A Cuban Immigrant Answers: Is America Worth It? | Ernesto Crespo

Mil gracias to my brother and friend, Ernesto Crespo, for accompanying me on my first recorded and filmed interview/conversation (of which, in the coming weeks, I hope to have many more!)

His remarkable story, to which hundreds of thousands of Americans can doubtless relate, will always be a source of inspiration to me.

From him, you'll learn what it was like to grow up in Cuba in the 1980s under the regime of Fidel Castro; how the island struggled during the "Periodo Especial" when the Soviet Union fell; how he assuaged his hunger with a filling concoction (water mixed with sugar); what it was like to be educated in a state-run school bearing the name of "Lenin"; what it was like to feel the pinch of poverty, and the sweetness of socialist "equality"; to aspire to a better future; to dream of a better life; and, finally, to become, an American.

If you or someone you know has a story to tell and would like to join me on a conversation, please send me an email at [e-mail]. All voices are welcome.

Subscribe to this channel, like this video, and comment below with advice on better recording techniques (I think it's time for something more sophisticated than Skype).

What is Finneran's Wake?

Finneran’s Wake – where the ART OF CONVERSATION lives.

Here, no topic is untouchable, no idea inadmissible, and no one too heretical to be heard.

As the great French essayist Montaigne once said, “To my taste, the most fruitful and natural exercise of our minds is CONVERSATION. I find the practice of it the most delightful activity in our lives”.

It certainly is the most delightful activity in my life. I want it to be so in yours as well.

To that end, I humbly welcome you to my channel.

Here, we'll exercise our minds together. Here, we'll practice this delightful activity as friends. We'll engage, now and forever, in the art--the highest and most human art--of conversation!

With affection,
Daniel