El veintitrés de mayo/May 23rd
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A singer from Puerto Rico hailed as "el alma de Puerto Rico hecha canción" (the soul of Puerto Rico made song), Fernández became a senator representing the U.S. commonwealth later in life. She was elected in 1973 and served for 8 years (she was an advocate for keeping Puerto Rico's commonwealth status, opposing both statehood and independence). Born in Ponce, Fernández lost her mother when she was only 6 years old, and she and her four siblings were raised by their grandmother. She began singing professionally at the age of 14, when she would sing for the local radio stations. She was hired by Mingo, the bandleader of a locally popular band, in 1940 and began performing with them, and then signed with Columbia Records in 1941. As an Afro-Puerto Rican woman, Fernández is credited with breaking racial and gender barriers. In 1945, she was told to enter the concert at The Vanderbilt Hotel in San Juan (where she was performing) through the kitchen because of segregation rules, but she refused, entering through the front door instead. From that point on, she referred to herself as "La Negra de Ponce" as a point of pride. She describes the incident in the Afro-Puerto Rican documentary Raíces (minute 2:45). Fernández performed in Carnegie Hall and the MET in New York as well as around the world. Her trademark saying was "¡Arriba, corazones!" (Lift up your hearts!) and her signature song was Gracias, Mundo. When she died in 2012, Puerto Rico's government declared three days of national mourning. Read her New York Times obituary HERE.
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