July 2018 | The GroundTruth Project

Faith

Cuba’s faithful seek more rights in an era of slow reform

HAVANA — As she jogged along the oceanside promenade known as the Malecón, a woman stopped to hug...

Jul 31, 2018

Rights

Cuba’s ‘rainbow revolution’ changes attitudes toward LGBT community

HAVANA – On a hot and humid day in downtown Havana, the streets are filled with rainbows. One...

Jul 31, 2018

Abel Hernandez Eskenazi, front right, dances with other members of the youth organization at their weekly dance group May 14. Eskenazi, 17, has been leading religious services since his Bar Mitzvah four years ago. (Photo by Riley Robinson/The GroundTruth Project)

Faith

In Havana, young Jews create community

HAVANA — A clear voice rings out into the synagogue. It pierces through the blasts of the seven...

Jul 31, 2018

The image of Saint Mercedes, mounted a flight of stairs above the altar at Our Lady of Mercy church, is the reason many Santería practitioners visit. When they look at the image, they see Obatalá, the parent of all orishas. Yojander Pérez López, a volunteer at the church, said it can be frustrating when people enter and call the statue by the orisha’s name. “She is not Obatalá, she is the mother of Christ,” he said. (Photo by Paxtyn Merten/The GroundTruth Project)

Faith

In Cuba, Santería flourishes two decades after ban was lifted

HAVANA — A young woman in a blue shirt is thigh-deep in the Straits of Florida, carrying a...

Jul 31, 2018

Isqura Arudin, 33, faced religious discrimination at her job as a teacher. She said she was told, ‘you are Muslim and with that thing on your head you can’t work in Cuba,’ for wearing a hijab.

Faith

Cuba’s emerging Muslim community adds to religious diversity

HAVANA, Cuba – In a small living room in central Havana, a group of Cubans crammed together with...

Jul 31, 2018

Navigator

Writing tips from Roy Peter Clark

This column originally appeared in Navigator, GroundTruth’s newsletter for early-career journalists. You can subscribe to Navigator here. Roy Peter Clark...

Jul 24, 2018

Rights

The fight for better pay in D.C.

WASHINGTON –– Venorica Tucker has worked in the service industry since she was around 12 years old, when...

Jul 13, 2018

Children peer through the fence during distribution hours in Zaatari refugee camp on January 18, 2016. (Christopher Lee/GroundTruth)

Navigator

How ‘moral injury’ takes a toll on journalists

This column originally appeared in Navigator, GroundTruth’s newsletter for early-career journalists. You can subscribe to Navigator here. For the last...

Jul 09, 2018