Cuban cosmonaut Arnaldo Tamayo Méndez
Credit: Intercosmos

People in the United States observe National Hispanic Heritage Month each year from September 15 to October 15. During this period, Latin American countries celebrate their independence. These countries include Cuba, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, and Nicaragua.

Arnaldo Tamayo Méndez is a Cuban cosmonaut and politician. In Russia and the other former republics of the Soviet Union, astronauts are called cosmonauts. In 1980, Tamayo became the first Black person in space, when he spent a week docked at the Soviet Salyut 6 space station. That same year, he became a member of Cuba’s National Assembly.

Tamayo was born on Jan. 29, 1942, in Guantánamo. After being orphaned as a baby, he was raised by his maternal aunt and uncle. As a child, Tamayo worked many odd jobs, for example shining shoes, selling vegetables, and working as an apprentice carpenter.

After the Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista fled the country in 1959, Tamayo joined the country’s Revolutionary Army (see Cuba (The Castro revolution). In 1961, he completed studies at the Technical Institute to be an aviation technician. He was then selected to continue studying in the Soviet Union. Tamayo learned how to pilot fighter jets at the Yeisk Higher Military Aviation School in Russia, on the Sea of Azov. He returned to Cuba in 1962 to become a flight instructor for the Cuban Revolutionary Guard. During the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962, he participated in reconnaissance missions. He also served in the Vietnam War (1957-1975). By 1976, Tamayo had reached the rank of lieutenant colonel in the Cuban air force.

The Soviet Union selected Tamayo to participate in its Intercosmos program in 1978. The program was established to send non-Soviets into space on Soviet spacecraft. Tamayo spent two and a half years training at the Yuri Gargarin Soviet Space Center. On Sept. 18, 1980, Tamayo and the Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Romanenko blasted off on the Soyuz 38 mission. Tamayo became the first person from the Caribbean, the first Cuban, the first Latin American, and the first Black person in space. On the space station Salyut 6, the crew of Soyuz 38 joined other cosmonauts and carried out various experiments designed by Cuban scientists. The mission lasted a little over a week.

Tamayo and Romanenko were both awarded honors after landing. Tamayo became the first person ever awarded the Hero of the Republic of Cuba medal. Additionally, he received medals for Hero of the Soviet Union and the Order of Lenin. Tamayo continued his military service, eventually attaining the rank of brigadier general and serving as director of Cuba’s civil defense. His space suit is displayed in the Museum of The Revolution in Havana.

Camilla Cabello performs for her ‘Never Be The Same Tour’ live at The Fillmore Detroit on April 25, 2018.
Credit: © Brandon Nagy, Shutterstock

People in the United States observe National Hispanic Heritage Month each year from September 15 to October 15. During this period, many Latin American countries celebrate their independence. These countries include Cuba, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, and Nicaragua.

The latest princess to go from rags to riches in Cinderella (2021) is the Cuban American singer and songwriter Camila Cabello. Cabello creates pop music influenced by her Cuban and Mexican heritage. Cabello became known while she was a part of the all-female pop group Fifth Harmony. She now writes and performs her own songs, often addressing the immigrant experience in the United States.

Karla Camila Cabello Estrabao was born March 3, 1997, in Havana, Cuba. Her mother was a Cuban architect and her father worked a number of jobs, including construction while living in Mexico City, Mexico. Cabello and her mother traveled back and forth between Cuba and Mexico before moving to Miami, Florida. Her father later immigrated to the United States to join them. Cabello was shy growing up. She surprised her parents when she asked to audition for the television reality music competition program “The X Factor” in 2012.

Cabello auditioned in Greensboro, North Carolina for “The X Factor” and was listed as an alternate. She asked for another audition and then made it to the next round, which was a pre-season boot camp (intensive training session). At the boot camp in Miami, producers of the show grouped her with four other contestants: (1) Ally Brooke Hernandez, (2) Dinah Jane Hansen, (3) Lauren Jauregui, and (4) Normani Kordei. Later in the season, they formed Fifth Harmony. The group placed third on the show and landed record deals with its creator, the British record executive Simon Cowell, and Epic Records.

Fifth Harmony released its first EP Better Together in 2013 and its first album Reflection in 2015. EP stands for extended play and is a type of musical recording that includes several songs but is not considered a full-length album. Fifth Harmony’s “All in My Head (Flex),” featuring the American rapper Fetty Wap, was voted the song of the summer at the 2016 MTV Video Music Awards. Outside the group, Cabello began working with other artists such as the Canadian singer and songwriter Shawn Mendes and the American rapper Machine Gun Kelly. In 2016, Fifth Harmony announced via Twitter that Cabello was no longer in the group.

Cabello’s first single as a solo artist, “Havana,” featuring the American rapper Young Thug, was released in 2017. The single held the number one spot on Billboard magazine’s “US Pop Singles” chart for seven weeks. Cabello headlined for Bruno Mars on his 24k Magic Tour in 2017 and Taylor Swift’s Reputation Stadium tour in 2018. Cabello released her first solo album, Camila, in 2018. It reached number one on the “Billboard 200” chart. She later released the album Romance in 2019.

Cabello won MTV’s video of the year award in 2018 for “Havana” and in 2019 for “Senorita,” with Shawn Mendes. She also won the MTV Europe Music Awards for best song and best video with “Havana.” She received a Grammy nomination in 2019 for best pop solo performance for “Havana” and best pop vocal album for Camila. She received a nomination for best pop duo/group performance for “Senorita.”