An Inside Look at the Dissident Summit
Hello all! Charlie here, back again with a quick update and a behind the scenes take on our speakers’ reflections on Dissident doings.
Last month, we hosted our Dissident Summit in which we trained and welcomed new faces to our team. We interviewed a few from the new class to offer you an inside look at how the summit went and what it was like for the speakers to come together for the first time. Meet Daniel Chang Contreras, our new speaker from Venezuela and Mailyn Salabarria, our speaker from Cuba.
Our new guard.
Daniel was born and raised under the authoritarian regime of Hugo Chavez and endured his country’s severe economic decay throughout his childhood. In 2017 he fled along with millions of his countrymen to seek freedom in America. When asked why he joined the Dissident Project, Daniel said, “I joined because I am concerned about how little people know of the destruction and chaos that authoritarians and socialist regimes have brought across the world. It is important for Americans to understand how miraculous the American experiment is and how important it is to keep it.” It is often difficult to appreciate a blessing when you have not experienced life without it. Aware that his story could encourage others to protect the liberty that makes America so special, he joined ranks with our speakers.
Mailyn had a different journey to the Dissident Project. Born in Cuba, Mailyn moved to America in 2001 where she got her law degree and her MS in mass communication and journalism. Since moving to the states, Mailyn has staunchly defended liberty in the public sphere in addition to raising her two children. When asked about why she joined the Project, she said, “I believe that sharing my life story can help open the eyes of many fellow Americans that are taking their freedom for granted. Learning about these life experiences is crucial for the younger generations who were born after the Berlin Wall fell and have no prior points of comparison with living under absolute government control.” Although she was already the Director of Community Engagement for Parents Defending Education and a Senior Fellow with PDE Action, Mailyn still jumped at the chance to share her story through the Dissident Project.
The in-person training summit gave speakers the opportunity to join a community of like-minded peers, sharing their stories, encouraging one another, and establishing a united vision for the project. Daniel commented, “My favorite part of the summit was meeting and getting to know a group of wonderful and inspiring people. Hearing their stories and learning from them was an invaluable experience.” Even fellow speakers found inspiration and encouragement from these powerful testimonies. Mailyn said she felt reassured to know that she was not alone in her experience. Though heart-wrenching, the stories of her fellow Dissidents validated her own. Her favorite part of the event was recognizing that “regardless of how far away and from different parts of the world we are, — different languages, cultures, and religions —the common denominator of our testimonies was the same.” This is our hope for the Dissident Project: that the truth in these testimonies will inspire others with the courage to speak out against authoritarianism and tyranny.
That’s all for now, As always, thank you all for your support — we simply could not do it without you!
