7/24/2023 0 Comments Celia cruz painting![]() But Celia Cruz as a unifying anticommunist symbol does not match her personal behavior, which could have been considered tantamount to treason by many of her more conservative fans in exile. Cruz’s love for her unreachable homeland was unquestionably a central feature of her persona and of her appeal to Cuban exiles, beyond factional and internal political divides. Her success abroad in turn served as a symbol for a triumphal, anticommunist rags to riches story of postrevolutionary exile. To them, her musical greatness after 1960 testified to the belief that “free” Cuba prior to the 1959 revolution had produced the most significant contributions to the island’s culture, worthy of global recognition. Although she died of cancer in 2003, the “Queen of Salsa” remains beloved by fans of diverse national, racial, and ideological groups.Ĭruz has long been a particular darling of the Cuban American exile community, an oddity given her importance as a Black cultural figure and the exile community’s overwhelmingly white membership. She settled in the United States, where she composed 34 studio albums, won numerous awards, and even earned a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1987. ![]() Following the Cuban Revolution of 1959, however, Cruz famously left Cuba to tour Mexico in 1960 and never went back. She did so despite deeply ingrained racism and sexism on the island. US Postal Serviceīorn in the tenements of Santo Suárez, a working-class Havana neighborhood, Cruz became a star during the 1950s as the lead singer of Cuba’s most important swing band, La Sonora Matancera. ![]() Celia Cruz, the Queen of Salsa, found massive international success after she left Cuba.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |