In the Oak Cliff neighborhood of Dallas, fans had gotten together to celebrate the singer’s life for the 10th annual 214Selena festivities.
“We’re just celebrating that legacy, taking the time to hold space for all of those who connect with that Tejano identity,” singer and Selena fan Esti Romero told NBC Dallas.
Selena’s fandom has transformed throughout the years, starting with people like Alemán, who grew up seeing the late singer perform live in south Texas. For them, Selena is a cultural marker for Mexican Americans and Latinos who came of age in the early 1990s.
Through her music and fashion sense, many saw their own bicultural experiences reflected in Selena’s life story. Selena Quintanilla-Pérez became a shining star in the male-dominated genre of Tejano music, winning a Grammy in 1994 and becoming a crossover Latina icon singing in both English and Spanish.
But then Selena gained a ton of new fans of all ages, including Susan, when the singer’s eponymous biopic was released in 1997. Not only did the movie help catapult J.Lo’s career, it also introduced many to the story of Selena’s life and the tragic events around her death.
“That is the first memory that I have of Selena. It’s actually seeing her movie in the theater when I was in seventh grade,” Susan said.
Perhaps that explains why Leila Cobo, chief content officer of Latin and Spanish music at Billboard, says Selena is one of the top five Latin female artists on the charts every year, remaining a pillar of Latin music history in the U.S. and globally.
Anticipation over Saldívar’s eligibility for parole this week had been building over the past year following the release of a controversial docuseries in which Saldívar claimed she did not intentionally kill Selena. In a statement, the parole board said it believed, based on the evidence provided to it, that Saldívar still posed “a continuing threat to public safety.”
Alemán explained that for Selena’s fans, her death “has risen into this level of collective injustice, a collective grief. In the eyes of those who love her so dearly, what happened was so unjust.”
When it comes to Saldívar, “there’s never going to be a point in which she is done paying for this sin that she committed,” Alemán said.
The Quintanilla family and Chris Pérez, Selena’s husband, thanked Selena’s fans “for their unwavering support throughout the years” in a joint statement following Saldívar’s parole denial. “Your love has been a source of strength and healing.”
“Selena’s legacy is one of love, music, and inspiration. She lived with joy, gave selflessly, and continues to uplift generations with her voice and her spirit,” the statement reads. “We will continue to celebrate Selena’s life — not the tragedy that took her from us — and we ask that all who cherish her do the same.”
In her college class, Alemán is helping foster a newer generation of Selena fans who are creating a body of academic work and archives full of stories and memories of the Queen of Tejano music.
“The knowledge that the community carries about who she is, why she matters to them, is worth studying,” Alemán said.
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