By Samantha Machado, Film/Style Writer

CLICK HERE: https://www.google.com/webhp?hl=en&ictx=2&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjlso7YgfjWAhVN_mMKHTpSA0UQPQgD

Selena Quintanilla has been celebrated for many reasons since her unfortunate death in 1995. She has been called the Queen of Texan music which she help push into the mainstream market, and by mainstream we mean English speaking market. It has taken two years for Google to bring a Selena Doodle for its landing page and it is beautiful. This is in honor of a girl who pursued her dreams and helped her family find their place in society after a bankruptcy and through singing in street corners to bring much needed resources. A very American story.

Selena would allow her fans to be very intimate with her; she seemed to be always honest. When she was performing she would allow her fans on stage to give her roses or just to dance with her, just be with her. As a little girl, I always liked her music, but it was not until my twenties that I fell in love with her stage presence, her voice. Her vibrant energy exuded from the stage and transformed the moment to a magical experience. My personal connection with her was magnified as I was asked to perform one of her songs, I did more research and found a very similar tone to my life in hers, as a musician/singer, I found myself drawn into her experience, and found her work very inspiring. When I performed her song, I found that it felt like home, very comfortable, very familiar, and very personal. https://www.google.com/culturalinstitute/beta/exhibit/WQJyfKjwK8pFJw

The beauty of this celebration of Selena by Google is so important in a time when those girls and their families celebrated by her are under renewed scrutiny just for being who they are. There is a feeling of recognition and worth of all those with a shared dream, regardless of the economic status, their ethnic background and their gender. Selena celebrated her culture and her identity without fear. The support she received from her fans was and is one of mutual respect and love for the spirit of compassion she brought through her music and presence, we miss her and we are happy she is being celebrated by one of the most important platforms in the world Google.

https://www.google.com/doodles/celebrating-selena-quintanilla

Samantha Machado is the Accelerator Program Coordinator at the South Eastern European Film Festival and a Talent/Producer/Writer for Open Perspective Media LLC reach her at Samantha@openperspectivemedia.com