Independent Cuban journalist to be featured guest at Aug. 2 Faith and Society lecture

Published on July 20, 2023

Department of Religion

ASHLAND, Ohio – Yoe Suárez, an independent Cuban journalist and political refugee, will present “Faith Under Totalitarianism in the 21st Century: Cuba, Freedom and the Church” at Ashland University’s upcoming Faith and Society lecture. It will be held Wednesday, Aug. 2, at the Dwight Schar College of Education’s Ronk Auditorium (340 Samaritan Ave.) at 7 p.m., and will feature a conversation-style format between Suárez and Carlos Campo, president of AU.

The event is free and open to the public, and there will be a cocktail reception starting at 6:15 p.m.

Attendees will get to hear a first-hand account on the current state of affairs in Cuba, as Suárez will describe his experience as a journalist there touching on the intersection between politics and faith. He has worked with non-state media outlets in Cuba since 2014 and has written extensively about human rights and freedom of religion issues. As a result, he and his family have been regularly subjected to intimidation tactics, threats and interrogations by authorities.

Suárez has written three non-fiction books: “La Otra Isla (The Other Island),” “Charles en el Mosaico (Charles in the Mosaic)” and “El Soplo del Demonio: Violencia y Pandillerismo en La Habana (The Breath of the Devil: Violence and Gangs in Havana.” He also compiled “Espectros (Spectrums),” the first anthology of narrative journalism in Cuba, and has published with Spanish media outlets Univisión, Vice and El Espectador y El Español.

For those unable to attend in person, Suárez’s presentation will be streamed at ashland.edu/faith-society.

The ongoing Faith and Society lecture series is designed to give Ashland students and the Ashland community the opportunity to hear experts discuss critical topics of faith and its implications in contemporary society. This lecture is supported by the Hilda E. Bretzlaff Foundation, with additional support from Lee Reinike, a board member of the Ashbrook Center.

For more information, contact Dennis Monokroussos at dmonokro@ashland.edu.

Ashland University is a mid-sized, private university conveniently located a short distance from Akron, Cleveland and Columbus, Ohio. Ashland University (www.ashland.edu) values the individual student and offers a unique educational experience that combines the challenge of strong applied academic programs with a faculty and staff who build nurturing relationships with their students.