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Speaker 1: Joseph pop quiz. Oh no, it's a fun one, I promise,

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Speaker 1: I doubt it. Okay, but hit Name something that Cubans

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Speaker 1: everywhere can agree on.

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Speaker 2: What that a Cuban sand which was invented in Miami?

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Speaker 1: Hmm, No, actually, the Cuban sandwich was invented in Tampa,

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Speaker 1: I think Jesus. Okay, you know what. Let me try

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Speaker 1: this again, all right. Name someone that Cubans everywhere can

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Speaker 1: agree on, like they all across the board unanimously vote yes.

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Speaker 3: Oh, okay, you mean La Reina de la Salsan.

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Speaker 1: Yes, I mean Cuba, you mean Okay, but give the

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Speaker 1: people what they want the name, please.

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Speaker 2: Okay, okay? The one the only sell Yau, a name that.

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Speaker 1: Needs zero introduction. Over a career of nearly six decades,

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Speaker 1: thirty seven albums and over ten million records sold, Celia

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Speaker 1: Cruz made waves across the whole world with her unmistakable voice.

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Speaker 2: There's literally no one else who sounds like her.

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Speaker 3: Doesn't matter if you're hearing her at a nochebuena or

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Speaker 3: at akaribnokrioio restaurant. It can be a super decup from

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Speaker 3: the sixties and you still got to go.

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Speaker 1: That's sell yah and crazy. But that's true here in

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Speaker 1: the States as much as it is in Latin America

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Speaker 1: and even across the Atlantic. Celia got her start recording

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Speaker 1: and performing nightclubs in Cuba, Venezuela, and Mexico until political

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Speaker 1: exile brought her to New York City.

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Speaker 3: She made New York her musical home almost as much

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Speaker 3: as Savannah, and from there she truly went global with

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Speaker 3: iconic performances in Europe, Africa, and Asia.

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Speaker 1: I mean, the world was her own personal Havana nightclub,

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Speaker 1: and she transformed Latin music in the process. But as

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Speaker 1: well as you know her voice, how well do you

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Speaker 1: know her story?

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Speaker 2: We're going to have that baby.

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Speaker 1: I'm your host, Liliana Oscuez and I'm Joseph Carrio and

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Speaker 1: this is Becoming an Icon a weekly podcast where we

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Speaker 1: give you the rundown on how today's most famous LATINX

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Speaker 1: stars have shaped pop culture.

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Speaker 2: And given the world some extra level.

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Speaker 1: Sit back and get comfortable.

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Speaker 4: Because we are going in the only way we know how,

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Speaker 4: with buenas bibras, buenas riesases and a lot of opinions

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Speaker 4: as we relive their greatest achievements on our journey to

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Speaker 4: find out what makes them so iconic.

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Speaker 3: M brakibaraku makum bamba lem baraki barakumkim bam bam baraku

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Speaker 3: makum bamba.

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Speaker 2: Wow. Wow, that is a ton twister.

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Speaker 1: I also can't believe you got through so many repetis

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Speaker 1: of that. I can barely get through one line of

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Speaker 1: that song.

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Speaker 2: Wait, you know what this word actually means? Right?

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Speaker 5: Uh?

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Speaker 2: Yeah?

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Speaker 1: You know what's so funny is I remember thinking, what

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Speaker 1: does that word mean in Spanish? I've never heard that

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Speaker 1: word in Spanish. And it's actually because it's not a

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Speaker 1: Spanish word. Did you know that it's actually derivative of

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Speaker 1: African origin, and it means to like chill and like

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Speaker 1: enjoy and like vibe out. That's what it means. I

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Speaker 1: feel like it's time for a little game. Joseph can

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Speaker 1: do a little Two truths and a Lie, Oh.

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Speaker 2: My gosh, about about who? No, not about you.

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Speaker 1: Things are not always about you. Okay, let's talk about Celia.

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Speaker 1: So two truths and a Lie. A Celia Cruz grew

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Speaker 1: up in a house of sixteen children. B Celia Cruz's

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Speaker 1: biggest concert was in the Canary Islands or See. Celia

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Speaker 1: Cruz was banned from visiting the United States.

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Speaker 2: Oh, I actually think I know which is the lie?

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Speaker 2: Which is the lie? Which is the lie?

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Speaker 1: Oh?

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Speaker 2: Maybe that b Selector's biggest concert was in the Canary Islands.

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Speaker 1: Actually the answer is a she grew up in a

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Speaker 1: house of fourteen children. I'm not sixteen.

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Speaker 2: I got well, you know, knowing the times. I don't

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Speaker 2: think that that was super fetched, like, because I have

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Speaker 2: like nine aunts and uncles.

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Speaker 1: Same my mom's one of nine.

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Speaker 2: My girl chat So if you what is that twenty

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Speaker 2: six bitch, I would have been like mm hm, yes,

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Speaker 2: that one.

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Speaker 1: But way she was banned from the US yep. But

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Speaker 1: we'll get back to that later in the episode. For now,

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Speaker 1: just know that Celia Cruz came of age during a

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Speaker 1: politically and socially complex time in Cuba, and the same

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Speaker 1: is true of her most groundbreaking years in the USA.

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Speaker 1: It's all to say, there's more to her life, into

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Speaker 1: her music than meets the eye.

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Speaker 2: Okay, I have so many questions, but we've got a

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Speaker 2: story to tell.

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Speaker 1: Yes right, you are, Joseph. And that story begins in

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Speaker 1: a little neighborhood in Havana called Santos Suats, where Simon Cruz,

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Speaker 1: a Railroad Stoker and his wife Catalina Alfonso Ramos welcome

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Speaker 1: their daughter into the world, Ursula Ilaria Celia Bella Garida

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Speaker 1: Cruz Alfonso.

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Speaker 2: Wow, that was a mouthful. She is our future.

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Speaker 3: Reyna born in October twenty first, nineteen twenty five, m

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Speaker 3: a Libra's son, a Sagittarius moon. As a Libra son,

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Speaker 3: she strives for balance, harmony, and fairness. That does sound

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Speaker 3: like her, and as a Sagittarius Moon, she loves to

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Speaker 3: explore the unknown and connect with people from.

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Speaker 2: All walks of life. Sure sounds like our girl, Celia.

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Speaker 2: Uh huh.

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Speaker 1: And whether it's thanks to the planets or being the

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Speaker 1: eldest of her four siblings and ten cousins, Celia connected

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Speaker 1: with those around her from an incredibly early age.

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Speaker 2: According to her mother, she started singing at nine or

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Speaker 2: ten months, often in the middle of the night. That's

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Speaker 2: kind of like me.

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Speaker 1: And according to Celia, her mother with joke is the muchachita, this.

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Speaker 3: Little girl is gonna work nights. That is totally definitely me.

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Speaker 3: Me and Celia, we are two peas.

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Speaker 2: In a podcast.

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Speaker 1: I feel like if I had birth do you, I

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Speaker 1: would say that about you too. You are like Oh Muchachito, Hello.

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Speaker 2: Now.

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Speaker 1: Singing was literally Celia's life. When the other children were born,

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Speaker 1: she would sing them lullabies to get them to sleep.

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Speaker 2: She also sang in a local neighborhood ensemble Boton de Oro,

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Speaker 2: and she sang in school during Friday's Actosilkos or civicat.

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Speaker 1: Celia's musical gifts were enormous, but so was her musical heritage.

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Speaker 1: During the nineteen thirties, Celia would enjoy the sounds of

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Speaker 1: Havana's incredibly diverse musical scene. Peeking into the windows of

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Speaker 1: those clubs and cabarets.

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Speaker 3: I'm picturing in the early days of big, glitzy Cuban

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Speaker 3: bandstands and orchestras.

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Speaker 5: It's giving like a dirty dancing Havana nights. But like,

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Speaker 5: you know, like child appropriate. By the way, that movie

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Speaker 5: is so underrated, Like it gets such a bad rap.

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Speaker 1: But I'm telling you, if you were like home and

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Speaker 1: you're like, you know what, I just tant to pour

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Speaker 1: myself a glass of wine put on Dirty Dancing camandaites.

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Speaker 1: It's such a treat.

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Speaker 2: Every time I do it, I end up with like

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Speaker 2: two or three bottles of wine.

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Speaker 1: So yeah, yeah, okay, well fine, that's a problem. But

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Speaker 1: here's the thing. When you're watching this movie, you're gonna

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Speaker 1: be like, Okay, Lelena, what are you talking about, So like,

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Speaker 1: let's tone it down a little bit, right, So it's

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Speaker 1: that movie, but way less sweaty, and way before the

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Speaker 1: salsa that Celia herself would help make a mainstay of

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Speaker 1: Latin night life worldwide.

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Speaker 2: The world of.

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Speaker 3: Sela's upbringing was a world of charanga, mambo rumba, rhythm

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Speaker 3: centric Afro Cuban musical styles with big, eclectic percussion sections

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Speaker 3: and vocals.

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Speaker 1: The foundation of what would eventually become those big bands

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Speaker 1: with the horn sections, which itself came before salsa.

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Speaker 3: And when she wasn't soaking up the sounds of Cuban

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Speaker 3: son montuno, she was learning traditional songs from her neighbor,

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Speaker 3: who was a santina.

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Speaker 1: Ooh aka, someone who practices a santeria, a uniquely Afro

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Speaker 1: Cuban religious tradition that had been carried on since the

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Speaker 1: days of slavery.

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Speaker 2: Mm hmm. And Celia's father was a strict Catholic and

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Speaker 2: did not approve of and.

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Speaker 1: It wouldn't be the last time that Celia went against

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Speaker 1: her father's wishes, but welcome back to that.

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Speaker 2: Okay. So little Celia's peeking through the windows, singing for

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Speaker 2: the audio shaws and for her cousins and dreaming big dreams.

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Speaker 2: When does she get to the club.

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Speaker 1: You are always trying to get us to the club, Joseph, Like,

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Speaker 1: let's at least wait for eight thirty.

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Speaker 2: Your girl wants to work nights. Boom. Okay.

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Speaker 1: So Celia has this incredible musical upbringing, surrounded by Cuban

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Speaker 1: music visionaries. Singing is her life. One day, while she's

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Speaker 1: singing the younger kids to sleep like hush, she notices

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Speaker 1: her neighbors standing outside the door, listening like in a

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Speaker 1: sweet way, right, yes, yes, not creepy at all.

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Speaker 2: Okay.

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Speaker 1: It turns out that one of Celia's cousins had been

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Speaker 1: bringing neighbors to listen to Celia's voice without her even

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Speaker 1: realizing it was happening. Observing the neighbor's reactions, that same

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Speaker 1: cousin went up to Celia and said.

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Speaker 2: The girl, put on your Sunday best. I'm taking you

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Speaker 2: to a singing contest.

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Speaker 1: Her cousin took her to the local radio station, Radio

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Speaker 1: Garcia Vira. It is always the cauz who was doing

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Speaker 1: the most.

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Speaker 2: You know what means look at that. I know you.

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Speaker 1: I know it's that cause they're always doing the most. Now,

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Speaker 1: this was the first time Celia had ever used a

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Speaker 1: what microphone. She let it rip She's saying hango and

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Speaker 1: she won a recording contract a cake yay, okay, okay okay,

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Speaker 1: hold on. But that was just the beginning. The station

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Speaker 1: asked her to sing regularly on Saturdays, and she would

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Speaker 1: go on to perform and singing contests at every radio

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Speaker 1: station in Cuba.

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Speaker 5: And this was way before social media, even for TV.

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Speaker 5: The radio was the hot new thing exactly. Radio was

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Speaker 5: the path to a musical.

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Speaker 2: Career, and Celia was flying down that path.

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Speaker 1: But she did have one tiny obstacle.

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Speaker 2: Dear old Dad, it's like Papa, don't preach exactly now.

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Speaker 1: While Celia's mother was supportive of her dream of singing,

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Speaker 1: her father was a bit more skeptical.

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Speaker 2: Classic Latino parent mm hmmm.

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Speaker 1: And despite how vibrant and ubiquitous the musical scene was

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Speaker 1: in Havanah, singing wasn't exactly seen as a respectable career.

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Speaker 1: Celia's father shared this view and wanted Celia to pursue

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Speaker 1: a teaching career. Why are our parents always crushing our

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Speaker 1: artistic dreams up? What is wrong with our parents?

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Speaker 2: Like?

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Speaker 3: Okay, well, teachers are superheroes and everything shout out to

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Speaker 3: miss guys in the Pismol Beach disaster and clueless. But

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Speaker 3: can you imagine a world where Celia Gruth became a teacher?

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Speaker 1: No, I want no part of that, like to lead it,

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Speaker 1: erase it nothing?

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Speaker 2: Okay? And guess what?

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Speaker 1: Neither did Celia, although at first she did follow her

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Speaker 1: father's wishes by attending college at Las Squela normal for

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Speaker 1: teachers in Havana.

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Speaker 2: Excuse me? What is the normal school for normal jobs?

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Speaker 2: Like they really named it that.

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Speaker 1: It's the school you go to to finish your basic

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Speaker 1: be career.

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Speaker 2: I do not want to go there. I flunked at

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Speaker 2: a normal school. I was kicked out of normal school.

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Speaker 1: It's basic the academy and she was having none of it.

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Speaker 1: But Celia would not stay for long. For one she

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Speaker 1: had a string of radio contest victories under her belt,

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Speaker 1: and then one day a professor shared some crucial Sabiduria,

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Speaker 1: telling her.

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Speaker 3: Celia is scuca mabien. What a teacher makes in a month,

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Speaker 3: an entertainer can make in one day.

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Speaker 1: Get that money, huh me. And that's when Celia changed majors.

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Speaker 1: In nineteen forty seven, Celia entered havanas a National Conservatory

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Speaker 1: of Music to study music theory, voice, and piano. Get it, bitch,

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Speaker 1: that's what we want for you.

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Speaker 2: That's how you prove to your parents that you could

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Speaker 2: do it.

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Speaker 1: I just really am so tired. This is not the

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Speaker 1: first time we have talked about the parentals trying to

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Speaker 1: be all conservative, making all of their nimnals accountants and

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Speaker 1: lawyers and doctors like we have a creative spirit, Like

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Speaker 1: our entire culture has so much creative we are born

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Speaker 1: dancing and singing from the womb. Like parents, let your

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Speaker 1: children be artistic.

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Speaker 2: Right, Just wait till Santi wants to be a painter.

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Speaker 2: Rich I really bought him.

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Speaker 1: You have your letter?

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Speaker 3: Oh yeah, I mean you know, you really are that

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Speaker 3: like creative like curl you you're all. But I also

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Speaker 3: have his submissions to all of the colleges.

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Speaker 1: Now listen, I'm all about breaking generational curses, and to me,

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Speaker 1: one of the biggest curses that keeps us outside of

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Speaker 1: creative industries, whether it's film or television or any creative field.

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Speaker 1: Whatever you feel is creative. I really think it's because

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Speaker 1: of our parents. I think they fought so hard to

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Speaker 1: give us this life. They want us to make sure

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Speaker 1: that we have quote unquote stability. But what they don't

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Speaker 1: realize is that if you go for stability, you strip passion.

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Speaker 1: We don't want our children stripped of their passion. Parents

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Speaker 1: always say that they know what's best for us, right,

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Speaker 1: and I.

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Speaker 2: Think what they think is best can often be dictated

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Speaker 2: by fear.

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Speaker 1: Totally, and you can see it every step of the way.

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Speaker 1: With Celia's father, as a strict Catholic, he was afraid

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Speaker 1: of Celia getting mixed up with their son deda neighbor.

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Speaker 2: We don't mess with that, and being the head of

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Speaker 2: the working class household, he was probably afraid Celia would

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Speaker 2: get taken advantage of in the club scene.

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Speaker 1: Ultimately, Celia followed her dreams, and neither her nor her

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Speaker 1: father could have predicted or they would.

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Speaker 2: Lead, nor could either of them predict what was to

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Speaker 2: come for the island nation they called home.

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Speaker 1: We'll get into it after the break. It's nineteen forty eight,

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Speaker 1: Celia is only twenty three, and her decision to go

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Speaker 1: her own way is paying off.

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Speaker 2: Our girl is in demand. She's playing with Cuba's hottest bands.

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Speaker 1: At Havana's hottest nightclubs.

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Speaker 2: Oh yes, honey, Sansuki, Bamboo Topika.

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Speaker 1: Have you ever heard of any of these clubs, Joseph.

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Speaker 2: Not one, Mama, but there's one I do know, El.

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Speaker 1: Tropican, of course. Celia is becoming a mainstay of Havana

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Speaker 1: nightlife and continuing to enthrall the airwaves with her powerful voice.

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Speaker 1: And for the first time, she's putting her voice on

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Speaker 1: wax recording music as a singer for Las Mulattas de Fuego.

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Speaker 3: These were songs that would later end up on Lorena's

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Speaker 3: very first album.

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Speaker 1: But her first real break came in nineteen fifty when

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Speaker 1: Celia was approached with the offic of a lifetime to

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Speaker 1: join the most popular musical group in all of Cuba,

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Speaker 1: La so Nora Matanza.

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Speaker 3: La Sonora's previous singer, Mirta Siova, had achieved the pinnacle

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Speaker 3: of fame. She had become the top selling female artist

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Speaker 3: in various Latin American countries and was known as La

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Speaker 3: Reina de la Waracha.

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Speaker 1: But Mirta's heart was in her native Puerto Rico, so

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Speaker 1: she decided to leave on a high note and return

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Speaker 1: home to care for her mother.

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Speaker 3: Hmmm, So La Sonorra Matanza needed a new leading lady,

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Speaker 3: and Celia was a right woman for the job.

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Speaker 1: Celia was recommended by a Havana nightclub choreographer she had

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Speaker 1: previously worked with. The new lineup debuted in August of

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Speaker 1: nineteen fifty.

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Speaker 2: And they hopped off.

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Speaker 3: Over the next seven years, Celia and La Sonra Mantanza

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Speaker 3: played with all of the luminaries of the Cuban music

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Speaker 3: scene and toured Mexico, Argentina, Venezuela, and Colombia.

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Speaker 1: Celia also not her first gold record for the Song

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Speaker 1: of Burundanga, which brought her to New York City to

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Speaker 1: accept her honors. These were the new heights for Celia.

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Speaker 3: This is where she started to get her nicknames La

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Speaker 3: Waraca de Leste and La Rena de Ruma.

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Speaker 1: She was gaining notoriety across the Americas, but back home

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Speaker 1: in Cuba, things were about to change. In nineteen fifty two,

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Speaker 1: just two years after Celia had joined La Sonorra Matansea,

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Speaker 1: Cuba's government was seized in a military coup led by

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Speaker 1: Fujencio Battista. Batista had been a key player in Cuban

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Speaker 1: politics already for over a decade by then, but this

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Speaker 1: coup was his biggest power grab yet. The historian Arthur

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Speaker 1: Schlesinger described Batista's reign as follows.

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Speaker 3: The corruption of the government, the brutality of the police,

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Speaker 3: the government's indifference to the needs of the people for education,

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Speaker 3: medical care, housing, for social justice, and economic justice.

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Speaker 2: Is an open invitation to revolution.

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Speaker 1: In nineteen fifty nine, revolution arrived.

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Speaker 2: This is a big topic. Right.

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Speaker 1: Much has been written and still continues to be written

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Speaker 1: and said about the revolution, what came before it and

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Speaker 1: what followed, and.

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Speaker 2: We couldn't possibly get into all of it here. You

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Speaker 2: want a way drier podcast for that.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, we are not the people for that. However, we

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Speaker 1: can give you the cliff notes, all right. And here's

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Speaker 1: the thing. By the late nineteen fifties, the glamorous, carefree

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Speaker 1: Cuba that American tourists saw in the nightclubs of Havana

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Speaker 1: was not the Cuba that the vast majority of Cubans lived.

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Speaker 3: In, and Celia understood that. People don't talk about it

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Speaker 3: so much now. But like most Cubans, Ceania was not

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Speaker 3: a fan of Batista.

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Speaker 1: Over the last years of ABT these says regime, Celia

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Speaker 1: had been caring for her mother, who was sick with cancer.

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Speaker 1: An opportunity arrived for her and the band to tour Mexico,

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Speaker 1: and Celia leapt at the opportunity to earn a bigger

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Speaker 1: check and help pay for her mother's care.

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Speaker 2: When these regime was overthrown, Celia and La Sonora were

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Speaker 2: on that tour in Mexico, and from here the story

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Speaker 2: gets a little murkuy okay.

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Speaker 1: I'm gonna do my best, y'all. So on the one hand,

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Speaker 1: in nineteen sixty, Celia and La Sonorra Matanza would record

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Speaker 1: a song celebrating the revolution titled guahiro Yayegotudiya Peasant, Now

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Speaker 1: your day has come. Side note. This is also where

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Speaker 1: that tidbit about Celia being banned from the US comes

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Speaker 1: into play. In the years leading up to the revolution,

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Speaker 1: the CIA suspected the singer of communist sympathies.

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Speaker 2: What now, that is some kool aid red scare jews,

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Speaker 2: I know, wait for it.

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Speaker 1: As we had said, Celia was no fan of Batista,

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Speaker 1: and like many artists and intellectuals who would oppose him,

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Speaker 1: she had been involved in resistance movements and leftist groups

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Speaker 1: as early as her twenties, but that didn't give Celia

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Speaker 1: or her contemporaries any guarantees with the new regime.

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Speaker 3: The same year that Celia and las So Nora Mantanza

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Speaker 3: recorded Juahiro Yayagodia, they unknowingly left Cuba forever. Fidel Castro

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Speaker 3: banned Celia and her bandmates from ever returning to the end.

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Speaker 2: There's an old story about Celia's last visit to Cuba

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Speaker 2: in the wake of Costro's rise to power. It's said

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Speaker 2: that Celia was invited to a prominent magazine editor's home

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Speaker 2: to sing alongside a pianist.

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Speaker 1: In the middle of Celia's performance, the story goes, something

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Speaker 1: catches the crowd's attention. They run to the front door

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Speaker 1: of the house, but Celia and her accompanists continue playing.

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Speaker 3: Then someone from the crowd comes to give word to Celia.

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Speaker 3: Fidel is outside and would like to see you.

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Speaker 2: Oh my God.

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Speaker 1: According to the story, during the Gorilla campaign, Gastro had

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Speaker 1: enjoyed cleaning his gun to Burundanga. Celia's first gold record,

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Speaker 1: the song that truly put her on the map, and

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Speaker 1: so Castro wanted her to make his paints.

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Speaker 2: However, in the story, Celia doesn't budge from the piano side, saying,

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Speaker 2: if he wants to see me, he can come see me.

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Speaker 1: Hold those boundaries, girl, hold those boundaries now. Some version

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Speaker 1: of the stories even have her saying see esse ombre gerreverme,

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Speaker 1: meaning if that man wants to see me, he can

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Speaker 1: come see me.

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Speaker 2: An extra touch of sas.

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Speaker 1: It's also said that afterwards, the new regime orders Celia

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Speaker 1: to play a celebration for the revolution alongside other musicians,

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Speaker 1: and ever the strong decision maker, Celia refuses to be

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Speaker 1: ordered around.

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Speaker 3: It sure sounds like our girl she dipped out of

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Speaker 3: the normal school against her daddy's orders after all.

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Speaker 1: Right, But like many stories from these early days of

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Speaker 1: the revolution, it's hard to pin down the exact details

385
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Speaker 1: of what happened. Things were changing fast, and change is messy.

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Speaker 2: I am a mess in address right now.

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Speaker 1: Memories and stories fill the gaps made by documents that

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Speaker 1: have gone missing or were even destroyed. That's why revisiting

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00:21:06,800 --> 00:21:09,560
Speaker 1: this time can feel like walking through a fog.

390
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Speaker 3: What we know for sure is that Castri regime would

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Speaker 3: come to brand Celia a traitor to the revolution. One

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Speaker 3: of the many disparaging names for anyone deemed a political enemy,

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Speaker 3: and when the new government seized all radio stations on

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Speaker 3: the island, Celia's unmistakable voice vanished from the airwaves of Cuba.

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Speaker 2: Her music would remain forbidden for decades.

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Speaker 1: As we've said, singing was Celia's life and at this point,

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Speaker 1: her livelihood. Whatever the exact details of Celia's departure, it's

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Speaker 1: easy to see why Celia, like many of the artists

399
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Speaker 1: who left the island after the revolution, wouldn't feel safe

400
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Speaker 1: in a country where her art would be subject to

401
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Speaker 1: censorship and even outright persecution.

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Speaker 3: So Sania boarded a flight back to Mexico City, where

403
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Speaker 3: she would perform at La terrasa nightclub.

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Speaker 2: Before leaving, she assured her mother that she'd return for Christmas.

405
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Speaker 1: Years later, she would reflect on saying goodbye to her mother, saying,

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Speaker 1: I'm glad that I didn't know then that I would

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Speaker 1: never see my mother again. If I'd known, I wouldn't

408
00:22:12,119 --> 00:22:23,119
Speaker 1: have been able to leave her. I always think that

409
00:22:23,240 --> 00:22:27,639
Speaker 1: the departure, whether it's leaving country leaving home for latinos,

410
00:22:27,760 --> 00:22:31,160
Speaker 1: is always really complex and kind of messy. Like I'm

411
00:22:31,200 --> 00:22:34,560
Speaker 1: not saying that I was exiled from Texas to go

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Speaker 1: to New York, but just the thought of leaving, Like

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Speaker 1: I kind of understand how she felt, because when you

414
00:22:39,960 --> 00:22:42,000
Speaker 1: leave with so little, you just don't know if you

415
00:22:42,080 --> 00:22:42,760
Speaker 1: can go back.

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Speaker 3: I actually know a lot of people from like other

417
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Speaker 3: countries like Venezuela, Columbia, Chile who can't go back for

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00:22:51,320 --> 00:22:54,399
Speaker 3: different reasons or whatever. But they're stuck here and you know,

419
00:22:54,760 --> 00:22:57,720
Speaker 3: to chase a better opportunity, but at what cost. And

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Speaker 3: it's like it is such a hardspot to be in,

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Speaker 3: like I can't even imagine.

422
00:23:02,280 --> 00:23:05,800
Speaker 1: Right, because you exist alone without home, without country, and

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Speaker 1: then what are you if you're not tethered to those things.

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Speaker 1: I think it's a very lonely existence, and I think

425
00:23:09,800 --> 00:23:12,040
Speaker 1: you can feel very isolating for so many people. Yeah,

426
00:23:12,080 --> 00:23:14,879
Speaker 1: so I completely empathize being and feeling that way. I

427
00:23:14,960 --> 00:23:16,760
Speaker 1: even feel that way about my mom, you know, like

428
00:23:16,920 --> 00:23:20,159
Speaker 1: as much opportunity as has been given to her and

429
00:23:20,480 --> 00:23:22,760
Speaker 1: to my brother and I and extended by being here,

430
00:23:23,280 --> 00:23:25,399
Speaker 1: there's a part of her that's still very I mean

431
00:23:25,520 --> 00:23:29,360
Speaker 1: like aya Nacion Mexico, Like, yeah, Texas is not her home.

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00:23:29,400 --> 00:23:32,400
Speaker 1: The US is not her home, and she will never

433
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Speaker 1: be able to have that piece of home again. Because

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00:23:34,760 --> 00:23:38,040
Speaker 1: for so long she didn't go back. It's sad, it is,

435
00:23:38,160 --> 00:23:39,600
Speaker 1: but you know what I will tell you. On the

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00:23:39,680 --> 00:23:42,879
Speaker 1: same note it being sad, it also just remains so

437
00:23:43,240 --> 00:23:46,000
Speaker 1: true to hope. You are just so hopeful that, yeah,

438
00:23:46,080 --> 00:23:49,399
Speaker 1: the sadness kind of like it doesn't go away, but

439
00:23:49,640 --> 00:23:51,920
Speaker 1: you remain hopeful and just keep your dreams kind of

440
00:23:52,000 --> 00:23:55,360
Speaker 1: going like you actually now have no other choice. Well,

441
00:23:55,520 --> 00:23:58,600
Speaker 1: and that I think lends itself to why immigrants are

442
00:23:58,720 --> 00:24:01,879
Speaker 1: so fucking resilient. Yeah, because if you can be that

443
00:24:02,080 --> 00:24:05,880
Speaker 1: successful with all of that baggage and like I said,

444
00:24:05,960 --> 00:24:08,639
Speaker 1: no country and no home, like damn.

445
00:24:08,720 --> 00:24:09,399
Speaker 2: Not me crying.

446
00:24:09,640 --> 00:24:12,800
Speaker 1: And it just so happens that Celia left Cuba at

447
00:24:12,840 --> 00:24:15,840
Speaker 1: what seemed to be the height of her fame. When

448
00:24:15,880 --> 00:24:18,720
Speaker 1: she arrived back in Mexico, she was greeted by greater

449
00:24:18,960 --> 00:24:21,439
Speaker 1: and greater opportunities, and not.

450
00:24:21,720 --> 00:24:22,639
Speaker 2: Just in nightclubs.

451
00:24:22,800 --> 00:24:25,520
Speaker 3: Our girl was on the airwaves and on the screen

452
00:24:25,960 --> 00:24:29,760
Speaker 3: TVs and cinemas se yeah, say yeah, say yeah.

453
00:24:30,520 --> 00:24:33,720
Speaker 1: At the same time, Celia never stopped thinking about her

454
00:24:33,760 --> 00:24:36,639
Speaker 1: ailing mother. She tried to return to Cuba and visit her,

455
00:24:36,880 --> 00:24:39,400
Speaker 1: but the Cuban government denied her permission.

456
00:24:40,320 --> 00:24:42,840
Speaker 3: Celia I lost so noabt We're blowing up outside of

457
00:24:42,920 --> 00:24:46,719
Speaker 3: Latin America. They played the Hollywood Palladium, they toured Europe,

458
00:24:46,880 --> 00:24:49,520
Speaker 3: and our Girl even was big in Japan.

459
00:24:49,720 --> 00:24:53,440
Speaker 1: In Kawa E, she linked up with the Dee, the

460
00:24:53,480 --> 00:24:56,359
Speaker 1: fame Puerto Rican bandleader and percussionists, and began to garner

461
00:24:56,480 --> 00:24:58,000
Speaker 1: interest as a solo act.

462
00:24:58,359 --> 00:25:02,640
Speaker 3: But on August seventh, nineteen sixty two, tragedy finally struck.

463
00:25:03,640 --> 00:25:07,480
Speaker 3: Celia received the news that her mother, Catalina Fonso passed away.

464
00:25:09,560 --> 00:25:12,520
Speaker 1: You might say this part of Celia Cruz's story is

465
00:25:12,600 --> 00:25:14,879
Speaker 1: one of the core things that made her such an

466
00:25:15,160 --> 00:25:18,560
Speaker 1: icon for the Cuban exile community. Like so many who

467
00:25:18,640 --> 00:25:21,480
Speaker 1: left the island, she didn't realize she'd be leaving for good,

468
00:25:22,080 --> 00:25:24,720
Speaker 1: and she left family behind that she didn't realize she

469
00:25:24,800 --> 00:25:26,080
Speaker 1: would never see again.

470
00:25:27,080 --> 00:25:31,320
Speaker 3: And beyond that, exile, refugee, immigrant, whatever brings us to

471
00:25:31,440 --> 00:25:34,720
Speaker 3: wherever we end up. This is a nightmare for all Latinos,

472
00:25:34,840 --> 00:25:37,440
Speaker 3: right to be estranged from your loved ones and to

473
00:25:37,560 --> 00:25:39,439
Speaker 3: never be able to say goodbye.

474
00:25:40,040 --> 00:25:43,920
Speaker 1: One hundred percent. It's little wonder why family is so

475
00:25:44,480 --> 00:25:48,119
Speaker 1: central and core to our culture and why Celia is

476
00:25:48,160 --> 00:25:54,159
Speaker 1: an icon to so many that same year, Celia started

477
00:25:54,240 --> 00:25:57,960
Speaker 1: a new family. On July fourteenth, Celia Cruz married her

478
00:25:58,160 --> 00:26:02,160
Speaker 1: longtime bandmate from La Sonora, trumpet player Pedro Knight.

479
00:26:02,920 --> 00:26:06,639
Speaker 3: And in nineteen sixty five, Celia went solo with Pedro

480
00:26:06,800 --> 00:26:10,160
Speaker 3: working as her representative musical arranger and director.

481
00:26:10,600 --> 00:26:11,960
Speaker 2: Knight is right glue.

482
00:26:12,440 --> 00:26:14,879
Speaker 1: Those two were inseparable.

483
00:26:14,600 --> 00:26:17,200
Speaker 2: And they were a straight up power comple move over

484
00:26:17,320 --> 00:26:17,640
Speaker 2: j Low.

485
00:26:18,440 --> 00:26:20,680
Speaker 1: With her husband at her side and her homeland in

486
00:26:20,720 --> 00:26:24,280
Speaker 1: the back of her mind, Celia Cruz set her sights forward.

487
00:26:24,800 --> 00:26:28,000
Speaker 1: She became an American citizen and situated herself in her

488
00:26:28,080 --> 00:26:30,719
Speaker 1: new home in Fort Lee, New Jersey.

489
00:26:31,040 --> 00:26:31,280
Speaker 3: Wow.

490
00:26:31,840 --> 00:26:34,840
Speaker 1: Little did she know that across the Hudson River she

491
00:26:34,920 --> 00:26:36,399
Speaker 1: would make history in.

492
00:26:36,600 --> 00:26:40,760
Speaker 3: New York concrete jungles where dreams are made.

493
00:26:41,880 --> 00:26:52,359
Speaker 1: There's nothing you can't do now. On the next Becoming

494
00:26:52,400 --> 00:26:57,320
Speaker 1: an Icon, Celia Cruz joins Fania Records and introduces the

495
00:26:57,440 --> 00:27:06,080
Speaker 1: world to salsa. Becoming an Icon is presented by Sonoo

496
00:27:06,240 --> 00:27:10,480
Speaker 1: and Iheart's Michael Duda podcast network. Listen to Becoming an

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00:27:10,680 --> 00:27:13,879
Speaker 1: Icon on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcast or