Photo Editing | Project Management | Grant Work | Fundraising: Democracy + Communism: 3. Cuba + Bulgaria, in Layers: Paskova_Yana_002

Second from left is a young me of the 1980s, wearing the Communist youth uniform mandatory for all school activities, and a young Cuban student wearing the same in front of an office for the CDR (Committee for the Defense of the Revolution) in April of 2015. The CDR is a network of neighborhood watch organizations peppered across Cuba, that report on any activity they deem counter-revolutionary. My grandfather spent 5 years of his youth in a Communist labor camp after one such organization noted his lack of participation in the party.

Second from left is a young me of the 1980s, wearing the Communist youth uniform mandatory for all school activities, and a young Cuban student wearing the same in front of an office for the CDR (Committee for the Defense of the Revolution) in April of 2015. The CDR is a network of neighborhood watch organizations peppered across Cuba, that report on any activity they deem counter-revolutionary. My grandfather spent 5 years of his youth in a Communist labor camp after one such organization noted his lack of participation in the party.