Mirta Ojito is a Marielito and a newspaper reporter. She is also the author of Finding Mañana, a memoir of the Mariel boatlift

Mariel boatlift

The Mariel boatlift was a mass emigration of Cubans who departed from Cuba's Mariel Harbor for the United States between April 15 and October 31, 1980....

.

Ojito was born in Havana

Havana

Havana is the capital city, province, major port, and leading commercial centre of Cuba. The city proper has a population of 2.1 million inhabitants, and it spans a total of — making it the largest city in the Caribbean region, and the most populous...

, Cuba

Cuba

The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...

 and lived there before emigrating to Miami in 1980 when she was 16 years old¹. She was most recently named Phi Theta Kappa

Phi Theta Kappa

Phi Theta Kappa, also ΦΘΚ or sometimes PTK , is the international honor society of two-year colleges and academic programs, particularly community colleges and junior colleges. It also includes Associate's degree-granting programs offered by four-year colleges...

 International Honor Society's 2006 Distinguished Alumna of the Year at the Society's 88th Annual Convention in Seattle, Washington.

Ojito attended Miami-Dade Community College and graduated Florida Atlantic University

Florida Atlantic University

Florida Atlantic University, also referred to as FAU or Florida Atlantic, is a public, coeducational, research university located in , United States. The university has six satellite campuses located in the Florida cities of Dania Beach, Davie, Fort Lauderdale, Jupiter, Port St. Lucie, and in Fort...

 in 1986 .

Ojito has been a reporter for the Miami Herald, El Nuevo Herald

El Nuevo Herald

El Nuevo Herald is a McClatchy newspaper published daily in Spanish in Miami, Florida, in the United States. El Nuevo Heralds sister paper is The Miami Herald, also produced by the McClatchy Company.-About El Nuevo Herald:...

 and, in 1996, The New York Times, covering immigration. Ojito has received the American Society of Newspaper Editors

American Society of Newspaper Editors

The American Society of News Editors is a membership organization for editors, producers or directors in charge of journalistic organizations or departments, deans or faculty at university journalism schools, and leaders and faculty of media-related foundations and training organizations...

' award for best foreign reporting, and she shared the 2000 Pulitzer Prize for national reporting, for her contribution to The New York Times series "How Race is Lived in America."

Ojito has taught journalism at New York University

New York University

New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...

, Columbia University

Columbia University

Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...

, and the University of Miami

University of Miami

The University of Miami is a private, non-sectarian university founded in 1925 with its main campus in Coral Gables, Florida, a medical campus in Miami city proper at Civic Center, and an oceanographic research facility on Virginia Key., the university currently enrolls 15,629 students in 12...

. She is a graduate of the mid-career master's degree program at Columbia University School of Journalism.

External links

• Personal homepage bio
• Penguin books author bio
• ¹From The Authentic Voice pg. 52 "Ch. 3 - Best of Friends, Worlds Apart"