Grace Cabrera’s Journey to Reignite the American Dream

At just 11 years old, Grace Cabrera arrived in the United States for the first time with only $5 to her name. Although she and her family were no longer under Fidel Castro’s communist rule in Cuba, the memories of extreme poverty, starvation and political oppression would forever shape their worldview.  

Nearly three decades later, Grace and her family have built a life in Kansas City, Missouri, where they partner with Americans for Prosperity to educate Americans on the realities of an authoritarian government and what happens when you take your freedoms for granted. 

The Pope Confronts Fidel Castro  

In Cuba, the government is God and communism is the religion. Under Castro, religion was outlawed as there can be no higher power than the government and nonsecular belief is centered around the agency and free will of the individual. Grace was just six years old when government authorities tracked and targeted her father for simply preaching the Gospel. There were several instances where the government officials raided their home, exiled them from their hometown, and repeatedly threatened to enforce Cuba’s strict no-religion dictates.  

“It was a constant state of fear,” Grace recalls.  

One day, Grace heard engines outside the house, the unmistakable sign for a government-issued raid. This time when authorities left they took Grace’s father with them. They put him through a phony pre-determined trial, charged him with rebellion, and threw him into a maximum security prison with a 20-year sentence, leaving Grace’s mother to fend for herself and her children. 

Despite being in the prison wing with rapists and murderers, Leonardo made the most of his circumstances and held a weekly Sunday Service for the inmates. He changed many lives and became a pillar of stability for inmates and even prison guards during his first few years there.  

But things were about to change for Leonardo.  

In 1998, Pope John Paul II heard from human rights organizations that Cuba was holding hundreds of religious prisoners. He traveled to the island to meet with Castro and negotiate their release. As a result, Castro immediately freed and then exiled 150 prisoners, including Leonardo.  

The Cabrera family reunited and fled to the United States with nothing but a few dollars and the clothes on their backs. Kansas City would become their new home and the horror they once knew was behind them.  

After just one month, the family refused to accept any government-issued welfare. They knew there was no such thing as a free lunch and that a government that gives favors quickly starts making demands of its reliant citizenry. The Cabrera’s had received a second chance at life. They were here to give back to the United States, not take from it.  

AFP Partners with Grace to Empower Hispanic Voices 

Today, Grace thinks back on her first memories in the U.S. She remembers marveling at the grocery store shelves filled with food and how the streets didn’t crumble beneath her feet as she walked.  

After two decades of adapting to American life, Grace frequents her father’s church services, just a quick drive from the house the family shares in Missouri. There’s rarely an empty seat in the house when Leonardo preaches as he’s built a steadfast community of Hispanics from around the world who find solace in his words and comfort in his story. 

However, America’s trying times are not lost on Grace, and the encroaching threats of Big Government on American life are worrisome. She sees parallels between the downfall of Cuba and the U.S. political landscape, starting with villainizing success, pitting people against one another based on race and gender, censoring speech, news outlets becoming propaganda arms for the government, and record high inflation and taxes. 

“People don’t understand what’s at stake, what they could lose,” warns Grace. “The idea of individual freedom, that is something precious that should be protected.” 

Desperate to preserve the rights and liberties she’d only been granted a few decades prior; Grace began dedicating much of her time to volunteering with AFP.  

“I want people to take advantage of being in a place where they can still have their voices heard,” says Grace. “I want them to feel represented in a way that I never could’ve in my home country.” 

“This is why I choose to fight. AFP allows me to do that in the most effective way.” 

Grace helped recruit her community to attend a series of Grassroots Leadership Academy trainings. Together, this group of new Americans learned cutting-edge tactics and strategies to mobilize as impassioned activists, making way for positive change.  

Whether it was canvassing neighborhoods, using her story to recruit more activists and awaken the masses, or running in a local election, Grace gained the tools to be a dynamic force for change in Missouri and beyond. 

Learn how to make your voice heard, sign up for a Grassroots Leadership Academy Training today!