#479: Selena, ‘Amor Prohibido’
EMA Latin, 1994
I truly, truly have not forgotten about this. This is not over. I have been out of town and I am still figuring out how to communicate with the people around me that I need to prioritize this project over spending time...even writing that is stressful BUT if I’m going to make this happen, I need to find those words and get better at it.
This brings me to Selena. This was my first time listening to the Queen of Tejano Music. I get it. I was three years old when she died. I don’t have any memory of it but I have heard her death compared to the death of Elvis. To know that she was only 23 years old and killed by her agent and manager of her boutiques. It was a crime wrapped in obsession and money and complete tragedy. It was horrific and gruesome and unnecessary.
I think that is what is so painful about stuff like this -- there seems to be no order or purpose in it.
After she died, Howard Stern decided to go on a tirade talking about how “Mexican people have no taste in music” and “she wasn’t good anyways” and other horrible things.
Once again, unnecessary violence. But of a different kind.
I heard a phrase at an art show: slow violence. This is those microaggressions or those assimilation rules that slowly but violently attack the human soul.
Teaching in a high school last year, I learned that many of my students who spoke Spanish at home would get punished for speaking Spanish at school in certain classes. It’s slow violence. They spoke English perfectly but amongst friends, they wanted to speak Spanish. Slow violence.
One of my friends shared that she recently went to a gas station and the lady in line in front of her started spewing racist rhetoric assuming my friend didn’t speak English. My friend is not even 18 and she is used to this aggression. That’s not slow violence. It’s straight-up violence.
It is unnecessary.
I am grateful for Selena. I am grateful for her music and for her willingness to not whitewash her talent.
I am grateful that she gave me space to think about my LatinX friends and their courage.
Thank you, Selena.
Top songs: No Me Queda Mas, Amor Prohibido, Fotos Y Recuerdos