The New Cuba

The New Cuba Journal

The Queen’s Gambit of Cuba

To be a girl in a sea of men. This is one of the themes in Netflix’ new series, The Queen’s Gambit. The show follows Beth Harmon (exquisitely played by actress Anya Taylor-Joy), a child who ends up parentless, and eventually gets mentored in chess by a janitor in the basement of an orphanage. The… Read more

November 11, 2020
A Podcast to School You on Cuba Today

In the landscape of Cuban podcasts, there is not much of a selection of balanced shows to listen to. Just utter the word “Cuba” and see quickly how it polarises a room. Some will demonize the country, while others will speak of its utopia. The truth of the matter is that Cuba is a complicated… Read more

September 3, 2020
Cubans Inside the Hollywood Academy

(Yul Vazquez, Ana de Armas, Libia Batista, Arturo Sandoval) 2020 has been delivering some dizzy punches, both bad and good (hello Corona). This particular punch is a good one, and most certainly, a watershed moment for Latinos represented at the Oscars. Since we celebrate all things Cuba, it’s only natural we shout-out the Cuban members… Read more

July 2, 2020
Celeste Mendoza at Hotel Nacional

Behold this electric performance, just a small moment from a woman who helped shape Cuban music. Her name is Celeste Mendoza. It seems the majority of Americans have had little exposure to this artist. During my time at Tropix Media in Havana, I had the good fortune of digging into the national archives for gold… Read more

February 4, 2020
Queen & Slims’ Cuban-American Director

(Daniel Kaluuya, Jodie-Turner-Smith, Dir Melina Matsoukas, Writer Lena Waithe) The film Queen and Slim is the creation of Director Melina Matsoukas, born of a Cuban mother who was raised on the island, and migrated to New York at 10 yrs old. If you’ve seen Beyonce’s music video “Formation”, a solidarity love letter to New Orleans,… Read more

January 30, 2020
10 More Packing Essentials for Cuba

Back by popular demand… New friends continually ask “What do I pack for Cuba?” in that how-can-I-help tone? So I decided to write another Top 10 List, Part 2. Before you read any further, take a peek at my first blog post “My Top 10 Packing Tips for Cuba” to get started on care package… Read more

April 10, 2018