Spreading Digital Revolution in a Cuban Living Room

Yoani Sanchez, the Cuban blogger who was been recognized internationally for her Generation Y blog, hosts a Blogger Academy to teach other Cubans the skills required to participate in social media, including Twitter, blogging, and Wikipedia. While the Cuban government has not shown any intentions to shut down the Blogger Academy, it continues to view Sanchez as “part of an aggressive US foreign policy” that has limited Cuba’s economic opportunities through a half-century long embargo. Generation Y has won several international awards, and can be read in eighteen languages, and displays an interview with President Obama, factors that only reinforce the government’s opposition. Currently, Sanchez’s Blogger Academy fits into her living room and has no access to an internet connection, which can only be obtained through phones or at tourist hotels. But despite these challenges, it is not only teaching determined Cuban bloggers Internet communication basics, but also uniting them all under a common roof and for a common purpose. Cubans’ integration into the international digital network may be gradual, but it is only bound to increase and demand greater communication freedom. – YaleGlobal