Susana Baca becomes Peru's first Afro Cabinet member

Susana Baca, the legendary Afro-Peruano singer, has been named Minister of Culture by Ollanta Humala. She's the first Afro Peruano/a to serve in the Peruvian cabinet and the first artist named to this ministry in particular. Sounds like Humala was listening closely to his Brazilian advisers; Lula took Gilberto Gil, one of Brazil's musical giants, and named him to the same post when he first took office.

From the NYT:

Q. Tell us how you ended up being named minister of culture. Did you know before the election that it was a possibility?

A. It was a big shock. The ministers of culture have always been archaeologists and anthropologists, sociologists, but never an artist. I thought about my mother, and how I would have liked that she were alive to know that her daughter, from a humble background, who has struggled a lot in life, came to have such an important post in this country.