I, like most of us, love podcasts. I will listen to podcasts that talk about things consisting of true crime to comic books. They help me get through the day while COVID keeps me locked up at home. Recently, I came across the podcast, Anything for Selena, which tells the story of Selena Quintanilla and her legacy as a Tejano singer.
Along with that, it goes further than just her life story, it talks about the changes she made in society through her music and is really tied together with accounts about her impact told by her Mexican-American fans. This podcast is amazing for anyone who wants to learn more about Selena or those who are already big fans of her work. I highly recommend you take the time to listen to it.
Episode after episode, this podcast would leave me amazed by just how much Selena seriously impacted my life. As a Mexican-American, I’ve always felt such a disconnect from my Mexican heritage. I’m not fluent in Spanish, I’ve never visited Mexico and I don’t really connect with the people I grew up with. I struggled a lot with this, feeling like a fraud in my own brown skin, but the shimmer of hope for me was Selena Quintinilla.
I have always had such a big love for music- I wouldn’t be able to live life without it. My music is what helps me focus or destress after a really long day. I relate all my favorite childhood memories with songs just, so I can never forget them.
Selena’s music came to me in middle school, the era of my life where I felt absolutely lost about who I was. I listened to her classics like ‘Como la Flor’ and ‘Baila Esta Cumbia’, songs I heard in passing as a kid but never listened to on my own. As time went on and the more I listened to her music, I was so intrigued by her. I watched countless interviews of hers, falling in love with her bright personality and how down to Earth she was.
She was born in America, English was her first language, she had a love for music that made her want to learn Spanish to connect with that side of her life more. Even while making mistakes in Spanish, she laughed it off and didn’t let it stop her from talking and singing. I related to her so much in that sense, she reminded me and still to this day, her music helps me remember that I’m not a fraud. It’s okay to make mistakes while speaking Spanish, being born in America doesn’t make me any less Mexican and being Mexican doesn’t make me less American. I am me and my relationship with Selena helped me figure that out.