Death of an Alliance of the Working Poor” (2014), but her other notable works include “Fanon’s Daughters” (2000), an homage to Haitian feminist theorist and poet Marie Vieux-Chauvet, and “Cry Havana” (2012), a collection of essays, travel journals and meditations on Cuban space. Her forthcoming work includes “Ode to Freedom” (2016), a translation of Frantz Fanon’s “Black Skin, White Masks” into English. Her novel “The Gangster We Are All Looking For” was published in 2006. In 2013, she released a collection of essays, “The Rope Dancer’s Lesson.” The stories in “Cry Havana” also include a foreword on Caribbean literature, which she calls a uniquely cosmopolitan literature. “There’s also something very cosmopolitan about the Cuban sensibility, which I think comes from the island’s rich historical background and from many years of occupation by the Spanish, the French, the Americans and the Spaniards,” she said. “Cuban writers and artists have learned to resist and resist and resist, so there’s a great level of sophistication, and it’s cosmopolitan in the best sense of the word, in that there’s this interconnection of cultures and languages and creeds.” Cortez-Rojas also contributes to various online publications such as Cuba: Cuadernos de la Causa (ed.), as well as is a contributor to the Spanish-language media outlets CubaDebate.com and Prensa Latina. While Cuban writers — and people of color — face various economic challenges here, she stressed that they are at peace with themselves. “I think they are aware that it’s a work in progress; it will never be perfect,” she said. “But there is a consciousness that they are in control of their destiny, and they believe they have a responsibility to live in a world that’s always in need of betterment. That to me is one of the most attractive aspects of Cuba. You can’t fail in Cuba, it’s not like you can be rejected from a job or a scholarship or from a university because your skin color is different or because you come from another country, because they are all aware that it’s not just the person. It’s the people who created it and the institutions that they inhabit.” Cuba has always been considered a “color-blind society,” but she maintains that this is not quite accurate, particularly when it comes to class. “It is a society of color. There are people of color who are economically secure and, on the other hand, there are those who are struggling every day to survive on an island that has one of the highest indices of inflation in the world,” Cortez-Rojas said. “I would say the people of color are definitely the ones who are on the edge. And one thing we have noticed is that these are often the ones who are more critical of the government than some of the white people because they are really struggling financially and emotionally. So I think it’s important to recognize that and really consider how we approach racial and ethnic diversity.” In Cuba, she has also noticed an increasing level of discrimination and racism, especially toward African-American Cubans, who Cortez-Rojas feels may be most affected by the shift in U.S. policy toward Cuba. “The most recent incident that happened in Cuba that was so egregious was the beatings of the young man named Guillermo Fariñas,” she said. “The first time he was beaten I was working in a coffee shop and there was a woman who was watching this beatdown on television, and she had said, ‘Oh, oh! It’s a black man!’ It made no difference to her that he was a Cuban man, and that is how the government deals with racism. The Cuban government is very color-blind, and they are trying to deal with it in many different ways. They make an effort. They really do. It’s not just lip service. I’ve met many Cuban officials and they are very sincere and committed, and I think if there is someone who would be sensitive to that, it’s the U.S. government. But they just don’t see it.” While some might say that the U.S. should not be concerned with U.S. policy toward Cuba, Cortez-Rojas said that this perspective fails to understand that the United States has a huge influence on Cuba through the embargo and the embargo has been directly related to the conditions of a poor population of color like Afro-Cubans. She expressed concern about how this shift could affect Cuba’s relationship with African-Americans in the United States. “If the president continues his effort to normalize the relationship with Cuba, which I feel will affect Afro-Cubans negatively, I think it’s important for us as people of color to speak out,” she said. “I think when we are speaking out in relation to Cuba, it’s very important that we not only look at the government as a whole and how they deal with internal issues, but also how they deal with those external forces. If we care about the people of Cuba, we also have to be concerned about the impact of U.S. policy.” The Cuban-American novelist said she is hopeful that the normalization will not mean that Cubans will suddenly have better economic opportunities, but that the embargo will be relaxed so that the Cuban government will not be forced to rely on aid from other countries. “The reason why I think the Cuban government was willing to reestablish ties with the United States is because they are really beginning to feel that they are in a dire situation,” Cortez-Rojas said. “They have had to depend on China, Russia and Venezuela, and those were not the allies they thought they would have. It’s a sign of their desperation, and the embargo will continue to be lifted. But I do think we should see that as a sign of good faith that the people who are actually in charge of what is happening have decided to open the door for change, and it is important to recognize that.” If President Obama is serious about normalization, he should change U.S. policy, and Cortez-Rojas emphasized that Cuban Americans should recognize the difference between their community and Cuba. “My main message as a writer and an author is that Cubans are not my community, Cubans are my family and I don’t see us as connected in any way,” she said. “I also think the Cubans, when they see the U.S. government as being complicit in their situation and in their lives, they see that as really insulting. When the president speaks of the U.S. values and I agree with him 100 percent, but I think that it is very important to differentiate between the U.S. government, which is one thing, and the Cuban people, which are many different shades of beautiful colors.” Cortez-Rojas said she hopes that in the United States, people will have an open mind to hear what she has to say, and that she hopes to have the opportunity to share her story. “I’m hoping I can go back in the near future, and I don’t think it’s impossible because I will always go back to my roots,” Cortez-Rojas said. “I know it might sound idealistic to have that open mind to hear a different story, but I want that to be what I’m remembered for. And I also want to share some stories of Afro-Cubans who are the kind of folks who represent all the various communities of the Republic of Cuba, all the colors, all the different people. They are beautiful.” The Cuban-American community in Tampa represents more than 125,000 persons of Cuban descent, and is the most densely populated Cuban community in the United States, according to the Census. While she was speaking about the potential for Cuban-Americans to move to Cuba, the Cuban writer who spent time in the exile community here emphasized the importance of the Cuban community in Tampa as a cultural and educational center for Latin America. “I see a lot of cultural exchange going on among the Spanish-speaking and the Latin cultures. Latin American authors, particularly Latin American artists, are very popular in Tampa, especially during the summer when Tampa celebrates Latino arts,” she said. “And people from Cuba are coming to the area to spend time, just like artists from Colombia and Venezuela do. One of the things that I hope that we can do is to provide opportunities for other countries to learn about our place, and I hope that we don’t just talk about those things with the same people.”