I Finally Won Something!

I had one of the most interesting experiences I’ve ever had tonight. About two months ago a professor of mine brought in some flyers for an essay contest to win a scholarship of $1000, toward a trip costing $1500, in which a group of people from across the nation bring medical, educational, and other types of humanitarian aide to the people of Cuba. The point of the trip is to protest the blockade that the U.S. has imposed against the Cuban people since the early 60’s. It’s required by federal law that anyone bringing aide to Cuba must acquire the proper permits to do so, which limit the amount of aide being taken to Cuba. We don’t apply for the permit and refuse to pay any fines that are then given to us.

So, tonight we had a dinner to celebrate community heroes who are active in Latin American affairs both abroad and domestically. I showed up to help set up and was eventually told that I was the winner of the essay contest. After a number of speeches I was introduced by Congressman Sam Farr. He read a little bit of my essay to the crowd then invited me up to accept the check and make a short speech…I wasn’t expecting to have to do this so I had to come up with something as I began to talk. I simply said that with all of the inspiring speeches made tonight I wasn’t going be able to say anything insightful, so thanked the 150+ people there for their support in the community and for helping people like me and the others like me to have the chance to stand up against the government and say in a voice of solidarity that their embargo is immoral a just plain wrong.

The Congressman praised my writing ability (something I generally don’t feel is too incredible). He was briefly heckled by the crowd to hire me on his staff… that was fun.

I was then invited to a little after party by the organization that put the contest on. These are all people in their 60’s to 80’s. We sat around until midnight discussing the various policies of our government and the different ways that they have worked to change things and how we could change things in the future. These people are very well connected people. People who know House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on a first name basis. It was a new thing to sit around in a group of like-minded people discussing things that we all have a good amount of knowledge about. This one guy who has been involved with Cuba and Nicaragua and other Latin American countries was talking about his experiences in the 80’s in working with the Sandinistas and contra groups in Nicaragua trying to fight the coups the Reagan administration was supporting. Crazy stuff.

Listening to some of the stories these people told I became aware of how very few people can make a huge difference. Though I often have conversations with one of my roommates about direct action like protesting and marching do make a difference, I don’t always believe it. Tonight gave me a new way to look at this stuff. The fact that I was presented an award from a U.S. House representative (one of the richest I might add) made me realize that I was closer to the action, to making a difference, than I feel most of the time.

So, in July I’m going to Cuba! This is going to be a tiring trip but meaningful. I don’t get excited about much but I’m excited about this. The people who gave me the scholarship told me a few things they want me to look into while I’m there. They want me to break away from the group to investigate things like the hospital and prison systems so I can write about them and hopefully spread the message to the American people that our policy in Cuba is ridiculous. I don’t know if I’ll actually be able to do that, but this whole thing is going to be fun!