Celia Cruz, the iconic singer known as the Queen of Salsa, has made history by becoming the first Afro-Latina to appear on U.S. currency.
Singer On US Coin
The famous Cuban- American singer is slated to appear on the 25-cent coin as part of the United States Mint’s 2024 American Women Quarters Program.
The United States Mint chose the late salsa singer as one of the five honorees in the 2024 American Women Quarters Program.
Senators Deb Fischer, R-Neb., and Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., introduced this legislation as a four-year initiative. It passed in 2020 with bipartisan support, theGrio reported.
The other 2024 honorees are:
Patsy Takemoto Mink, the first woman of color to serve in Congress; Civil War-era surgeon Mary Edwards Walker, who was also a women’s rights advocate and an abolitionist; Pauli Murray, a poet, writer, activist, lawyer and Episcopal priest, and Zitkala-Ša, also known as Gertrude Simmons Bonnin, a political activist for Native Americans, according to the official announcement.
Celia Cruz
Celia Cruz was a famous Cuban-American singer of the 1950s-70s. Cruz gained her fame in Cuba and was known for improvising her rhymed lyrics. She went on to master many Afro-Cuban music styles and became known as the “Queen of Salsa” internationally.
In the 1960s, Cruz left Cuba after the Cuban Revolution and became a spokesperson and symbol for the country.
She received three Latin Grammy Awards and two Grammy Awards in her lifetime, and her legacy still carries on to this day.
Cruz, who died in 2003 of brain cancer at the age of 77, is regarded as a cultural icon among Latin performers of the 20th century. She recorded 37 albums and won five Grammy Awards. She received several prestigious honors, such as the National Medal of Arts and a posthumous Grammy for Lifetime Achievement, Variety reports.
The US Mint
Since then, the Mint has released up to five new designs a year, a practice that will continue through 2025. The late Dr. Maya Angelou was the first woman featured on quarters in the initial rollout in 2022.
The design will be released later this year, Variety reports.
She is one of five honorees to be selected for the 2024 American Women Quarters Program.
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