Your Voice Counts

International Human Rights Day:
Ways to Take Action

International Human Rights Day, which commemorates the day that the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) was adopted, was celebrated on Monday, December 10th. The UDHR sets out a broad range of fundamental rights and freedoms to which all people are entitled without bias or segregation. It has been accepted by almost every government and has become the foundation on which protection and advocacy of human rights is based.

Despite officially adopting the universal declaration in 1948, the Cuban regime has continuously and systematically violated the human rights, freedoms, and dignity of its population. Human Rights Watch has consistently accused the island’s government of torture, arbitrary detention, corrupt trial procedures, and extrajudicial execution, in addition to calling out the limits Cuban law imposes on freedom of expression, association, assembly, movement, and press. For more details on human rights in Cuba, visit Human Rights Watch or Amensty International.

Below are a handful of ways that you can take action this week (and always) to help defend the rights of the Cuban people!

Be a Loudspeaker for Cuban Voices
Get involved in translating the dozens of blogs coming from Cuba. Cuban bloggers are yearning or their ideas to be expressed outside of their borders and to breed dialogue inside and outside of the island. Check out TranslatingCuba.com and read this interview with its founder, Mary Jo Porter, to understand the value and promise that translating blogs holds.

Support Freedom of Expression and Access to Information
Donate cell phones or USBs for Roots of Hope to refurbish and send to Cuba. These devices are the primary way that information spreads like wildfire among young Cubans, including artists, students, bloggers, and nascent entrepreneurs. Hear how technology helps.

Use social media to make your #VoiceCount
Follow @RootsofHope on Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook and share your ideas for supporting youth in Cuba and promoting their freedoms and rights.

Draw Attention to Jailed Activists in Cuba
Email or tweet Amnesty International to draw attention to the dozens of political prisoners in Cuba and ask for their inclusion in their letter writing and awareness campaigns. For examples, read about activists who are still jailed such as Calixto Ramon of Hablemos Press, and Marcos Máiquel Lima Cruz, or those who have been freed in recent years, such as Ricardo González. If you would like to write letters or organize a letter writing campaign for jailed activists in Cuba, email us at comms@rootsofhope.org

Crackdown on Music in Cuba

Raices de Esperanza strongly objects to The Cuban Ministry of Culture's announcement that it is banning the production and distribution of reggaeton music as part of a larger crackdown on “vulgar, banal, and mediocre” musical expression. Citing a desire to retain the authenticity and quality of Cuban music, the president of the Cuban Institute of Music (ICM) called out the elimination of sexual and explicit lyrics as the central motivation for these actions.

Given these erratic and disproportionate actions, we can only assume that the Cuban Ministry of Culture perceives the musicians’ success as subversive of their control. We call on the Cuban government to not censor Cuban artists and allow the Cuban people to exercise their inherent human right to freedom of expression.

Although reggaetton and hip-hop musicians are not a direct threat to the Cuban government, they have amassed a large following and audience across the island. Over recent years, the music scene in Cuba has become increasingly reflective of the diversity and interests of its population and has become an outlet for their observations and for communication among its citizenry. We hope that musicians in Cuba are not discouraged, but rather emboldened to continue making and sharing music that echoes their reality, reflects their aspirations, and shapes a new generation of Cuban artists.

For questions, please contact comms@rootsofhope.org

Running: Our Community at its Best

Come January 2013, Run4Roots participants will be running the Miami Half Marathon at the same time as youth in Cuba run a parallel race. This historical occasion will build a bridge and connect two communities who yearn to know each other and innovate together. As the reality of our counterparts on the island continues to change, this is more important than ever. 

Here is the story of Chris, who ran the Miami Half Marathon with us last year and will be hitting the pavement again next January. Check out his reason for running and step up to join her by registering here! It's time to hit the ground running for something YOU believe in. 

Running: Our Community at its Best
By Chris G.

The reasons I run for my roots are simple.

In 27 years sprinkled with moments like winning a football championship and speaking to a crowd of 5,000, I’ve lived some cool experiences.  Few, if any, compare to Run 4 Roots. 

A year ago, Run 4 Roots gave me an opportunity to honor my grandfather’s legacy (my sister and I raised money in his memory) while running the ING Miami Half Marathon. This was personally significant, but I didn’t expect to experience something more powerful too – the essence of my community.

Leading up the race I wasn’t exactly in run-13-miles shape. I’m not sure I had ever run anywhere near 10 miles! And worse, since I had barely trained, I had real doubts I could finish the race.  (If you’re wondering, yes training properly for a half-marathon is advisable.) As I ambled to the starting line in the pre-dawn darkness, the sea of people who were about to take the same journey comforted me.

The race was every bit as challenging as I imagined, but it exposed me to a side of my hometown I had never experienced.  It was pure, unbridled human spirit coming together to create the most potent and tangible feeling of community I can remember.  It was Miami, the United States, or even humanity, at its finest.

I chose to Run 4 Roots again this year because now I have a unique opportunity to share that face of my community with some (soon to be) friends from Cuba. If all works out, young people from Cuba will either be racing alongside me or figuratively tracing the same route in Cuba. Either way, I’m going to tell them all about the perfect strangers who wildly cheered me on last year.

I’ll share that it wasn’t just a couple points in the race, but throughout. And when I was ready to give up, a random smiling face would shout encouragement. Then it was my running mates pushing me to fight on.  Later it was the live bands providing a distraction down the home stretch of the race that kept me going.

The combination of overcoming a grueling challenge, overwhelming support from the community, and personal fulfillment in crossing the finish line combined to make it an incredible, uplifting experience.

It was a snapshot of what life and my community can have to offer.

  

Those are things I want Cubans to experience too. 

Register to run with us and start the year by making a tangible impact in the lives of youth just 90 miles from our shores! If you still need some convincing, check out photos from last year's race on our Facebook page.

Running for Empowerment

Come January 2013, Run4Roots participants will be running the Miami Half Marathon at the same time as youth in Cuba run a parallel race. This historical occasion will build a bridge and connect two communities who yearn to know each other and innovate together. As the reality of our counterparts on the island continues to change, this is more important than ever. 

Below is the story of Hanny, a first time Run4Roots participant. Check out her reason for running and step up to join her by registering here! It's time to hit the ground running for something YOU believe in. 

Running for Empowerment
By Hanny R.

I used to hate running, and I do mean hate. Growing up in sunny Miami – where most Physical Education classes are, for some absurd reason, held around midday – doing laps around the school field was my worse nightmare. The heat, the panting, the desperate thirst, in summary, an overall awful experience for me. I did, however, love to dance, and started on my first dance team at around age 10.

I left sunny South Florida for college and migrated North, to Boston, MA. I joined my college dance team and was absolutely loving the experience, until a few months into my freshman year, my knees started having serious issues. After lots of visits to doctors and lengthy medical-jargon-filled explanations, I had to stop dancing and let my body heal. I, unfortunately - or perhaps fortunately - am not one to sit still. Instead, I decided to start running. I am not completely sure why. Perhaps, it was the sight of all the happy joggers cruising through the scenic routes around the Charles River, or maybe it was the challenge of trying to tackle an activity for which I had always held such apprehension and disinterest.

I know you’re probably thinking that running sounds like a terrible idea for someone with knee problems, right? Well, most doctors would agree, and my own doctor was rather appalled when I mentioned it. Surprisingly, running actually helped me recover a lot quicker than expected; but perhaps more importantly, I discovered I actually liked running, maybe even love running. During a time in my life, when I felt completely powerless and unable to do what I loved most – dance – running, helped me find a way to take back some control. When I was out there was no one to disappoint, no one to impress, except myself. I came to realize that I had the ability to keep going and surpass my expectations, to push through when I started feeling tired, and to keep moving.

There are tons of overused clichés about having confidence in oneself, or the power of believing you can do something, but behind the platitudes there is a lot of truth. I will run on behalf of Run for Roots in January because I believe that running is a very effective vehicle for self-empowerment. The Roots of Hope mission is to empower youth in Cuba to be the authors of their own future. There are million ways to do this, but empowering them with a belief in themselves first, at the most basic level, that of their bodies and spirit, is the essential starting point. I am immensely excited and proud that we will have parallel runners on the island.

Register to run with us and start the year by making a tangible impact in the lives of youth just 90 miles from our shores! If you still need some convincing, check out photos from last year's race on our Facebook page.

Running for Hope

Come January 2013, Run4Roots participants will be running the Miami Half Marathon at the same time as youth in Cuba run a parallel race. This historical occasion will build a bridge and connect two communities who yearn to know each other and innovate together. As the reality of our counterparts on the island continues to change, this is more important than ever. 

Here is the story of Maritza, who ran with Run4Roots in 2012 and will be hitting the pavement again in 2013. Check out her reason for running and step up to join her by registering here! It's time to hit the ground running for something YOU believe in. 

I Run Because I Hope
By Maritza A.

It's about the rarity of one action occurring at the same time in two very close but distant countries. The politics, frustration, anger, and dejection on both sides come to a halt for a moment where we stand in parallel side by side armored in unity and love. Miami and Cuba running in parallel...doing anything in parallel is symbolic of the deeply seeded emotional and heartfelt roots that we carry for the youth in Cuba. There's this unspeakable bond where you know the heart of what's on either side longs for each other. The youth in Cuba face a world of unknowns and hardship. While they 'live it up' just like us, it's a vastly different world behind closed doors. I get to face hope everyday in its eyes. We stare each other down and see where my next big step is going to take me. Reminds me of Emily Dickinson's "Hope" below.

"Hope" by Emily Dickinson

That perches in the soul, 
And sings the tune--without the words, 
And never stops at all,
And sore must be the storm 
That could abash the little bird 
That kept so many warm.
And on the strangest sea; 
Yet, never, in extremity, 
It asked a crumb of me.

Hope is the thing with feathers 
And sweetest in the gale is heard; 
I've heard it in the chillest land, 

Those of us who have freedom of speech take some small chances at life sometimes because we take opportunity for granted. The idea of what you can accomplish tomorrow and your 'next steps' in your career is nearly a vanished thought in the daily life of a Cuban youth. We get to envision a future colored with travel, exploration, education...whatever we want. I get to dream BIG, because those dreams can come true. But if you knew they couldn't ever become true under a government that's eradicated any tolerance for freedom of speech and economic willpower, would you keep hoping? This idea of "hope" and "change" for the youth of Cuba is truncated by a volatile economic and political state. I run for the Cuban youth, and we run together because they CAN be the authors of their own futures. It's demonstrated in this half marathon. We run in parallel on one day because we stand for hope, change, and freedom of choice. This is change. This is hope staring us in the face.

Register to run with us and start the year by making a tangible impact in the lives of youth just 90 miles from our shores! If you still need some convincing, check out photos from last year's race on our Facebook page.

Cuban Government Announces Travel Reform

We at Roots of Hope recognize the potential that the recently announced travel reform could have on the people of Cuba. Reclaiming the ability to travel freely is one of the many changes that our counterparts on the island have advocated for, and these reforms represent a small step in the right directions. Cubans have unjustly been denied the right to travel for too long, as generations have gone and gone without a freedom that many of us take for granted. This new policy could open the world to many young Cubans, and expose them to new possibilities, perspectives, and contexts.

Roots of Hope welcomes these actions, but remains cautious about their full impact because they do not guarantee freedom of travel for all Cubans. The new migratory policy continues discriminating against many professionals and those Cubans who bravely express independent opinions. The true scope and reach of these changes will be seen come January 2013. We call on the government of Cuba to ensure that the issuance of passports will not be governed by political opinion, economic discrimination, or public reception, but instead is open to all Cubans.

We hope that this moment is one small step in ensuring that youth in Cuba have the opportunities to become authors of their own futures. We realize that this goal has not yet been achieved, but remain optimistic that the voices of Cubans on the island will continue to be heard throughout the world. 

For questions, please contact comms@raicesdeesperanza.org 

We Hunger For Change

Hunger strike participants

After observing a hunger strike for over a week, Cuban opposition leaders secured the release of Jorge Vázquez Chaviano. Jorge had been incarcerated for the alleged crime of "illegal economic activity" and was due to be released on September 9, 2012. As often is the case, Cuban authorities extended his detention without any explanation.

Roots of Hope stands in solidarity with these leaders who placed their lives and well being on the line to secure Jorge's release. Through their selfless acts, these Cubans brought international scrutiny to Jorge's situation. We also recognize and thank all those around the world who promoted Jorge's cause. Every Facebook post, Tweet, or email sent helped spread the word about the Cuban reality and increase pressure on authorities to release Jorge.