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Former Chattanoogan wants to explore similarities, differences between U.S., Cuban millennials

J.C. Cedeno, right, and his wife, Greta, came to Chattanooga to try to raise money for a documentary that Cedeno and his daughter, Nikki Rios, are making that compares the lives of millennials of Chattanooga with those in Cuba. Rios was raised in Chattanooga and now lives in Miami. J.C. Cedeno, right, and his wife, Greta, came to Chattanooga to try to raise money for a documentary that Cedeno and his daughter, Nikki Rios, are making that compares the lives of millennials of Chattanooga with those in Cuba. Rios was raised in Chattanooga and now lives in Miami.

By Lynda Edwards July 8, 2016 7 min read

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Bridge of Understanding: Former Chattanoogan wants to explore similarities, differences between U.S. and Cuban millennials

This year, J.C. Cedeno and his wife, Greta, visited the cities of Havana and Trinidad in Cuba to research their documentary. Older cars are often the rule in Cuba since newer ones are hard to find and expensive. American cars have not been shipped to Cuba since the Cuban Trade Embargo began in the early 1960s.

Nikki Rios takes the edge off Miami's steamy summer weather with cold watermelon juice from Las Olas, her favorite budget lunch spot. She is producing a web series that will include segments on favorite foods and hangouts of Chattanoogan millennials compared to the snacking and chilling of Cuban millennials.

Cuban-Venezuelan-American Nikki Rios was born in Erlanger hospital and says Chattanooga welcomed her foreign born parents into America. She now lives in Miami and is seen here next to the entrance of Miami's Calle Ocho, the main street running through Little Havana, a neighborhood that welcomed refugees from Fidel Castro's Cuba. This fall, Rios plans to film a web series in Cuba, comparing Chattanooga millennials with their Cuban counterparts. She will examine each side's nightlife, use of technology and even their attitudes.

Former Chattanoogan Nikki Rios now leads tour groups through Miami's vibrant Little Havana neighborhood where one of her favorite stops is the Guantanamera cigar shop. Owner Luis, here with Rios, always makes fresh coffee for his guests. She is producing and hosting her own web series that compares Chattanooga millennials' lifestyles, passions and careers to those of 20-somethings in Cuba.

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Nikki Rios sees herself as a true Chattanooga homegirl although she is Cuban-American (with additional Venezuelan roots from mom and dad) who works as a tour guide in Miami, showing folks from all over the world the coolest hangouts and sights in the Florida city.

“I think of Chattanooga as my childhood home-I was born in Erlanger-and I love Chattanooga,” the 24-year-old Rios said by phone from Miami. “It’s the city that welcomed my parents into America.”

Now she is trying to combine her Cuban and American heritages into a documentary web series that compares the lives of millennials in the Cuban cities of Havana and Trinidad to millennials in Chattanooga. She wants to show how the youth in both nations use (or can’t use) social media, how they date, get to work, plan weddings, have babies, find jobs, find housing, have a night on the town, attend college – basically how they live their lives.

To make the documentary, however, she needs money. Her father, J.C. Cedeno, has been in town trying to raise the funds. He made a pitch to EPB, asking for a financial sponsorship so he could hire a local crew to shoot scenes in Chattanooga then go to Cuba for 10 days this fall to film there. On June 23, he got the good news that EPB decided to be a sponsor. EPB media strategist Niki Phillips says. The sponsorship would be in the form of financial support but the amount had not yet been decided.