For most, Celia Cruz is a timeless icon with one of music history’s most inimitable voices. For South Fulton’s Linda Becquer-Pritchett, she is just tía .
Long before she became a councilwoman in South Fulton, the metro area town with the highest proportion of Black residents, Becquer-Pritchett grew up in a three-story house in Queens, New York with her Cuban family. The top floor was occupied by Cruz, the Havana-born singer who would go on to reach the most improbable heights of artistic success while in exile, making a name for herself around the world as the ‘Queen of Salsa.’
“She’s been my whole life,” Becquer-Pritchett, the daughter of Cruz’s younger sister Gladys, said.
As Cruz’s number of records sold approached and then crossed the 10 million mark, the accolades multiplied. There were the Grammy Awards, including a lifetime achievement award. There was the Smithsonian exhibit, the star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, the bestowment of the National Medal of Arts by President Bill Clinton. Later this year, a joyous depiction of Cruz will grace a special edition of the U.S. quarter.