A Magazine of Northeastern University School of Journalism Students
Story by Hannah Bernstein and Ysabelle Kempe · HAVANA, Cuba — On Saturday nights, Havana sings. There’s side-stepping salsa, hip-grinding reggaetón and even fist-pumping American pop songs. Their rhythms combine and drift into the streets, floating over the heads of taxi drivers who wait eagerly for people stumbling around to find the next song of the... Continue Reading →
Story by Riley Robinson · HAVANA, Cuba — One by one, three female ballet dancers in long pink tutus leap onto the shoulders of their kneeling partners. The women look identical from the audience — chiseled calves propel petite bodies through the air, dark brown hair slicked over the tops of their ears into matching chignons.... Continue Reading →
Story by Christian Triunfo · HAVANA, CUBA — Carlos Fernández stands on top of a five-story building in the heart of San Agustin, next to a coop made of scrap-metal where his friend’s pigeon, Robocop, readies to take flight. In a moment, Israel Rosaló, known as “El Meca,” short for “el mecánico” or “the mechanic,” will... Continue Reading →
Produced by Zach Ben-Amots · HAVANA, Cuba — In Cuba, an unseen yet dynamic world unfolds from rooftops, where pigeons take flight for owners who try to attract other birds back to their coops. It's a sport, a hobby and a sign of prestige for men who live much of their lives with faces tilted up... Continue Reading →
Produced by Kaitlyn Budion and Paxtyn Merten · HAVANA, Cuba — In Cuba, a nation often romanticized by streets full of antique cars, nearly anyone who owns a vehicle has to be a skilled mechanic. But the U.S. embargo prevents the country from importing most parts and tools, forcing owners to be innovators to keep their... Continue Reading →
Story by Ysabelle Kempe · HAVANA, Cuba — Fogonda was born in the overcast rural fields of Holland. She moved to Cuba at a very young age, leaving everything she had known behind. Today, as the early morning mist fades into unforgiving sun beating down over Lenin Park, Foganda, age 8, is legal property of the... Continue Reading →
Story by Alejandro Serrano · HAVANA, Cuba – Ángel Fournier Rodriguez sits motionless for a moment, pearls of sweat slipping down his face the only signal that this world champion, this pillar of muscle and stamina and grit, was moments ago, for a solid hour, in the throes of raw kinetic energy at the velocity of... Continue Reading →
Story by Paxtyn Merten · HAVANA, Cuba – A young woman in a blue shirt is thigh-deep in the Straits of Florida, carrying a blue and white frosted cake. She bends down, releases the offering into the water and watches as it floats away. The simple act of gratitude takes place two days after Mother’s Day in... Continue Reading →
Story by Milton Posner and Christian Triunfo · HAVANA, Cuba – For the first time in three decades, and perhaps for the last time in a while, Carlos Tabares is at rest. He moves about his cozy, well-furnished home unhurried. His 13-year-old stepdaughter plays outside with the dog. His wife Magdalis, in the midst of preparing... Continue Reading →
Story by Alejandro Serrano · HAVANA, Cuba – The air conditioner is broken and all Vicente Prieto Borrego can now do is wait. He has already put in a request for help, but it’s been a couple of days and he still has no word. Borrego is surrounded by what’s at stake: Thousands of magnetic tapes, records,... Continue Reading →
Northeastern Journalism in Cuba 2018 