Selena Quintanilla Biography

A Latino I would spend the day with would be Selena Quintanilla, a Tejano music artist. Selena was tragically murdered during the height of her fame as a Latina artist when she was only 23 on March 31, 1995. Even though she had passed before I was born, Selena has made a great impact in my life through her music. I was the first generation of my family to be born in the United States, so my family often spoke English and Spanish at home. When I entered pre-school I began learning more English and less Spanish. Throughout that year I began to speak less and less Spanish at all because I was ashamed of it. I yearned to be like the other girls in my class, those who spoke without an accent. My family rejoiced that I began speaking fluent English,
Selena was of Mexican descent, but spoke English majorly. She faced criticism for singing primarily in Spanish when she herself did not speak the language. That did not stop her from producing music in both English and Spanish. As well as a strong artist, she is a strong feminist influence to me because she powered through the Tejano music genre, a dominantly male industry. Selena dominated the difficulties of the music industry at such a young age. Selena began singing at the age of 6 until her death at 23. She did not let the large barrier of language come between her and her music.. The love she had for music helped her with her Spanish speaking, and getting her family out of homelessness by performing at fairs and restaurants. Her music and similarity to my situation helped me to be proud of the language I spoke, and the person I am, Hispanic. Her Spanish speaking tracks of “Amor Prohibido” helped me embrace the Spanish language. Her English tracks such as “Dreaming of You” encouraged me to still learn the English language. I would like to spend the day with Selena because she helped me realize that who I am is not someone I should be ashamed of, I am someone I should