thanks very much for publishing this story. i chanced upon it this morning while searching for something else, saw the photo of nehanda and got curious. your story is your own, but believe me it shares elements with so many others who stumbled upon her in havana, but didn’t have the presence of mind to write about it. i appreciate your honesty and willingness to empathize with her struggle, her courage, her fight for freedom, her candid genuineness, her tolerance for feminist academics *wink*, her pain, her revolutionary love, her intense beauty, her joy, and above all, her deep longing for home. i will always cherish the time i got to spend learning from her and i hope you do, too. please keep her in your heart and your prayers for a sensible resolution to her struggle and those of all “forgotten” black women freedom fighters who were brave enough to risk everything to fight injustice.