Selena Quintanilla-Pérez's Spark Still Shines : Alt.Latino : NPR

Selena's Spark Still Shines Enlarge this image toggle caption Jana Birchum/Getty Images Jana Birchum/Getty Images Selena Quintanilla-Pérez would have turned 50 on April 16. Since her death in 1995, just before her 25th birthday, her legacy has spread far beyond her Tejano music roots; Selena's has become an important symbol of womanhood for Latinas everywhere. On this week's show, we're going to try to unpack that a little with some stellar guests: filmmaker Gregory Nava, whose 1997 biopic Selena, starring Jennifer Lopez, has played a key role in the Selena myth building journalist Maria Garcia, who is the creator and host of the podcast Anything For Selena, produced by Futuro productions and NPR member station WBUR Dr. Sonya Aleman, who teaches a class on Selena in her role as Associate Professor in the Mexican American Studies Program at the University of Texas, San Antonio Dr. Deborah Paredez, author of Selenidad: Selena, Latinos and The Performance of Memory, and is also the Director of Undergraduate Studies at The Center for Sturdies of Ethnicity and Race at Columbia University. Selena had an undefinable special spark; it's fascinating to see it still shine all of these years later.