Sharon’s story is one of terror, courage, and resilience — a reminder of the enduring human spirit that survives even in the darkest of moments.

‘Mom, if anything happens to me, I love you. There’s a war here.’ My mom called me like crazy, but I couldn’t answer her. No one really knew what was happening. We had no help. We were alone, running through an open field with missiles in the sky. Everything was a life-or-death situation."

“By 8:00 AM, I already felt like I was going to die. I felt like they were going to kill me because I was seeing people dying — people being killed right behind me. There was nowhere to go; we were surrounded. And I took a moment to write to my mother...

Not surprised. All of us who lived through that moment in time have been deeply affected.

My family left Cuba because we believed in the promise of America — freedom, opportunity, and the right to speak without fear. If we let censorship and intimidation take root here, we risk becoming the very society we once fled.

Democracy depends on the free exchange of ideas — even unpopular ones. We don’t have to agree with someone to defend their right to speak. We must protect open debate, or we will lose far more than we gain.

When I see people celebrate the deplatforming of those they disagree with, or when I see political leaders call for limiting certain voices “for the public good,” I hear echoes of the country my parents risked everything to escape.

I’m not saying the U.S. is Cuba. But I am saying that silencing people — whether through government action, corporate pressure, or online mobs — is a dangerous road. Once freedom of speech erodes, everything else follows.

Censorship wasn’t presented as censorship. It was presented as “protecting the revolution” and “combating misinformation.” That language sounded noble at first — until we realized it meant there was no space for dissenting voices.

In Cuba, the first thing the regime did was seize control of the media. Independent voices were silenced. Critical journalists were smeared, jailed, or exiled. Soon, there was only one “truth” — the one the government approved.

Thank you!