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Latinos Felt Visible During Shakira/J.Lo Super Bowl Halftime Show, Says Miami Herald Columnist

Al Diaz
/
Miami Herald
Shakira and Jennifer Lopez performed the Super Bowl halftime show on Sunday. They were the first Latina performers to headline.

The Super Bowl often serves as a platform for bringing up more serious issues, even under the guise of an entertaining halftime show.
 
This year, two Latina superstars, Shakira and Jennifer Lopez, headlined for the first time and that came with all sorts of symbolism.

 
Miami Herald columnist Fabiola Santiago wrote "Shakira and J.Lo Made America See Latinos in Their Complexity, Beauty and Pain" and spoke about it with WLRN's Alexander Gonzalez:

ALEXANDER GONZALEZ: What were some of the elements that made this halftime show so different from past ones? 
 
FABIOLA SANTIAGO: In this historic and iconic performance, Shakira and J.Lo represented the Latinos of this country, who are oftentimes invisible, in a way that shows our diversity and our complexity and our beauty and also our pain, using the power of dance and music to deliver a message that is political. It was stronger than mere words can convey. The most poignant part of the show, obviously, was the children in cages. J.Lo was trying to form a very visual picture in a way that only art can can present of what has been an outrageous situation, an outrageous violation of human rights in the United States. What I'm talking about and what she was talking about and referencing were the screaming children that were ripped away from their parents and incarcerated for months. 

I think the other clearly political moment was when Jennifer Lopez came on stage with sort of a feather boa, an American flag on the outside and Puerto Rican flag on the inside. What did that represent for you? 

The flags represented the duality of our identities. And the fact that Jennifer Lopez from the Bronx wraps herself in two flags, the American was like her superpower cape, and the Puerto Rican one was the one that she wears in her heart. You know, her pride. And that was very appealing to people in South Florida and across this country. All the Boricuas were celebrating that. I think it sends a message to Americans that no one should be threatened by the fact that we embrace dual identities. That is an authentic part of who Latinos are in this country. 

Was there any song for you that was really meant to be political and not just for entertainment value?

Oh, definitely, the song "Let's Get Loud." It was about Latinos voting our truth, being seen in the 2020 election. She was really trying to energize people to vote. Clearly when she said words in Spanish like presente, "be present." And her daughter also performed with her in that song, representing the next generation, the younger generation of voters who are U.S.-born Americans and whose identity and whose patriotism and whose home in the United States cannot be challenged by anyone, not even the U.S. president.

This interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.

Alexander Gonzalez produces the afternoon newscasts airing during All Things Considered. He enjoys helping tell the South Florida story through audio and digital platforms. Alex is interested in a little of everything from business to culture to politics.
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