She slayed the world of Tejano music – a previously male-dominated genre – and was the first female to win a Grammy in it. Not only that, but Selena was a feminist and philanthropist in her own right.
She was very active in the Texas school system, advocating for students to finish high school, and also worked to support women who were victims of domestic abuse. To her, fame wasn’t about making money, it was about being able to have a voice in matters she truly cared about.
“Anybody can be a role model. Anybody can,” Selena said in an interview at Rosedale Park.
She brought authenticity to the hybridized Mexican-American experience. Deborah Paredez, author of a book covering Selena’s impact on society, told NBC that “[Selena] drew from pop, Tejano, calypso, Afro-Caribbean, and cumbia music, so she signaled across a lot of cultural identities.”
Although Selena died at 23, just as her career in America was starting to bloom, her memory continues as a celebration of the vitality that can come from all that is multicultural and wildly kind.
May this queen live on in the land of bidi bidi bom bom.
