Sitting across from me on the coffee table in his living room in an apartment in Southeast Louisville, Omar Pernet Hernández pulls out several envelopes, photographs, and even a medal--all wrapped inside a Cuban flag. He shows them to me one by one. Though I have asked him a question about his life in Cuba, I realize, from looking at his keepsakes, that he’d rather tell me his story in reverse, beginning with his first visit to the United States in 2008--perhaps one of Omar’s proudest moments.
In one picture, there is a group of people assembled around a large oval conference table. Wait, is that President George W. Bush?
Si, Omar confirms.
And is that little dot at the head of the table YOU, Omar?
Si, si.
Another picture shows a close-up of Omar and President Bush and the First Lady and another shows him with a group of people posing in front of the Statue of Liberty.
The pictures were taken on September 23, 2008 on Governors’ Island during the General Assembly meetings
in New York. Omar was living in Spain at the time, but he had been invited as a special guest to a Freedom Agenda luncheon where he and a small group of other activists from repressive governments around the world shared their heroic tales and discussed how to better promote liberty.
But how was he selected for this event? Omar looks at me, smiles smugly, and says, “I am universal.”
Read more about how Omar became "universal" as an outspoken defender of human rights, landing him in jail as a political prisoner four separate times in Flavors from Home.
In one picture, there is a group of people assembled around a large oval conference table. Wait, is that President George W. Bush?
Si, Omar confirms.
And is that little dot at the head of the table YOU, Omar?
Si, si.
Another picture shows a close-up of Omar and President Bush and the First Lady and another shows him with a group of people posing in front of the Statue of Liberty.
The pictures were taken on September 23, 2008 on Governors’ Island during the General Assembly meetings
in New York. Omar was living in Spain at the time, but he had been invited as a special guest to a Freedom Agenda luncheon where he and a small group of other activists from repressive governments around the world shared their heroic tales and discussed how to better promote liberty.
But how was he selected for this event? Omar looks at me, smiles smugly, and says, “I am universal.”
Read more about how Omar became "universal" as an outspoken defender of human rights, landing him in jail as a political prisoner four separate times in Flavors from Home.
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