Selena- Adrian Mendoza

After doing the readings, Antonio Viego's chapter from his text Dead Subjects generally covered the issue at hand, which is the presence of a growing Latino population within the United States. This population differs greatly from the previous generation by the simple fact that they were born in the U.S (pg.1-2). With an increasing Latino population, there was also the rise of ethnic studies such as Latino Studies and Chicano Studies. To an extent at the university level these programs have been forced to merge even though they are unique studies. According to Viego, the concept of Latino goes beyond the idea of race and allows, "a space where multiple levels of identification are possible." Through this an identity can be rediscovered even though certain Latin Americans like Mexicans have been residing in the U.S. long before the arrival of Columbus. Deborah Paredez's text, Selenidad, was an example how Selena, Tejana-American, rose to super-stardom to the point in which a museum was erected after her death (2). Her death, murder, was well publicized in which People Magazine launched a Spanish version of their already popular magazine to reach a Latin American market (19). During the time of her death the U.S. was going through an anti-immigrant specifically Latino mentality through laws like proposition 187, 227 and increased border surveillance. As a whole, the image of Selena offered young Latina women the opportunity to find themselves in a white society.

I remember the day auditions for Selena opened in Chicago. They were held a couple of blocks from where I live and I remember my older cousin went out to audition for the role. Come to think of it I don't know why they held the auditions in Humboldt park a predominantly Puerto Rican barrio instead of La Villita on the Southside of Chicago where the majority of Latin Americans reside. On the other hand, Selena reached an audience beyond the Mexican community. Also I found the full Howard Stern episode in which he talks about Selena.