Hi there! I like to go by Franki around these parts. I am a Cuban multidisciplinary artist and a lover of warm weather, which is why St. Petersburg, Florida, is my home.

I am a writer.

You will find that my writing reflects my interests in politics, history, and sociology. In particular, the life of the Hispanic immigrant forced to seek opportunities abroad has been a topic I revisit time after time.

When I am not writing for publications or working my office job, you can find me leading or speaking at educational forums organized via the Tampa Bay branch of the Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL). Here is where my love of historical facts mixes with my love of education. Previously, I have facilitated discussions on topics such as the history of immigration in the United States and its ever-changing legal status, and the history of US interventions in Latin America as context for the kidnapping of Nicolás Maduro.

Over the past year, I have been fortunate enough to publish my writing in the Sapphic Sun, a local monthly zine dedicated to chronicling queer history in the Tampa Bay area. I’ve also been a part of the PSL media team, helping to write and edit captions and posts for the PSL Tampa Bay Instagram page. Lastly, I have published on Medium in my own time. I hope to continue this positive trend and cement myself in the world of journalism in order to highlight the stories often overlooked in Western mainstream media.

I am a painter.

My paintings, on the other hand, try to capture elusive feelings through the use of simple bright colors and surrealist elements. I love the human form, and I also love mixing it with plants and animal parts in order to create modern yet primal imagery. Overall, I want to answer questions like “What is our place in the world?” and “Can it be changed?”