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| What I Will Remember Most About Celia Cruz |
What I will remember most about Celia Cruz is how much of a role model she was for all women of color. She had it all- a career in the music industry, and a long lasting marriage- especially at a time when women did not enjoy all the rights we do now, especially a black woman. She never forgot where she came from and never compromised her integrity.
She conquered color lines and biases in the male dominated Latin music industry. Producers would refuse to pay the entire band at times simply because they didn’t want to pay her. But she had a plan. She didn’t mind that they didn’t pay her because she just wanted the people to get to know her and love her. Her plan worked! The people love her!
She hails as a queen – the Queen of Salsa! Her funeral ceremony was fit for a queen. But her lifestyle was very simple and humble. She didn’t even consider herself famous. When approached about writing the story of her life she responded: "¿Yo? Pero yo no ha hecho nada importante. Yo solo canto."
That’s what she was doing – cantando - about 70 years ago as she was singing lullabyes to her siblings. The whole neighborhood used to surround her home just to hear her lullabyes and so began her career as a singer.
This lead to her entering a contest which she won. She kept entering radio contests which she always won. She used the prize money to buy school books. Studying to be a schoolteacher, she finished her studies but her love for her music was stronger. When the female lead singer of the band La Sonora Matancera was leaving the group Celia Cruz stepped in – the rest is history.
The band La Sonora Matancera's first trumpeter, Pedro Knight, would become her husband, her best friend, her cabecita de algodón. The band was also her ticket out of Cuba.
The band fooled Castro that they were just going on tour but they never returned. Fidel got his revenge because he wouldn’t let her return for her father’s funeral or was it her mother’s funeral? Oh! So many stories! Such a long, full and legendary life.
Next page --- >Celia’s Home
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