Cuban comedian Ulises Toirac boasted on social media this Wednesday about having in his possession a coin featuring the image of singer Celia Cruz (1925-2003), which will officially circulate in the United States starting August 12.
"In my hand now," said the comedian on Facebook as he displayed the coin, which is part of the American Women Quarters 2024 program through which the U.S. government honors five distinguished women from the nation.
"Friday, Friday!" Toirac also wrote, taking the opportunity to remind everyone that he will make a proposal related to the Queen of Salsa on that day.
"By the end of this week, I have two things for you: a surprise and a proposal that I think you're going to love," announced Toirac last Monday on social media. The comedian has been promoting an initiative for days, of which he has only mentioned is related to a Cuban singer.
The popular comedian recently acknowledged the admiration he feels for the figure of Celia Cruz. He recalled that in 2015, during a work-related visit, he participated in a celebration for Independence Day.
At the American History Museum in Washington, "I remember walking through the entrance and seeing an entire lobby wall full of colors, featuring the image of Celia Cruz and the Cuban flag."
"I suddenly felt that in that place there was a piece of my deepest identity, my birthplace, my home, my roots," he noted.
"They were paying tribute to the unparalleled talent of a daughter of this island. And, therefore, to the culture of Cuba. This is what it means to be an ambassador of culture and of the Nation. Only the truly great of a country can achieve that," noted Toirac, expressing his surprise that Cruz was honored in the United States, while in her homeland, she is censored, though not forgotten.
"I felt so incredibly proud in that little museum, something I will never forget as long as I live," he wrote, filled with emotion.
Toirac remarked at that moment that holding that coin— which he already possesses— would feel “a bit like that day in Washington. Endless thanks.”
Celia Cruz's fans around the world do not forget the mark and legacy of the extraordinary Cuban singer.
Her admirers gathered on July 16 in New York to pay tribute to the iconic "Guarachera de Cuba" on the 21st anniversary of her death.
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