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Lizbet Martínez is a Cuban violinist and English teacher at M.A. Milam K-8 Center.

During the ""balsero crisis" of 1994, over 30,000 Cubans immigrated to the United States from Cuba on rafts. Seen as a symbol of the balsero exodus, Martínez first became known on August 21, 1994, as a 12-year-old rafter from Cuba. This was when the U.S. Coast Guard picked her and her family out of her raft. The Coast Guard wanted to take her violin because they thought the case might contain a weapon. She then opened the case and started to play "The Star-Spangled Banner" on her violin. She spent five months at the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base before being relocated to Miami.

Martínez attended Florida International University and received a Bachelor of Science degree in music education. At her graduation at Florida International University she played the anthem in front of her fellow graduates to kick off the university's commencement ceremony. Martínez later played on her violin in front of United States Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush. Martínez also performed alongside Gloria Estefan and Jon Secada.

She later became a teacher at Emerson Elementary, before teaching at M.A. Milam K-8 Center. She taught music, until budget cuts took away Milam's music program, leading her to teach English. Martínez has two children. Martínez was also featured in the film Voices from Cuba. After 20 years passed since Martínez emigrated from Cuba, a follow-up article was published about the situation.

References

Citations

1. Horowitz & Suchlicki 2003, p. 321.
2. ^ Tester 2010.
3. ^ Torres 2014.
4. Santiago 2014.
5. "In their own words" 2004.
6. "Violin remains key" 2003.
7. Marquez 1994.
8. ^ Zucco 2003.
9. Davison 1995.
10. De Valle 2003.
11. Diaz 2003.
12. Richter 1995.
13. Kelly 1995.
14. Marquez 2001.
15. Lamas 2003.
16. "The Voices" n.d.

Sources

• Davison, Phil (February 8, 1995). "Cuban 'angel' tries to save refugees". The Independent. Retrieved June 15, 2012.
• De Valle, Elaine (December 17, 2003). "Cuban violinist proof that dreams can come true". Miami Herald. Retrieved March 14, 2016.
• Diaz, Madeline BarM-s (December 17, 2003). "A Star-spangled Performance". The Sun Sentinel. Archived from the original on October 15, 2013. Retrieved June 13, 2012.
• Horowitz, Irving Louis; Suchlicki, Jaime (2003). Cuban Communism (11th ed.). Transaction Publishers. ISBN 978-0-7658-0520-1. Retrieved March 14, 2016.
• "In their own words ..." The Free Library. January 1, 2004. Retrieved October 23, 2013.
• Kelly, Tom (April 14, 1995). "With Violin Music In The Background, Florida's Immigration Debate Begins". The Sun Sentinel. Archived from the original on October 15, 2013. Retrieved June 15, 2012.
• Lamas, Daniela (September 15, 2003). "From Cuba, with her treasured strings attached". Cuba News. Yahoo! Groups. Archived from the original on October 12, 2013. Retrieved October 12, 2013.
• Marquez, Myriam (November 7, 1994). "Cuban Refugees At Guantanamo Caught In Web Of Hopelessness". Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved June 13, 2012.
• Marquez, Myriam (May 23, 2001). "Between Reagan Redux And A Post-elian Reality". Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved June 13, 2012.
• Richter, Paul (March 31, 1995). "For Growing States, GOP Block Grants 'May Be a Trap,' Clinton Says". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved June 13, 2012.
• Santiago, Fabiola (August 18, 2014). "20 years ago, 35,000 'balseros' fled Castro's Cuba on anything that would float". Tampa Bay Times. Retrieved October 30, 2014.
• Tester, Hank (September 23, 2010). "All Grown Up: The Face of the Cuban Rafter Crisis". NBC Miami. Retrieved June 13, 2012.
• "The Voices". Voices from Cuba. Archived from the original on October 15, 2013. Retrieved October 12, 2013.
• Torres, Nora Gámez (August 31, 2014). "Young Cuban rafter who played Star-Spangled Banner on boat is now a mom and teacher in Hialeah". Miami Herald. Retrieved September 3, 2014.
• "Violin remains key part of refugee's life". Sarasota Herald-Tribune. December 17, 2003. Retrieved June 13, 2012.
• Zucco, Tom (December 16, 2003). "Humble violin gave voice to her future". St. Petersburg Times. Retrieved June 13, 2012.

• 1980s births
• American music educators
• American women music educators
• Cuban emigrants to the United States
• Cuban schoolteachers
• Cuban violinists
• Cuban music educators
• Cuban women violinists
• Cuban women music educators
• Teachers of English
• Florida International University alumni
• Living people
• Schoolteachers from Florida
• People from Hialeah, Florida
• 21st-century violinists
• 21st-century women musicians
• 21st-century American women