Property of the Revolution (eBook, ePUB)

"Written with the vividness of a poet and the reflexivity of an auto-ethnographer . . . a classic story about displacement, resilience, and triumph, Property of the Revolution offers fresh perspectives and a deeper understanding of the intersectional meanings of home, country, and family."Richard Blanco, 2013 Presidential Inaugural Poet, author of The Prince of Los Cocuyos: A Miami Childhood. In this sweeping, historical, yet intimate memoir, the author details her family‘s transformation from pro-Castro revolutionaries in a scrappy Havana barrio to refugees in a New Hampshire mill towna timeless and timely tale of loss and reinvention. Ana Hebra Flaster was six years old when her working-class family was kicked out of their Havana barrio for opposing communism. Once devoted revolutionaries themselves but disillusioned by the Castro government‘s repressive tactics, they fled to the US. The permanent losses they sufferedof home, country, and loved ones, all within forty-eight hourshaunted her multigenerational family as they reclaimed their lives and freedom in 1967 New Hampshire. There, they fed each other stories of their scrappy barriosome of which Hebra Flaster has shared on All Things Consideredto resurrect their lost world and fortify themselves for a daunting task: building a new life in a foreign land. Weaving pivotal events in CubaUS history with her viejos‘elders‘stories of surviving political upheaval, impossible choices, and "refugeedom," Property of the Revolution celebrates the indomitable spirit and wisdom of the women warriors who led the family out of Cuba, shaped its rebirth as Cuban Americans, and helped Ana grow up hopeful, future-facingAmerican. But what happens when deeply buried childhood memories resurface, demanding an adult‘s reckoning? Here‘s how the fiercest love, the most stubborn will, and the power of family put nine new Americans back on their feet.