Cuban blogger blocked but undeterred
Cuban blogger Yoani Sanchez teaches students in her Blogger Academy. (Nick Miroff for NPR)
I was listening to NPR on the way to the office this morning and was struck by this story. Yoani Sanchez is a Cuban blogger, virtually unknown in her own country, but influential among Cubans living abroad. Although her blog, Generation Y, is blocked by the Cuban government and she isn’t allowed to have an Internet connection, Sanchez persists. She emails several posts at a time to friends oversees to post on her blog. In turn, they send back comments from her blog.
Sanchez also runs a blogger academy from her home. She teaches others how to use social media tools, which are opening new connections and pathways to information in spite of the government’s efforts to quash access to them.
For me, Sanchez’s story highlighted how privileged we are to enjoy the freedom of speech, easy access to a wealth of information and the growing number of tools available to interact and share information and opinions freely in the digital space.
