"Crazy Cubans"

About this episode

The episode reflects on the reporting experiences of Peniley and Tasha regarding the Elián González story and the perception of the Cuban American community.

After taking you through the Elián González story, we’re sharing some reporting and interview content that didn’t make it into our narrative series. This week, Peniley and producer, Tasha Sandoval, sit down to reflect on their experiences reporting on this project, particularly through their perspectives as Cubans: Peniley, a Cuban who grew up in Cuba, and Tasha, a second-generation Cuban-American. During the Elian saga, the Cuban American community in Miami gained a negative reputation as “crazy,” something that came up in several interviews. We hear from writer Vanessa Garcia and former Executive Director of the Cuban American National foundation, Joe Garcia, to reflect on how this perception of “Crazy Cubans” and that the community lost the narrative, may have reverberations to this day. This season's cover art by Ranfis Suárez Ramos. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

People in this episode

Hosts: Peniley, Tasha Sandoval

Guests: Vanessa Garcia, Joe Garcia

Topics covered

• Elián González
• Cuban American community
• media perception
• cultural identity
• reporting experiences

Keywords

• Elián González
• Cuban Americans
• media narrative
• cultural perception
• reporting
• Miami

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Cuban American National foundation

Places: Cuba, Miami

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