Identidad

Why Selena Quintanilla’s brief career didn’t die when she did

Caylin Grosse
Jul 10, 2017 · 4 min read

She’s 14, and singing is all she can do for her family to stay afloat. They own no more than an old bus named “Big Bertha” and a title of bankruptcy, and they depend on her to perform as the lead of a hodge-podge musical act- a family band named Selena y Los Dinos — to pay for the gas money that will deliver them to their next venue (Hopefully, they won’t get rejected from this one). She’s praised for her perfect pitch, but she’s a young woman, and tejano music is relatively unknown, and nonetheless reigned by male voices. Even so, she dreams of becoming a famous artist that sings her stories to massive crowds of people, no matter their race, gender, or background.

“If you have a dream, don’t let anybody take it away, and always believe that the impossible is possible” -Selena

Her rinse and repeat schedule is about as humble as a ‘humble beginning’ gets, so how did Selena Quintanilla become the ‘Tejano Madonna’, the ‘most influential latina pop artist of the decade’, with such a meager start? Let’s take it back to before she was born: to a man named Abraham Quintanilla.

Abraham, a Mexican-American immigrant, performs in a band named Los Dinos. They finally land a gig in a small club in Corpus Christi, Texas, playing their favorite popular American songs, but are turned away upon sight because the owner boasts a ‘whites only’ establishment. In turn, Los Dinos are dropped from a Mexican club for playing the gringo music they had rehearsed for their American crowd. Who are you if the two halves of your identity repel each other, and by consequence repel you? For Abraham, among countless other Mexican-Americans, this no man’s land between black and white was their home.

When he has children, he tells them that they must be champions of both Spanish and American language and culture if they were ever to escape the fight for identity. One day during a family practice, the tiny, eight year old Selena walks in and begins to sing in perfect tune with Abraham. One epiphany later, Los Dinos is rebirthed as Selena y Los Dinos. With her gift, she would finally learn how to conquer the grey area.

She strikes gold at age 18 when she releases her self-titled album Selena amidst doubts that a Mexican-American woman could have any kind of crossover potential in America. She shockingly outperforms other tejano artists. Never before had an artist become such a hit as a part of both the Mexican and American cultures. Her first majorly popular single, Como la Flor, hit the charts and immediately saw bicultural success. People were drawn to her charisma, her flawless costume-design abilities, her electric stage presence, and her embodiment of the perfectly in-between identity that Mexican-American immigrants had been struggling to find for so long. Instead of picking a side and leaping, she confidently traversed both: a skill that lead to such a devoted, inspired following. Dubbed la flor, she was beloved for her pure image and hailed as the beautiful thread that would finally tie together two cultures. She was fiery, a new sensation, a cultural force that could only keep rising into fame.

And then, she died.

On April 3, 1995, thousands of grieving fans gather in a Los Angeles Sports Arena to mourn the fallen icon, fatally shot by a former friend who had been caught stealing large sums of money. It’s unrealistic to believe that stars could produce music forever — they fade, get replaced by the next big thing. Yet Selena, only 23 years old at the time of her murder, was cut out of the sky out of hate, and with her fell the expectations and optimism that she was carrying with her. An entire demographic believed in her, put their faith in her as the catalyst of a cultural shift that would allow them to belong somewhere.

Her stage was silenced, however she did not die the day her soul passed on. Like most stars, she found popularity within tragedy, yet she has been able to hang onto her legacy. This year, 22 years past her untimely death, she will receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. She was fearless, and just as her first album was boldly titled Selena, she was authentically herself and herself only. While Mexican-Americans struggled to find acceptance and meet societal expectations, Selena was incredibly happy and comfortable with her in-between-self. Selena gave Mexican-Americans a taste of identity, of self-reliance, of relief from the no-man’s land that few knew how to escape or even define. For them, she’s the flower that they couldn’t let wilt just because she was not physically with them.

‘Mirador de la Flor’

Her memorial, Mirador de la flor, now leans against a pillar, surrounded by white roses (her favorite flower). Microphone in hand, she watches, immortalized, over the bay of Corpus Christi, Texas. A plaque hanging on the adjacent side of the pillar reads, “When you view la rosa blanca, you feel her presence nearby.”

Commit to Serve

2017 UGA Freshman College — Service Learning

Caylin Grosse

Written by

Dogs, politics, and final jeopardy

Commit to Serve

2017 UGA Freshman College — Service Learning

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