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Celina González: the “Queen” of Punto Cubano 1 Ivor Miller and Ivania Díaz2, Northwestern University

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Celina González: the “Queen” of Punto Cubano 1 Ivor Miller and Ivania Díaz2, Northwestern University Celina González: The “Queen” of punto cubano 1 Ivor Miller and Ivania Díaz2, Northwestern University Introduction the Communist Youth Party (UJC), where Drummer Iván Ayala3 grew up in New the chorus of “¡Long live Changó !” “¡Qué York City listening to the music of Celina viva Changó!” was chanted by thousands of González. As a child in the 1960s he was socialist Cuba’s “New M en” at the Square taken to Puerto Rican espiritista ceremonies of the Revolution.5 Celina is a major figure where, instead of using drums, practitioners in Cuban music and cultural identity. Her would play Celina’s records to invoke the 1948 song “Santa Bárbara” was a spirits. This is one of the ways that Celina’s groundbreaking event in modern Cuban music and the dedication of her followers music, reviving Cuban rural music (“música have blasted through the U.S. embargo guajira, el punto cubano”) for a national and against Cuba, which has deprived us of international audience, and infusing it with some of the planet’s most potent music, art, Afro-Cuban creole spirituality. Celina is and literature for thirty-two years. Ivan’s herself a guajira (country girl), and is fiercely experience shows the ingenuity of working proud of it. She grew up near the Sierra people in maintaining human connections Maestra, the mountainous region in eastern that are essential to them, in spite of govern­ Cuba where many slave rebellions, the War ments’ attempts to keep them apart. Hailed of Independence, and the Cuban Revolu­ as musical royalty in Colombia, Venezuela, tion were fomented. She has been an ardent Mexico, England, and in the Latin U.S., supporter of the Revolution, and also of the Celina has, until very recently, been kept guajira culture that she grew up in. During out of the U.S. market by the embargo.4 the early years of the Cuban Revolution, in Cuba has long been a mecca for African- which public performance of religious songs derived religious and musical traditions, and was prohibited, Celina reputedly did not Celina’s music taps a deep source. It is at the sing “Santa Bárbara” for over twenty years. same time popular and sacred, danceable It was the 1987 publication of the famous and political. By using the ancient Spanish Castro interview, Fidel and Religion ,6 that décima song form to sing about the Yoruba prompted her to sing for Changó again. deities orichas, she has become a symbol of Soon after, the current explosion insantería Cuban creole (criollo) traditions. A pan­ initiations began. She is an important figure theon of orichas are worshipped in thesantería in today’s religious revival. religion, which is invoked by practitioners I first met Celina González and her son to protect humans from sickness and death, Reutilio Jr. at an intimate concert they gave and to open the way for peace, stability, and at the old Spanish Castilla de la Fuerza at the success. port in Havana Vieja. She had just finished During the fourteen-month period that I singing “Santa Bárbara” without a micro­ spent in Cuba beginning in 1991, I had phone, accompanied by acoustic string and often heard Celina’s music on the radio, percussion instruments. I was astonished at television, and even at a concert/rally for the strength of her inspired voice. After the 9 Lucero Vol. 5, 1994 show Reutilio Jr. eagerly gave me his auto­ cine became available. The U.S. embargo graph and a poster of him and his mother. makes it hard for Cubans to get medicine. After a long conversation in which we Now that pharmaceutical medicine is not exchanged ritual status and lineage informa­ available in Cuba, there is little left but green tion (he is a son of Ogún and I of Changó), medicine, and it is again used to cure every he gave me his phone number and asked me ailment. After two hours, all the visitors but to call in four days. His mother was to ourselves left, and we sat with the “Queen” receive Bahalú-Ayé the following day, and of the punto cubano while she talked about would be occupied for the three-day in­ her music and her religion. terim. In Havana, December is a busy month When we had first arrived, Celina made for parties and ceremonies. On December it clear that she never lets anyone photo­ 3rd and 4th the celebration ofSanta Bárbara/ graph her Santa Bárbara, because it might Changó takes place, with thousands jour­ make the oricha angry. But by the time we neying to the church in Párraga, or per­ were leaving, she was inviting us to take forming their own ceremonies at home. On group photographs in front of the large December 16th and 17th the people make statue. Celina is a lively and generous woman a pilgrimage to El Rincón, the church of ofsixty-five, “godmother” (“madrina”) to a San Lázaro/Bahalú-Ayé. I arrived at Celina’s large spiritual family, and a person who has home on the morning of December 14th, the respect of many people in herbarrio, her accompanied by Idania and Michael Diaz, island, and abroad. “aficionados” of Celina’s music and fellow Pregunta: ¿Dónde nacieron usted y su guantanameros. Celina graciously welcomed esposo? us, and we ended up talking for over four Celina González: Reutilio7 mi esposo era hours, as well as making a ninety-minute guantanamero. El nació en San Antonio taped interview. Redo, que hoy es el Central Manuel Tames. Behind the front door of her simple Yo nací enjovellanos, la Nueva Luisa, pro­ house sits Eleguá. In the other corner is a vincia de Matanzas. Mis padres se trasladaron huge Ogún prenda, above which hangs a para Santiago de Cuba en Oriente, desde long machete, and next to this, a portrait of que yo era pequeña. Hace cuatro años que Fidel (the warrior) in uniform. Celina had me dieron un homenaje enjovellanos y co­ just received Bahalú-Ayé, whose altar is next nocí a la familia que me quedaba. Reutilio to that of Ogún. On a Soviet-made televi­ y yo nos conocimos en Santiago de Cuba. sion set to the left of Babalú sits a framed gold Nos hicimos novios y nos casamos. Sin ha­ record she received as an award. At the far ber pasado una escuela él tocaba la guitarra side of the room stands a painted wooden más maravillosa que yo he escuchado en mi statue of Santa Bárbara, four-feet tall, with vida. Su música paraba los públicos.Cuando Christmas lights strung from her head, in aquello sí había que ser artista, si no eras ar­ the shape of a star. On the bureau next her tista te bajaban a tomatazos en seguida. Las is a small statue of el Niño de Atocha. It is dos voces de nosotros impactaban, él hacía here that Celina holds court. We distributed la segunda y yo la primera. Y nos dedicamos ourselves onto the hardwood rocking-chairs a trabajar juntos. Eramos muy unidos siempre in the room, and one of her young “god­ como novios, como esposos, como com­ sons” (“ahijado”) served us coffee. Another pañeros en el arte. Empezamos en Cadena “godson,” a doctor, came in, and talked Oriental de Radio en 1947. El 2 de about “green medicine” (herbology directly noviembre de 1948 llegamos a La Habana. related to the curative practices ofsantería). Y fuimos contratados por una semana en la It was prevalent before the Revolution, but emisora radial Suaritos. A la semana com­ people stopped using it when other medi­ pusimos el número de Santa Bárbara. Antes 10 Celina González de hacer el número, ella se me apareció dos iban directo con lo que decía el caracol. Yo veces en sueño, me pidió que le cantara, y respeto mucho el caracol, pero respetoIfá, a que si no le cantaba no iba a triunfar, que iba porque en mi casa (la rama ritual) no se hace a recorrer el mundo. Entonces compuse el un Santo si no se baja Ifá. El perdió, pero su número, este se hizo “hit” nacional e interna­ padrino también perdió. El no hizo caso a cional, y fuimos famosos en el mundo entero. mi guía espiritual que dijo que a él no tenían También me dijo que yo iba a entrar en la que hacerle ese santo. Mandé a buscar a su santería. Pero pasaron los años y me hicieron padrino, y le dije: “Ud. se va por el caracol, el santo en 1959. Soy hija de Yetnayá, la Ud. no se va por Ifá. Ud. sabe que él es hijo santísima Virgen de Regla. de Eleguá. El se va a perder, pero Ud. se Pregunta: ¿Reutilio influyó en los temas pierde también.”8 Ochún era su mamá pero sincréticos para que Ud. componga su no iba a la cabeza, él montaba (el oricha se música? apodera de la persona) unEleguá como yo Celina González: En el primero que fue no he visto otro. Ahí es donde está la pérdida Santa Bárbara no, en los otros sí, porque vi­ de mucha gente, porque aOrula hay que mos que Santa Bárbara fue el éxito grande, respetarlo. Efectivamente, le coronó su y me concedió todo lo que me dijo. Reutilio cabeza con Ochún. Los dos se perdieron por­ y yo empezamos como coautores. El hacía que en el santo, a la vez que te coronan, el una parte de la música, yo hacía otra parte de único que te puede salvar es Obatalá. Si te la letra. Soy poetisa desde que tenía diez ponen a Obatalá no hay problema, pero si te años.
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