Úrsula Hilaria Celia de la Caridad Cruz Alfonso, widely known as Celia Cruz, a popular Afro-Latin musician and artist of the 20th century, has been featured on the a coin minted by the US Treasury. She is the first Black-Latin woman ever featured on the US 25-cent coin, also known as a quarter. The quarters features Celia Cruz and other trailblazing American women. Other women featured on quarters include: activist, lawyer, poet, writer, and Episcopal priest Rev. Dr. Pauli Murray, e first woman of color to serve in Congress Patsy Takemoto Mink, Civil War era surgeon and women’s rights activist Dr. Mary Edwards Walker, and writer, composer, educator, and political activist Zitkala-Ša.
One of the most popular Afro-Latin musican and artist of the 20th century, she became the “Queen of Salsa”. She won multiple Grammy Awards, including Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, Best Tropical Latin albums and performance, Best Salsa Album, Best Salsa/Merengue Album
Now, she is one, of the five women selected by the U.S. Mint as the face of the quarter coin in 2024, in the program to celebrate the achievements by women in the United States of America.
The quarter with Celia Cruz is, a according to the The US Treasury Mint, inspired "inspired by her poetry and symbolic of the way she lived." On the quarter, a sculpture of Celia Cruz shows her singing, with "AZUCAR!" inscription behind her.
Commenting on the selection of “Queen of Salsa” Celia Cruz, US Mint director Ventris Gibson stated that: “Celia Cruz’s influence reached well beyond her music. She was proud of and celebrated her Cuban culture, which empowered Afro-Latino Americans in embracing their heritage, making her an important and enduring cultural icon."
Since 2022, the U.S. Mint has been selected women who have significant contributions and accomplishments. 14 women have been selected so far (see See: Maya Angelou Featured On the US 25-cent Coin: Honoring Extraordinary Women).
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Celia Cruz: Memorable Achievements of a Black-Latina Woman
Celia Cruz was born in Havana, Republic of Cuba on October 21, 1925. In her early career years as a musician in the 1950s, Celia Cruz performed and recorded her music in a variety of Afro-Cuban music styles including guaracha, rumba, afro, son, and bolero.
Following the 1960 Cuban Revolution and the consequential increasing nationalization of the music industry, Celia Cruz left Cuba and became a prominent activist in the Cuban community in exile.
After leaving Cuba, Celia Cruz continued her music career in Mexico, before finally moving to, and becoming a permanent resident in, the United States. She died in Fort Lee, New Jersey, U.S. on July 16, 2003. Her last most memorable performance, in which she sang "Bemba colorá", was performed in the festival Central Park SummerStage in New York City, New York on July 16, 2002 to a full house at the free outdoor performing arts.
Celia Cruz has been honored during her lifetime and after her death. The honors include a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame (1987), Honoris Causa doctorates from Yale University, Florida International University, and the University of Miami, Billboard Latin Music Hall of Fame in 1994 and the International Latin Music Hall of Fame in 1999.
On March 16, 2011, Celia Cruz was honored by the United States Postal Service with a commemorative postage stamp.
On June 2, 2021, the City of New York named the intersection of Reservoir Avenue and East 195th Street in the Kingsbridge Heights section of The Bronx, near the High School that is the named in her honor, "Celia Cruz Way".
©2024 AfroAmerica Network
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