God Bless America, Baby

Here’s the trailer for my documentary, “God Bless America, Baby.” The film is a thought-provoking portrait of a Florida group that joined the shocking assault on the U.S. Capitol Building on Jan. 6, 2021. Online detectives called them the Machine Gun Kitty Crew. Three members of the Far Right group went on the run from the … Read more

Piecing together a Chinese odyssey

The U.S. ambassador’s telegram was urgent, warning that hostilities were spreading quickly and Americans were in danger. The embassy decided to carry out “emergency evacuation plans at once for practically all of China.” Three days later, Jay Brownlee Davidson and his wife, Jennie, joined hundreds of other Americans who were fleeing Nanking, now called Nanjing. … Read more

Migration exodus has hurt dissident groups, U.S. says

Hundreds of thousands of Cubans have left the island over the past few years, which has weakened dissident and human rights groups, U.S. officials say. In response, the State Department last year offered up to $1.5 million for projects aimed at helping recently exiled Cuban activists to “continue to work with their networks and counterparts … Read more

Cuba spending timeline

The State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development reported spending $246,482,929 for Cuba-related projects from 2001 to 2024. This graphic shows how the money was spent by year. You can see that six organizations – including the National Endowment for Democracy, Grupo de Apoyo de la Democracia, Pan-American Development Foundation, International Republican Institute, … Read more

Cuban-American journalist receives prestigious fellowship

The International Center for Journalists earlier this month announced six Knight Fellows, including Cuban-American journalist José Jasán Nieves. Jasán is editor-in-chief of El Toque, a leading source for news about Cuba. As a Knight Fellow, he “will work to produce a sustainability playbook for exiled newsrooms on how to thrive while serving their home communities … Read more