Raíces is bringing back its signature Summer Blast event — with a few twists.

On Saturday, July 25, Raíces de Esperanza will be hosting a domino tournament and party at The Glass Studio (7520 NE 4 Ct. — In the Mimo Historic District). Aside from dominoes, great music, food, and drinks, we'll be able to enjoy the work of renowned artist and friend Kiki Valdés.


The event will also be a collection point for our Cells For Cuba Initiative. Make sure to bring your and your friends' old, used, or even broken cell phones. We'll be able to use any cell phones you bring to help connect our Cuban counterparts to one another.

Click here to register for the event.

Make sure to invite your friends to this event and have them register at the link above!

Dr. Darsi Ferrer arrested in Havana

From The Miami Herald & CubaNet:

Independent medical doctor
arrested

CUBANET
HAVANA, Cuba, July 13 (Roberto de Jesús Guerra /
www.cubanet.org) - Police arrested prominent dissident Dr. Darsi Ferrer and his wife, Yusnaymi Jorge, last week, according to Ferrer’s sister-in-law.

“A man dressed in green and accompanied by two police officers came to the couple’s house in a patrol car and one of them told Darsi they were there to check the house, which he opposed,” she said in a telephone call. “Minutes later they left with him and my sister.”

Ferrer is president of the Independent Health Center and the Juan Bruno Zayas Human Rights organization.

The reason for the arrest, which occurred last Thursday, was unknown, but Ferrer planned a walk at the Hotel Nacional which dissidents have called Dream Walk.

Click here for the story.

Hershey facilitates trips to Cuba under humanitarian license

From PennLive.com

Hershey Foundation offers connection with Cuba

ANNETTE REIFF
Sunday, July 12, 2009

Cuba is a mysterious destination. It's so close, yet it's diffi cult to reach given the federal restrictions on travel there. But, one way to see the island is by visiting under a special license issued by the U.S. Treasury Department. One such license allows travel for humanitarian projects. And that's how the M.S. Hershey Foundation is able to offer trips to Cuba.

The foundation partners with the Bringing Hope Foundation, which is licensed to travel to Cuba "to deliver humanitarian supplies to an independent charity to benefit the Cuban people."

But why does the M.S. Hershey Foundation have an interest in Cuba? In the early 1900s, Milton S. Hershey built a sugar refinery and a town in Cuba he named Central Hershey to provide his chocolate factory with sugar, which was in limited supply due to World War I. That connection is what has motivated the foundation's 10 trips to Cuba in as many years.

Click here for the rest of the story.

Note from the blogger:

If you click the link above to read the whole story, you'll find a summary of the trip's agenda/itinerary.

Does it seem to you that this is an appropriate trip agenda given travelers will be on a humanitarian license? Is medical aid the best use of such a license? Should more time be spent on this sort of activity to justify the issuing of a license? Is it appropriate for travelers on a humanitarian license from the U.S. government to participate in a policy seminar in Cuba as part of their trip's planned agenda?

Also, if you've been to (or even lived in) Hershey, Cuba, we'd love to read about your experience and what the chocolate connection the U.S. means to you (if anything). Tell us about it in the comments section of this post.

Buena Vista Social Club now on YouTube Movies

I just came across another movie about Cuba that you can check out for free at YouTube Movies: Buena Vista Social Club.

I haven't seen the film myself, but I'll be starting it right now. You can see it by clicking here.

Cuba: The Ireland of the Caribbean?

From Wired:

Clive Thompson on Cuba's Potential Tech Boom

By Clive Thompson

....

Cubans also have a hacker mindset. They've needed it to handle the constant privation. They keep 50-year-old cars running with cobbled-together parts. They cadge gray-market Internet access by making friends with local officials—among the anointed few the government allows online. When Soviet food supplies vanished, Cubans turned to urban gardening.

Click here for the whole story.

Alfredo Rodríguez finds success early

From Gibson.com

Cuban Piano Prodigy Takes U.S. by Storm

Gabriel J. Hernandez | 06.08.2009

Cuban piano sensation Alfredo Rodriguez had a feeling he could find success playing music in the United States. He just didn’t think it would happen so fast.

Born in Havana, the 23-year-old pianist had built a solid reputation as a special – and very gifted – player by the time he was in his early teens by playing and collaborating with some of today’s most celebrated Cuban artists, including Gaston Joya, Michael Olivera, and several musicians from the renowned Buena Vista Social Club.

Click here for the whole story.

In this clip, Rodríguez plays a new song called "Crossing the Border"

Tampa kids build bridges with common experience

From The St. Petersburg Times:

Tampa refugee children express their new lives

By Saundra Amrhein, Times Staff Writer

TAMPA — Lorenzo Diaz is 12. He lives in Tampa with his parents. When he left his native Cuba two years ago, he left behind his grandparents and his friends. He misses them. "And my house," Lorenzo says. Tuesday, he doted over a drawing on a poster board: the skylines of Miami and Havana, separated only by a thin patch of blue water. This artwork meant something to him. "We can be closer some day and be together," the boy explained.

Click here for the whole story