I’m half Afro-Cuban, and I want to be honest about something: I don’t always feel comfortable speaking Spanish without a LOT of prep work.

 
That may sound strange to some people, but language, identity, culture, and confidence can be complicated. I feel connected to the culture. I care deeply about the history. But speaking Spanish publicly, especially when I want to be respectful and accurate, takes work for me.

 
So I worked on this all day.....

 
I wanted this video to have Spanish captions because this conversation matters across communities. It matters to Cuban Americans. It matters to Afro-Cubans. It matters to Black Americans. It matters to anyone thinking about memory, politics, exile, freedom, and what people really mean when they say America was “great.”

 
Here are the English captions:

 
America loves slogans.
Land of the free.
Home of the brave.
And, of course: Make America Great Again.

 
But the question is: great for whom?
Because not everyone in America remembers the same country.

 
For some, America means opportunity.
It means escape.
It means safety.
It means a second chance.

 
For others, America means struggle.
It means being told to wait.
Wait for equality.
Wait for justice.
Wait for a fair wage.
Wait for respect.
Wait for the country to finally live up to the words it says.

 
So when someone says, “Make America Great Again,” not everyone hears hope.
Some hear a warning.
Because “again” depends on who is doing the remembering.

 
And that is why Cuban Americans are so important in this conversation.
Many Cuban Americans, especially in Florida, do not see America as the problem.
They see America as the place their families fled to when Cuba became the problem.

 
For many Cuban exile families, America was not just another country.
It was a rescue.

 
Their parents and grandparents left behind homes, land, businesses, friends, relatives, and an entire life.
Some left because they feared communism.
Others because their property was taken from them.
Some left because they did not feel safe speaking, worshiping, voting, or building freely.

 
So when they hear politicians talk about socialism, communism, or big government control, they do not hear theory.
They hear family history.

 
And that is one of the main reasons so many Cuban Americans became connected to the Republican Party.
Not all Cuban Americans think the same way.
But in South Florida, Republican politics became linked to anti-communism, business ownership, religion, family values, and the belief that America gave exiles the freedom Cuba took away from them.

 
The 2024 FIU Cuba Poll found strong support for Donald Trump among Cuban American voters in Miami-Dade County.
About 68 percent of likely voters supported him.

 
Many still favor hardline policies toward the Cuban government, including sanctions and isolation.
That matters.
Because for many Cuban Americans, voting Republican is not just about taxes.
It is about saying: “We know what government control can become, because our families lived through it.”

 
This was not easy for me to put together, but it mattered to me.

 
Language does not make me more or less Afro-Cuban. But taking the time to honor the language, the history, and the people is part of how I show respect.

 
I’m still learning. I’m still preparing. I’m still finding my voice.

 
And this conversation is part of that.

 
I think we all think Rubio is the same as ME! The question is WHY HAVEN'T WE LIBERATED CUBA YET? Now, let's have that convo.  

 
Kisses,
Katie

And that is also why so many Cuban Americans understand Marco Rubio.

 
Rubio is not just another politician.
He is the son of Cuban immigrants, born into that same history of exile.
His biography says he was born in Miami in 1971 to parents who were searching for the American dream.

 
When Marco Rubio talks about Cuba, freedom, communism, faith, family, and the United States, people listen.
They hear the story they grew up with.
The warning their parents gave them.
The reason they left.

 
That does not mean everyone agrees with him.
But it does mean many people understand where he is coming from.
Because for them, the United States is not perfect, but it gave them an opportunity.

 
And Cuba, under its current government, represents what they do not want.

 
When some Cuban Americans say they want Cuba to change, they are not asking for suffering.
They are saying they want the system to change.
They want freedom.
They want elections.
They want political prisoners to be released.
They want families to stop being afraid.
They want the Cuba their families lost, or at least a Cuba where people can live without fear.

 
Whether you agree with that policy or not, you have to understand the pain.
Because exile is not just moving.
Exile is being pushed out of your own history.
And the United States became the place where many Cuban families rewrote that history.

 
That is why the slogan “Make America Great Again” hits differently.

 
For some Afro-Americans, Indigenous people, immigrants, and working families, “again” can sound like going backward.
Before certain rights.
Before certain protections.
Before certain people had a voice.

 
But for some Cuban Americans, **“again”** can sound like protection.
Protection from communism.
Protection from government control.
Protection from losing everything their families rebuilt.

 
That is the complicated part of America.
One person’s nostalgia can be another person’s nightmare.
One person’s story of freedom can sit right next to another person’s pain.
Both can be true.

 
The United States is a country where families came with nothing and built something.
The United States is also a country where people are still fighting to be treated fairly.

 
-K

it's also worth noting that, while each group of refugees who came to this country has its own distinct history, they all have a lot in common in the general sense. My guess is you could replace Rubio's name with that of most refugee groups and the general description would fit.
I am not a fan of Rubio's, given his sycophantic support of Trump, but I will grant you that he is at least more authentic than most of them.

Every other refugee group has wanted the US to liberate their country... Think about everyone who wanted the US to get into WW2 before we did.  

 
Trump at first said 'America First'. So everyone went with that, but then Trump instead attacked Iran... He tells Rubio that Cuba is "next". I personally feel like he said that sound byte to string Cuban Americans along... And now we don't have enough missiles to take down an Arbys in Compton!  

 
Rubio doesn't have "sycophantic support of Trump". He is CLEARLY distancing himself from the guy on a regular basis. Maybe that will be tomorrow's podcast.  

 
-K

where it is due, but he is his own man, knows he is the current favorite over Vance in the early 2028 polls, and the nomination is probably his to lose.  

MSNow has never been further from the mark. I'm about to vomit on myself. Like, you can't make this stuff up!

vomit on yourself.  There are streets in LA where the homeless are so thick they will happily do it for you.