Opinion: I teach a college course about Selena. She makes my students feel as I did long ago — seen. [Opinion]
When I was growing up, I never had positive Latinx representations in the media. There were not many Brown people in films, television and music in the United States, much less any who were also gay. Those few individuals who were in the media were often stereotyped and depicted as one dimensional. For me, Selena served as a cultural template to help form my own identity. She showed me that there was not one correct way to be Mexican American and Latinx.
So, I created a course for them with Selena as the cultural bridge between their academic studies and the professional world of media, where many of them would one day be working. The use of a celebrity like Selena as a cultural anchor allows students to utilize both pop culture and Latinx culture to deconstruct and interrogate the significance and broader meaning of underrepresented identities.
One of the new additions to the course this semester is an ethnographic project where students get to venture out into the borderlands of San Diego County and partake in the various celebrations that surround Selena’s birthday on April 16. Students are encouraged to attend art shows, Selena drag shows, Walk the Block in Barrio Logan, and the launch of Como la Cerveza West Coast IPA at Mujeres Brew House, among others.
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