Singer Celia Cruz To Become First Afro-Latina On US Currency


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Late Cuban American singer Celia Cruz, known as the Queen of Salsa, will be the first Afro-Latina to appear in the U.S. quarter.

Cruz was one of the most celebrated Latin music artists of the 20th century, recorded over 80 albums, and gained worldwide fame.

She was recognized with 23 gold albums, three Grammy Awards, four Latin Grammy Awards, and the President’s National Medal of Arts, according to the Smithsonian Institution. She was also honored with a posthumous Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2016 Grammys.

The singer was born in 1925 in Havana and started her singing career in the 1940s. After the 1959 Cuban revolution, she was exiled to the U.S. after a performance tour in Mexico.

Although salsa was a genre dominated by male artists, Cruz became a celebrated star and helped increase the popularity of salsa and Latin music in general, NBC news reports.

The U.S. Mint selected Cruz and four other women as the 2024 honorees for the American Women Quarters Program.

The Mint is issuing five quarters every year from 2022 to 2025 to honor “ethnically, racially, and geographically diverse individuals.” The women come from diverse fields, among them suffrage, civil rights, abolition, government, the humanities, science, space, and the arts.

“All of the women being honored have lived remarkable and multi-faceted lives, and have made a significant impact on our Nation in their unique way,” Mint Director Ventris C. Gibson said in a news release. “The women pioneered change during their lifetimes, not yielding to the status quo imparted during their lives. By honoring these pioneering women, the Mint continues to connect America through coins which are like small works of art in your pocket.”

The designs for the 2024 American Women Quarters will be released in mid-2023.

 

 


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