recent Cuban immigrant living in Hialeah, said the black market, known in Cuba as “por la izquierda,” meaning “on the left,” is an underground economy in which all kinds of things are bought and sold without any regard to government control, taxes, law or rules of trade. Those familiar with the black market say it is essential to the Cuban economy. A former black market dealer now living in Miami – and who asked to remain anonymous because what he did is illegal – said that he sold goods to “be able to live, eat, survive.” Because the Cuban economy is weak and consumer goods are
scarce, selling or buying items, especially staples like food or clothing, has become a common practice. Ration cards that Cubans use to buy food don’t go far, so most Cubans are forced to go “on the left” to get their provisions, recent immigrants say. A 2006 Washington Post story described a man in Cuba who covertly sells food from his home to those who pass by. Chicken packed his freezer and the fridge held three large flans – egg custards – because he had acquired a large number of eggs. Milk is an important commodity in Cuba, according to Elizabeth Salerno, 21, in the fourth year of an undergraduate/masters program in Latin American Studies at the University of Miami.
Only mothers of children 7 and younger can get it in supplies for one day. However, she said many people buy more milk for their children “on the left.” “Most people have a friend who knows somebody (in the black market)...and they get them some milk,” Salerno said. Something sold on the black market can be affordable or expensive, depending on the item and its availability. “You (can)…find iPods and MP3s from tourists who bought them from Venezuela, but they (are) very rare,” the former black market dealer said. “Any American electronics that are sold have to get there via a third (country), so they are more expensive than here, because of the indirectness of the trade,” Salerno said. Black market shoppers can find shopping bags, movies and music, even satellite dishes. Soap operas and shows like the talk show Cristina are favorites, but when viewers catch word of a police sweep, they scramble to dismantle the dishes and hide them under the floorboards of their home or in their attics. The Cubans who have the dishes then make their own bootleg copies of the TV shows to sell on the left. “The people that have dishes get the TV shows from the U.S., record them on VHS, and sell them to others to watch at home,” said Maryann Batlle, 23, a student at Florida Gulf Coast University. Buying an iPod or anything else on the black market is risky, exposing both seller and buyer to huge fines or even jail sentences. Melissa Schwartzbaum, a 17-year-old student at Miami Beach Senior High School, gave a simple reason why teens are willing to take risks to buy lobster and chicken, and luxuries like iPods and Converses. “Because everybody else does,” she said. “They don’t want to feel left out.”
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21 MONTAGE
Taking a pass on baseball Cuban-American teen athletes more drawn to American football by Zack Schwartz West Boca Raton Community High
EMMA SINGER // Montage Staff
TOUCHDOWN: Eric Ordenza, offensive lineman for Braddock High in Miami, is one of many Cuban-Americans making the switch from traditional Cuban sports such as baseball and soccer. football player from La Salle. Noa plays on the defensive line and has played football from a young age. Noa said he believes football is becoming more popular with Cuban-American athletes than baseball. “Football gets more hype so when they (Cuban-Americans) see baseball get less attention, they will switch,” he said.
Zachary Coker, 18, is a La Salle alumnus whose father played high school hockey and whose mother came from Cuba. He was on the offensive line with Chalita, playing center and long snapper. Coker started playing football when his brother, a former quarterback, taught him how to play. He said his family loved
Miami Montage Poll Which sport do you prefer? I don't care about sports Baseball
23.6% 14.4%
Soccer Basketball American football
29.9% 13.2% 19.0%
!
that he played football since it helped him in school. Miguel Gonzalez, 26, is a practicing lawyer who played at Coral Reef Senior High as wide receiver and tight end. Gonzalez played college football for one year at Hanover College in Indiana. Gonzalez said he believes that the recruiting for colleges in South Florida has a lot to do with the decision of what is played. “When kids reach high school, the number of Cuban-American kids that play baseball drops off,” he said. Gonzalez still loves football and thinks other Cuban-American athletes will love football as well. “It is a sport everyone relates to; as the Cuban and Cuban-American populations grow, more athletes will play football or basketball rather than baseball,” he said. If Obama’s diplomatic overtures are successful, there could potentially be more exchanges of sports customs. Ramos of Sunset thinks football might be one. “Since Cuba is so close to Florida,” he said, “I can see a future for football in Cuba.”
PEACE SULLIVAN/JAMES ANSIN HIGH SCHOOL WORKSHOP IN JOURNALISM AND NEW MEDIA SUMMER 2009
Eric Ordenza was 8 years old when he started playing football with friends in his neighborhood. His father, a former soccer player, and his mother, a former volleyball player, expected their son to play a sport more traditionally Cuban. When he told them he was going to play football, they were briefly upset. “At first, my parents did not like me playing football,” he said. “They were surprised I wasn’t playing soccer, but after one game they liked it.” In South Florida, Cuban-Americans are gravitating more and more toward sports other than baseball. Fifty years after Fidel Castro established his communist government, Cubans and Cuban-Americans are becoming more Americanized by sports like football, which was not played on the island when their parents or grandparents lived there. There are players in programs at universities around the country. Some Cuban-American players have been drafted into the National Football League. There is even a Cuban-American, Mario Cristobal, coaching in Division I football at Florida International University. As President Barack Obama seeks to ease tensions between the United States and Cuba, more Cubans will get wind of football and other American customs, teens in Miami say. Max Ramos, 17, a recent graduate of Sunset Senior High, played on the football team’s offensive line. “It is a new thing among athletes my age,” he said. “The teams I played against had a lot of Cuban-Americans, and it is a growing thing.” Matthew Romeu, 15, is a freshman on the varsity football team at Hialeah-Miami Lakes Senior High School, where he plays wide receiver and tight end for the Trojans. His father played high school football and got his son interested in the game by showing him pictures and telling him stories. Tony Chalita, 18, a graduate of La Salle High, where there were about 30 CubanAmericans in the football program, was on the offensive line. Chalita said he believes players will continue to play baseball and play football as well, calling it a mixture of both sports. Ian Noa, 17, a rising senior, is another
MONTAGE 22
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v A Silver Montage +1
21 students gather at the 26th annual workshop; key people tell how they sustained it over time
PEACE SULLIVAN/JAMES ANSIN HIGH SCHOOL WORKSHOP IN JOURNALISM AND NEW MEDIA SUMMER 2009
by Mina Radman Marjory Stoneman Douglas High
When Daniella Cioffi stepped onto the University of Miami campus last July, she had no idea what to expect. “I was wearing really casual clothing and we got to work right away,” said Cioffi, 18, a recent graduate of Miami Killian Senior High who will attend the University of Miami in the fall. “I think that’s when I understood how serious and tedious this was going to be.” Cioffi is a former participant of the James Ansin/Peace Sullivan Workshop in Journalism and New Media at the University of Miami, July 5-25. The 2009 workshop offered 21 high school students from Broward, Palm Beach, and Miami-Dade counties the opportunity to create a tabloid newspaper, the Miami Montage. This year, two students traveled from Puerto Rico and St. Petersburg to participate. The students also worked on producing multimedia videos, a Web site and a blog. “The program gives kids a chance that they normally wouldn’t have at their own high schools,” said Sam Grogg, dean of the UM School of Communication. James Ansin and Peace Sullivan are major contributors of the program, along with the Dow Jones Newspaper Fund and the Miami Herald. James Ansin is the general manager of WSVN-Channel 7, the local Fox affiliate in Miami, while Peace Sullivan is a philanthropist, retired journalist and psychoanalyst. Ansin and Sullivan offer a half scholarship to one workshop participant to pursue journalism at the School of Communication. UM provides the other half, based on the student’s financial need. “The best part about the scholarship is that it’s helping you make the commitment to a future in journalism,” said Steve Pierre, 18, a recent graduate of Miami Edison Senior High, and a former workshop participant. “It’s a morale booster and a gift toward your dreams.” Pierre and Cioffi share the 2008 Sullivan/Ansin scholarships at UM. This year marks the 25th anniversary
courtesy of Noelle Theard
MAKING IT WORK: The Miami Montage staff takes a break from the long, tedious hours of work to enjoy an afternoon on the beautiful University of Miami campus. of the workshop, which was founded in 1984 by Bruce Garrison, a UM journalism professor. At the time, the workshop was a minority program, focused on introducing young journalists in the Hispanic and AfricanAmerican communities to journalism. “I thought it was important to bring diversity into our program,” said Garrison, in an e-mail. The program began as a seven-day crash course. Garrison recalled the long nights and endless hours the students committed to produce the workshop newspaper. “We never seemed to have enough money or enough time,” Garrison said. “But, in the end, it worked.” Garrison left the program after 15 years and UM journalism professor Tsitsi Wakhisi took over. Then, the workshop grew to two weeks. “Imagine doing all (this work) in a span of 10 days instead of three weeks,” Wakhisi said, a former Miami Herald editor.
With the help of Ansin and Sullivan, the program has evolved into an intensive three-week experience. As the students work to produce the newspaper and multimedia, they are introduced to college life by living on campus. Students adjust to living with a roommate, sharing bathrooms and facilities, and being away from their parents and homes. “The dorms were a place to unwind coming back from a long day,” said Aura Altamiranda, 17, a former workshop participant and senior at Miami Sunset Senior High. “That’s mostly where we got to know everyone. I was surprised how close we all became after the three weeks.” The workshop also helps students understand the importance of teamwork. “If one person on the team slacks off, the whole team suffers as a result,” said Robert Hosmon, vice dean of the School of Communication. Professional journalists are brought in
as guest speakers to introduce students to the journalism industry. Former workshop participants, including Miami Herald foreign correspondent Jacqueline Charles, have gone on to work in broadcast and print journalism. “I knew journalism was what I wanted to do,” said Rudy Tomarchio, a former workshop participant who now is a writer at WSVN.“The workshop is a good crash course in what it takes to be a semi-pro. You’re learning in a matter of days to do what professionals do every day.” Yves Colon, the current workshop director and UM journalism professor, describes the main goal of the program. “Hopefully we’ve stoked their interest during the three weeks that we are here,” said Colon, a former Miami Herald reporter and editor who is in his second year of directing the workshop. “The students have had the opportunity of really doing great stuff, which encourages them to go on and do more.”
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American Dream Cuban-American teens struggle to believe a concept that may be fading
Daniela Lazo CedrÉ // Montage Staff
“
The first wave of immigrants saw an enormous amount of success, just because there were so many opportunities – Joe Garcia Obama adviser on Cuba policy
”
When Junior Ramos first started the paperwork for his immigration from Cuba to America, he was 11. Seven years and a couple of plane rides brought Ramos to Hialeah late last year. He knows that it’s not going to be easy; in fact, he doesn’t believe there’s an American Dream. “Over here, you have to work long and hard,” Ramos said in an interview conducted in Spanish. “Here, nobody has the American Dream.” However, Ramos’ belief contrasts with those of another man who came in 1961, two years into Castro’s rule. Like the man, who didn’t want to be identified for this story, many Cubans were faced with the decision to either stay on the communist island or to leave. The man said the desire “to look for freedom of speech and run away from communism” was what forced him off the island. “I expected to find a new job and make a new life,” explained the 69-year-old Cuban-American. “The American Dream is very much alive.” These conflicting CubanAmerican perceptions revolve around the generational divide, according to Joe Garcia, a Cuban-American long involved in U.S.-Cuba relations and now the nominee for director of the
Therefore, these hard-line, first-generation Cuban-Americans have a much more optimistic view of the American Dream. “The economic opportunities were greater for the ones that came earlier,” Garcia said. Not only have they had more opportunities, but earlier generations have also had more time to adapt to the economy. Therefore, the “grandmother” would be unlikely ever to return to the island to live, said Giancarlo Sopo, a democratic strategist at Bendixen and Associates, the Miami-based polling and consulting firm. However, according to the mayor, younger Cuban-American immigrants may consider returning, even if their only intention is to enjoy a nearby vacation. “I think that the more recent generations, the ones that don’t have strong roots in this community, are going to weigh their options,” Robaina said. “Yes, I would go to visit,” Ramos said, “but not to stay and live.” Even Cuban youths who were born in America have considered returning to Cuba. This group meets the subject with similar ambivalence. “If the communist system fell then yes, maybe,” said Barbara Rassi, 18, of moving to Cuba, where she has family. A Hialeah-Miami Lakes Senior High graduate, she will be attending Harvard this fall. But for now, many CubanAmericans will have to rely on faith in the United States and faith in the expectations that brought them here. “Even though we’re in a crisis,” Ramos said, “it is going to continue to be a great country.”
PEACE SULLIVAN/JAMES ANSIN HIGH SCHOOL WORKSHOP IN JOURNALISM AND NEW MEDIA SUMMER 2009
by jesse kirkpatrick Miami Beach Senior High
Office of Economic Impact and Diversity at the U.S. Department of Energy. “They lived a significant portion of their lives within the communist regime, so their perspective is a little bit different,” said Garcia of the political views of Cubans who came to Miami after 1980. When Fidel Castro came to power in 1959, Cubans began to leave the island in waves in pursuit of another life. But not all Cuban-Americans ended up leaving for the same reasons. Earlier immigrants came to America for political reasons, while later immigrants came for economic reasons, according to Vanessa López, research associate at the University of Miami’s Institute of Cuban and CubanAmerican Studies. Today, with the United States in the midst of a recession, jobs are hard to come by. So teens like Ramos are disenchanted. Statewide unemployment rates were more than 10 percent as of May 2009, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. In Hialeah, where the population is predominantly Cuban-American, that number has been as high as 13.5 percent, according to Mayor Julio Robaina. However, Cubans who came to South Florida during the earlier waves were fortunate enough to find themselves in an economic vacuum. “The first wave of immigrants saw an enormous amount of success, just because there were so many opportunities and everything was still so raw, especially in the South Florida community,” Robaina said.
23 MONTAGE
Waking up from the
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MONTAGE 24
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Rebecca Fortes // Montage Staff
PEACE SULLIVAN/JAMES ANSIN HIGH SCHOOL WORKSHOP IN JOURNALISM AND NEW MEDIA SUMMER 2009
ELIAN’S UNCLE SPEAKS OUT: Delfin Gonzalez hopes that his great nephew will return to Miami one day. For now, Elian’s house is a monument to his memory.
Remembering Elian 10 years later, the raid that sent him back to Cuba still is an open wound by Rebecca Fortes John A. Ferguson Senior High
Elian Gonzalez dominated headlines in South Florida and across the nation from November 1999 to April 2000. Now, little is heard of the boy and who he has become. Elian became the center of a heated custody feud between Cuba and the United States a decade ago. After having been found floating alone in an inner tube near Fort Lauderdale, the 5-year-old boy was sent to live with his cousin and uncle in Little Havana. During the journey, he witnessed the death of his mother and 10 others in the Florida Straits after their homemade raft fell apart. Six months later, he was
forcibly taken from his American home at 5:15 a.m. and reunited with his father, who took him to Cuba. He returned to the media spotlight in June 2008 when, at 14, he joined Cuba’s Young Communists with 18,000 others. This was perceived as evidence that Cuban officials successfully convinced the Cuban youth that a communist lifestyle is key to happiness and prosperity. But others argue that Elian might not have had an option. Cuban youths “don’t have much of a choice in joining the Communist Party,” said Giancarlo Sopo, a campaign strategist and research analyst for Bendixen and Associates. Jack Cashill, an investigative reporter on American government and politics who wrote that the Elian incident cost Al Gore the presidency in 2000, agrees. “If your name is Elian Gonzalez, you don’t have much choice about anything,” Cashill said in a telephone interview. Not everyone in the Communist Party is a loyal
follower of the Castro brothers Fidel and Raul. Joining the party clearly has its benefits; by putting on a façade, Cubans may better their own situation in the totalitarian state and live a life that lacks restrictions. Ana Laura Bermudez, 18, experienced this firsthand while growing up in Cuba. “As seniority in the party mounts up, you can get a car, or a better house, and definitely way more money,” she said. “You can get (away with) doing things a regular person may have been arrested for.” Joe Garcia, former executive director of the Cuban American National Foundation, pointed out that Cuban youths live under a great deal of government control. In many cases, party membership can be the difference between getting a college degree and remaining uneducated. Still, pledging loyalty to the party doesn’t guarantee a good life. Cuba’s government has a complicated, tangled system of personal connections and “whoknows-who.”
Annabel Escandon, 17, who spent four of her childhood years in Cuba, said, “We had friends who were communists who lived just as badly as us.” Junior Ramos, 18, who arrived from Cuba only seven months ago, believes it is unlikely that Elian joined Cuba’s Young Communists seeking luxuries. “(Elian) is a king over there. He does whatever he wants. If he wanted to be president, he could be president,” Ramos said in a phone interview conducted in Spanish. In the same way he was not seeking luxuries, Elian probably wasn’t seeking connections, either. Ramos said the Cuban government adores Elian, but “the public doesn’t care about those things.” The Cuban government justified Elian’s pre-dawn capture and return to Cuba in April 2000 by saying it wanted to create a normal life for the boy. Ironically, Elian is frequently seen sitting next to Fidel Castro at political events. Escandon said Cuban kids may idolize Elian because he’s been made by the Cuban government
into “the portrait of who they (all) should be.” She went on to say, “He’s brainwashed…they’re not going to let him get out.” Delfin Gonzalez, Elian’s great-uncle, hopes otherwise. In October 2001, he bought Elian’s home in Little Havana and converted it into a museum with hope Elian could visit one day. “We’ll see if, God willing, (the Cuban government) gives him the opportunity and the chance so he may come here because I know he wants to come. “He wants to return. The thing is he’s under too much pressure,” he said. Still, Delfin conceded Elian is not likely to return. He said the Castro brothers know that “if they let him return (to America), they may lose control.” Sopo agrees. “When you expose people to freedom and human rights…they have a change of heart,” he said. Cashill supports that idea. “When the first (cracks) in the wall appear,” he said, “the wall will crumble.”