Contemporary Latina/o Media Production, Circulation, Politics Edited by Arlene Davila and Yeidy M. Rivero fi NEW YORK UNIVERSITY PRESS [New York and London] | [NEW YORK UNIVERSITY PRESS New York and London wrenayepress.org © acne by New York Univer “All rights reserved. a Internet webstes (URLs) were accurate het cet bs (US) the tbe of iting, wn SOMGRISS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLLCATION DATA Contpony production, circulation, politics / edited by Astene Diva ‘ew York Univesity Press books don acid-re paper se primed on acd See 3 tr biding merase chosen fr enh and ar rie tae evo rbpcubleogplesand mares o the greatest extent posblein pubishing our books. the United Sets of Ameria “so arable as an ebook CONTENTS Introduction Arlene Dévila PART I. PRODUCTION 1 Corporate Transnationalism: The US Hispanic and Latin American Television Industries Juan Pein 2, Converging from the South: Mexican Television in the United States Rodrigo Gomes, Toby Miller, and André Dorce 3, NavoTV; Will It Withstand the Competition? Henry Puente 4, One Language, One Nation, and One Vision: NBC Latino, Fusion, and Fox News Latino Christopher Joseph Westgate 5, The Gang’s Not All Here: The State of Latinos in Contemporary US Media Frances Negrén-Muntarer 6, Latinos at the Margins of Celebrity Culture: Image Sales and the Polities of Paparazzi Vanessa Diaz PART If, CIRCULATION, DISTRIBUTION, POLICY 7. Anatomy of Prot 's Anatomy, Colombia's ‘Acorazén abierto, and the Politicization of a Format ‘Yeidy M. Rivero 44 6 103, 325 1498. Colombienidades Export Market Omar Rincén and Maria Paula Martinez 9. The Role of Media Policy in Shaping the US Latino Radio Industry Mari Castateda 10, Lost in Translation: The Politics of Race and Lenguage in Spanish-Language Radio Ratings Dolores fnés Casilas 1. The Dark Side of Transnational Latinidad: Narcocorridos and the Branding of Authenticity Hector Amaya PART 11. CULTURAL POLITICS 12, “No Papers, No Fear”: DREAM Activisia, New Social Media, and the Queering of Immigrant Rights Cristina Beltrdn 13, Latina/o Audiences as Citizens: Bridging Culture, Media, and Politics Jillian Bées 4, Un Desmadre Positivo: Notes on How Jenni Rivera Played Music Deborah R. Varga 15, Marketing, Performing, and Interpreting Multiple Latinidades: Los Tigres del Norte and Calle 13 “América” Maria Blena Cepeda 16. Latinos in Alternative Media: Latinos as an Alternative Media Paradigm. Ed Morales 17. On History and Strategies for Activism, Juan Gonztlee About the Contributors Index 186 206 223, 245 285 337 349 353.14 Un Desmadre Positivo Notes on How Jenni Rivera Played Music DEBORAH R. VARGAS Gerardo Rodriguez, a self-proclaimed Jenni Rivera fan, once wrote that “we, the fans, make her. Not the radio, not newspapers, not the ‘TV—it was us What is insightful about Rodriguez’s comment is that it breaks the normative construction of popular music 2s something ‘that is created and produced by the music industry and the artist and is merely consumed by fans. Rodriguez’ statement emphatically states that it was not simply the culture industry that created Jenni Rivera. Instead, Rodriguez's standpoint as fan and consumer charges Latino media scholars of music to reconsider analytic frameworks that too often are unidirectional and linear? Within the context of hyper- globelized commodification, where it seems no form of cultural labor, especially music, is free from the drive of capitalist markets, Rodri- ‘guez’ statement prompts us to pause, to reorient, and to shift mean- ings and concepts in media analysis. This prompt is especially critical ‘when attempting to make sense of @ mexicana pop icon such as Jenni Rivera, whose approach to playing music must be comprehended less through the mechanics of vocals, musicianship, or media players, but by reorienting the idea of “playing” to also include a consideration of the structural elements of the artists lf, a life propelled into music by de 285286 << DEDORAH R. VARGAS hher desires to escape, and by the necessity to trounce silence. In sum, in order to understand the cultural consumption of Rivera music, we must understand how Rivera “played” music, thet is, worked its norma- tive standards of commercialization and production, the way working- class communities of color learn to “bustle” or “play” the system. This chapter is a Chicana/ a/o cultural studies approach to musical meaning and the possibilities that emerge, both problematic and poten- tially dissenting, of alternative meanings for playing music. Angie Chabram-Dernersesian asserts that the concern of Chicano/ Latino cultural studies should be “cultural practices and productions from the point of view of their intricetion with, and within, relations of power of capitalist societies that are structured in dominance and privi- Jege and that still carry the imprints of earlier geopolitical legacies” By extension, any analysis of Jenni Rivera must begin with the ways her immigrant experiential strategies acquired around labor came to bear on the cultivation of her music career—as a job, here distinct from art—and the ways her fans understood themselves as central to Riveras ‘musical production and iconiity In fct, Rivera was often described as “social singer” to emphasize the role her music played to raise aware- ness of social issues. This description simultaneously upholds the prob- ematic binary between music as art and music as a means for social critique, and also points to Riveras music as doing something unique compared to most mexicana singing artists of her generation.* ‘Two meanings of media transmission are critical for considering alternative meanings of playing music that I argue Rivera's iconicity cul- tivated: to allow to pass through a medium and being a medtum for. A different understanding of the relationship between music making and consumption allows fora critical engagement with Jenni Rivera’ musical labor and the ways playing her music by fans fostered alternative mexi- cana subjectivities and communities within a social world that continu- ally challenges their endeavors for a quotidian existence? Rivera played music to transmit testimonies of gender nonconformity. Riverd’s fans played her music to transmit undisciplined desires, endorse immigrant civil rights, and protest women’s abuse.‘ “She was the first Mexican Amer- ican female singer from Southern California to achieve superstardom on both sides of the border, and that success inspired the legion of fans who shared her immigrant roots and humble working-class upbringing” UN DESMADRE POsITIVO >> 287 Playing Music: “| Chambiaz!” Jenni Riverds musical hustle actually disrupts the myth of music as a cultural art forma, Instead, her approach to making music is anchored in the working-class epistemologies of informal economy entrepreneur- ship. In this way, consumers are rearticulated as dynamic communities through social media networks, and the artist’s power as a popular icon Decomes a conduit for publicizing social justice agendas. Such a consid- eration of music is what Angie Chabram-Demmersesian describes in her proposition for Chicana/o Latina/o cultural studies as the importance of dilference, production, and positionality in the shifting terrains of Lating cultural productions Rivera cultivated a technology of testimo- play back the chorus of chismes about her personal xying nonnormative gender through chusmerias, and Unnking her iconicity to social justice issues, that constructed a fen base as more than simply receptors of musical commodities. Jenni Rivera, born Dolores Janney Rivera Saavedra, was born July 2, 1969, in Long Beach, California, the third child and eldest daugh- ter of six children, to Pedro and Rosa, immigrants from Sonora and Jalisco, Mexico, respectively. Rivera is what we may identify - ‘al first-generation Chicana born to Mexican immigrant ps ing up in a working dase, bilingual, nd bicuttural world and attend- ing public schools. Like many working-class youth, Rivera desired to eam a better livelihood, taking business classes in order to open her i ig her sophomore year in Janney, after becoming involved with an older man, José Trinidad Marin, who also fathered her next two children. ‘This early relationship would leave traces of phys- ical and emotional abuse thet would freme much of Rivera’ life and her eventual advocacy of survivors of domestic abuse, The immigrant labor ethic she was raised in, knowledge of the social world acquired as a young mother in an abusive relationship, and the strategies of cul- tivating ways to assure her own well-being camé together to form the Jenni Rivera who would create a lasting impact on the nortefio/Mexican music world. Jin 1995 Rivera released her first album, La Chacalosa, Generally, the term chacalosa refers to a girl who likes to have fun, party, drink, and at288 << DEBORAH R. VARGAS times is known to be involved in some sort of illegal activi associated with drugs. Chacalosas, in the context of Rive ‘thus represented as Mexican working-class/immigrant have survived bad relationships and who have little trust in men. Cha calosas are hard-living souls. It would become a nickname for Rivera herself, based on the popularity of her song and its aptness as a symbol for her life. In fact, an overview of her life includes some of the charac- teristics that defined chacalosas, including three divorces, overcoming domestic abuse, and strains on relationships with her elder brothers, ‘Transmitted through Riverds performance as well as through the nar- ratives of her songs, la chacalosa would construct a powerful gendered representation of mexicanas that countered their containment in domi- nant projects that construct them as normative citizen-subjects, Rivera staged a nonnormative gender mexicana subjectivity by playing her , often cultivating messages—in song and in her activism—sbout class warfare, immigrant xenophobia, and women's abuse. Rivera staged her career by being savvy and assertive, Pepe Garza, the program director at 105.5 Que Buena, the Los Angeles regional Mexican radio station, one of the first stations to give airtime to Rivera’s music, recalled having first come across Rivera while she was trying to shop airtime for her first song: ‘Te was a song called “Las Malandrinas” She asked me if she could per- awards show called Premios que buena thet Garza was pro- id hes, “no, you'e not that famous, But since your brother is going to recetve an award, why dos!t you present it to him?” She agreed. But when she got up on the podium to announce ‘the award, she yelled, “Eénde estin mis malandrinast” and she started singing the song. The crowd went crazy. I knew then that she had an audience? Jenni Rivera was offered an opportunity and she, in turn, mede it her premiere. Rivera's savvy talent at playing music, 0 moment offered to her by Garza, is based on an immigrant ogy of survival and persistence, or a working-class i reate a diferent path for existence. Growing up, Rivera was surrounded by the mexicano immigrant/working class. UN DESMADRE POSITIVO >> 289 Riverals parents’ immigration was part of a significant demographic shift, whereby the Mexican-descent population of the greater Los Ange- les area now became predominately immigrant, a huge presence thet grew rapidly into the indispensible yet unacknowledged labor force that propelled Southern Californie’s economic growth.” Riveras approaches to music were based on what she witnessed growing up. In 1984, Pedro Rivera put out his first record, drawing from the $14,000 he had made 2 recognized Rivera would one day write a corrido honoring the life and name of his late daughter. Riverd’s immigrant work ethic was one that required you to make your own way and create your own opportunities, a creative force that comes from knowing there is no steady work, only steady effort. Rivera once recalled that as a youngster she sold cans for scrap metal and hawked music records at her family’s stand at a Los Angeles lea market Tis work ethic is expressed in the Mexican Spanish vernacu- ge mother, Rivera was skilled at seeking chambas and jales in a vari- ety of venues; she began working as a teenager, attending Long Beach Poly High School, and by age fifteen she was pregnant with her first ‘child, fathered by a much older Trino Marin, Riverd’s parents reacted by Kicking her out of the house, resulting in her complete dependence on Marin, ‘After an eight-year marriage to Marin—one filled with emotional and physical abuse, including two suicide attempts—Rivera gained ‘enough courage to divorce him. During her marriage Rivera worked secretly to obtain her high school diploma and eventually took college courses. She majored in business administration at California State Unt- -versity-Long Beach and headed into the real estate business. “Grow. ing up in Long Beach, I learned to face the world. I also learned that Twanted more for myself and to become something”? Rivera ‘played rausic by bringing her life's chamba spirit with her. Rivera did not intend to produce music; she never wanted to become singer. In fact, she entered the music scene through the mundane tasks of answering290 << DEBORA R. VARGAS phones and handling sales at the family’s “mom-and-pop” record label, Cintas Acuario™ Rivera became keenly aware of the varied parts of the music indus- try machine, and therefore she purposefully played musi¢, aware that this playing involved more than the mere sonic transmission of sound through voice or performance. Rivera understood that it was not merely managers, producers, and radio personalities who kept her music play- ing in circulation, but those who made T-shirts, created disc compila- tions, and even snapped pictures of her. In Miami to promote an album in 2005, Rivera’ entire music tear sat down to dinner after working all day. Carlos Pérez, a publicist at Fonovisa/Universal Music Latin Enter- tainment, recalled, “The waiters and the people from the kitchen were taking her picture. Jenni said, “Carlos, tll them to come here and well pose for a picture?” but the kitchen staf said they werent allowed to do that. So Jenai said, “Okay Il come to the kitchen, then” After dinner they found themselves the target of paparazzi who were camped outside the restaurant waiting for Rivera to exit. Rivera was offered a way out through the back door to avoid them, but she refused, saying to Pérez, “do you know what they have to go through to get paid for that one shot?’ She then whistled at the paparazzi and yelled, ‘muchachos! I'm just going to ask you one favor. When I say I'm done, lets call ita day’ Playing Jenni Rivera Jessica Quintane, executive director of Centro CHA, 2 nonprofit Latino social service agency formed in 1992 in Long Beach, recalled during a memorial held for Jenni Rivera days after her death, “we ‘wanted to recognize her because she hed done so much with her life despite her struggles. Jenni could always relate to the constituents ‘we serve, There are a lot of people here that are still going through the same challenges that she went through”? Quintana continued, “she talked about her life in a very open way and really cared about the issues that affected women, like poverty, domestic violence and 1 | | i i | i | 1 | BN DESMADRE POSITIvO >> 291 independence” Certainly, comments such as “she was just like every- cone alse” have become staple phrases when 2 popular figure dies. Yet it would be difficult to find examples of Rivera’ musical iconicity that did not align her popular representation and musicel themes with the exploited subjects of labor and gender violence. Moreover, Rivera's representation never shied away from airing her dirty laundry. “Peo- ple could relate to her struggles, that’s why so many people loved her?” said Quintana, “She captivated her audience by being herself at all times and being open with her life through her music and interviews with the press”? Rivera’ manner of playing music—her music industry chamba— provides an alternative meaning for the production and transmission of music. Moreover, Rivera played music in ways that created spaces for gender and sexual subjects that are often shunned in neoliberal proj- ects of normative mexicanidad. As Rivera became more powerful in her iconicity, she became more emboldened to “act out” lo de abajo (the déclassé) or chusmeria, a form of “behavior that refuses standards of bourgeois comportment” and to.a significant degree is “Linked to stigmatized class identity’ through nonconformist performances or enactments Riveras representation and music channeled nonnor- mative gender through song characterizations of la malandrina and la chacolosa, and thus her public testimony of personal life dramas enabled social network spaces of conversation, imitation, and contesta- tion among her fans, the often self-proclaimed malandrinas and cha- cealosas often hailed by Rivera and curators of their own social network virtual communities. Rivera played music and her fans played Rivera. Rivera transmitted stories, scandal, and harsh lived realities. Rivera's malandrinas and chacalosas transmitted themselves as imperfect, con- tradictory, and empowered beings who so often face violent acts of contained normative womanhood, For example, 2 person identified as Christina Mex posted on a blog replying to another fan who had seid that Rivera's passing was a sign that everyone should seek God as a savior, In her post, Mex writes that fans like her didrit see Rivera as superior to them: Just because were in pain because of her death doesn't mean that we ‘automatically put her on a pedestal... . some of us are hurting because292 << DEBORAM R. VARGAS she represents strength and hope for us and wes a voice for many of ws. Jenni knew and understand [sc] the many types of issues that women have to go through because she bas LIVED I loited, and nonnormative mexicano subjectivities are thin US state-sanctioned discourses of the heteronor- ct or the legal immigrant subject. Social networks become key sites for such communities otherwise expunged from privileged spaces of legal and class-based participation. Whereas Thave argued—following two meanings of transmission—that Rivera chan- neled nonnormative testimonios of gender and immigrant civil rights through the medium of music, including recordings, video, and live performance, she too became a medium for the dial Jenni Rivera was the impetus for many social netwo: the Facebook pages “Las chacalosas de Jenni Rivera “Cartel de Jenni Rivera? and “DivasParranderasYParranderos” among many others. One of the most powerful social networks was the Twitter group J-Unit (ores they referred to themselves in Spanish, “jota-unit”), whose mem- bership was so integrated in River’ life that, uring the days after her jennirivera Twitter site and websites of her reality televie sion show were also networks through which fans engaged not only ‘with Rivera but also with each other, commenting on everything from music to social issues. Moreover, such media demonstrate that Jenni Rivera was played and not merely consumed by her fans. Specifically, her music provided a space for mexicana subjectivities that were in contradistinction to what Arlene Dévila hes called Latino “corrective” images, “the commercial representation of Latinidad [that] brings to the forefront the pervasiveness of racial hierarchies in the very consti- tution of corrective images”™ public antics, her racialized class representations through the chacalosas, malandrinas, and narcotrafi- cantes, configured an iconicity irredeemable as a “corrected” or nor- mative brown citizen. Such is the case with the reappropriated Corona beer brand label that plays on stereotypes of Mexicans as beer drink- ers who, as “imports from Mexico” become the US public’s greatest fear. In this contemporary US context, working-class mexicanas and ux DesmapRE positivo >> 293 undocumented immigrants are very familiar with the broken promises of the state to reward “good” end “appropriate” racial subjects. Thus, ‘what I find significant about these social network virtual communities is how they played Rivera—as a medium, ¢ musical conduit through which fans at times had access to alternative discourses of lived experi- ‘ences, gender representations, and political agendas regarding domes- tic abuse and LGBT and immigrant civil rights, Rivera's chacalosa and malandrina representations were replayed by her fans as audacious and undaunted and as potential possiblities for empowerment within con- texts of labor and gender oppression. Moreover, such representations through her live performance, reality television characters, and song Iyrics bore witness to everyday brutalities expedited under globalize- tion regimes, gender violence, and immigrant xenophobia. Jenni Rivera was often described by fans and the media as uma muje- ona, a big woman. Rivera certainly enacted such bigness—as a woman ‘who takes up too much space and as a big force to reckon with—through her brash public acts and public postings about her personal life. For exam- ple, it was quite common for Rivera to use her Twitter account as a means of conversation instead of merely posting her whereabouts or announcing her shows. She once posted on her @jennirivera Twitter site, quoting Tupac Shalcur a response to judgmental remarks in the media about her personal life choices: “Or can judge me... all you other motha fekrs need to say out of my business... Tupac? The themes of much of Rivera’ music embodied the chusmerfa associated with aber- rant femininities In this way, Rivera was known for recording narcocor- on featured narratives about the women partners, wives, cor daughters of narcotraficantes (narco-traffickers). In the 1995 song “La Chacalosa” she sings of being the prideful daughter ofa narco-trafficker: Me busean por chacalosa soy hija de wn traficante Conozco bien ls movidas Me cri entre a maa grande (They look for me because I'm a chacalosa, I'm the daughter ofa drug trafficker iknow the moves well Iwas raised in a major mafia)296 << DERORAM &. VARGAS “La Chacalose” most certainly can be viewed as romanticizing and musically exploiting the violent circumstances surrounding the power- .ce of narco-traffickers in cities and rural towns across Mexico. ‘Yet, I propose that the song also transmits the devastating reality her ‘mexicana fan base recognized and could therefore possibly process dif- ferently. As Mark Edberg stresses, there must be diligent effort not to bomogenize narcocorrido music or the ways narratives or characters are interpreted; rather, we must “unpack the complex and multilayered context feeding the near mythical characters featured in narcocorridos? especially gender end class." By extension, nezrating the presence of ‘women as connected to narco-trafficking violence potentially accom plishes atleast two things: it disrupts the idea of mexicanas as demure | 1 4 | ‘Uw DESMADRE POSITIVO >> 295 victims and complicates racialized, classed, dominant representations of mexicanas that circulate in the public sphere, as fair-skinned and ‘middle-class or as brown domestic and agricultural servants “La Cha- calosa’ created such a huge following among Riveres women fans thet internet social groups sprang up, creating networks of those who iden- tified with the themes of being a bad girl, a partier, and a troublemaker, inclading “Las chacalosas de Jenni Rivers,” on Facebook and Myspace, that invited interested persons to join: K onda mi gente! Bienvenidos a la pagina oficial de las chacalo- ses, .. . para los que no nos conosen somos un grupo de amigas que nos gusta andar de party... siempre nos gusta divertimas y andar al oo! .. pues como saben apenas andamos cormensando muestra clicka de paras muchachonas que les gusta la perranda so la que le entre solo smandea tx menseje a mvestra paging. ‘The interconnected ways Rivera played her career and the ways fans played new imaginaries outside the confinements of normativity and ‘erasure were unigue, and at times posed a significant counterweight to the business of music media. “I am the same as the public, as my fans? ‘Rivera once said in an interview?* “Las Malandrinas’ recorded in 1999, was another example of this, and propelled another mexicana iconography her fans connected with” ‘Nos dicen las malandrinas porque hacemos mucho ruido porque tomamos cerveza nos gusta el mejor vino En los salones de baile siempre pedimos corridos ‘no somos como las popis, que se paran macho el cuello (They call us the delinquent women because we make lots of noise because we drink beer and we love the best wine296 << Desonan R. VARGAS Jn the danceballs, ‘we always request corridos vere not like the arrogant ones ‘who keep their collars upright) ‘he song and its representation became so popular that, in fact, Rivera would later commonly call out to her women fans, “;Dénde estén mis ‘malandrinas y mis chacalosas?” “The unique characteristic about Rivera is that her personal life seemed to often align with the personas she sang about, such as the fig- sures of the malandrina and the chacalosa, One example of this occurred during a concert performance in Puerto Vallarta. At one point during song Rivera stops the music to confront an audience member who haas just thrown beer at her from the front rows of the audience. Rivera ‘rings the young woman on stage, where she directly confronts her. “They stand face to face and Rivera says to her, “A ver, tiremelo. Tiremelo aqui donde estoy, tiremelo. Quien cree que tiene més huevos, usted o ‘yo2" (Lets see, throw it at me. Throw it at me here where Tam, throw it. ‘Who do you think has more balls, you or me?) The crowd starts chant- ing “Jenni, Jenni, Jenni” Security then takes the woman off stage as, Jenni addresses the audience: Les digo por favor, que si yo los respeto a ustedes, que también me den ese respeto a mi. Vengo 2 cantarles con todo mai corazéa. Yo pudiera estar en mi case, puedo estar en al hotel haciendo un nif, Pero’ aqui estoy con ustedes. ¥ si de veras tienen el rencor paca trae algo a una persona que esti trabsjando, pues haganlo aqui de cerea, no bay prob- lema. Es todo lo que les pido, (Cask you pleas, if I respect you, then please respect me. I come to sing for you with all of my heart I could be at home, I could be in my hotel trying to make a baby. But lam here with you. If anyone really bas the spite to throw something at someone who is working, then do it here, close to me, no problem. Thats all I ask.) seems most offended by the disrespect of her per- formance, which she specifically refers to as “work” What is especially ow peswanae positive >> 257 significant to convey to her audience is the exchange of respect, I argue hhere, a5 a mode of power not acquired through monetary or material capital but through loyelty to selfpreservation. Th demands in this scenario is a working-class cultural s. ris deci playing that she is capable of taking care of “While most celebrities would steer clear of spectacles that might be cast as inappropriate femininity, Rivera turned away from silence and toward transparency. When she was a young married woman, Rivera often recalled in interviews, her frst husband physically abused her, ‘especially when she desired more than to be at home cooking and leaning.” As a domestic abuse survivor, Rivera learned the first prin- ciple of fighting back—to speak out, beceuse shame and silence endan- gered her survival. Rivera publicly displayed her shortcomings, fellures, and flaws, I contend, because it meant undoing the violence of silence. Social networks of Riverds fans too utilized virtual communities as ‘ways to “act out” as brown bodies resistant to complacency and def- ference and a5 an alternative to the “Dreamer” citizen or domesticana acknowledged only as perpetual deferential labor. Rivera was passionate about using her musical medium to speak out against domestic violence. Since she had experienced domestic abuse as a young wife, Riverds words and actions meant a great deal to those who bad experienced or were experiencing the samie challenges to sur- vive. The Los Angeles music journalist Fernando Gonzélez stated that the secret to her fame was not that she bad such an outstanding, gifted voice, because she didn’, it was that she poured her life story into her songs, with all her fults, Cownfalls and tragedies, including a teeo preg nancy and domestic abuse. The fans made her a star because they saw theraselves reflected in hex* sstablished through Rivera's fan- Many of the virtual comm a dom were more than mer a ‘by codes of prox spect for the sed and performed by Rivera J-Units site stated as part of its group membership298 << DEBORA R, VARGAS agreement, “Compromiso ser un J-unit? “Ser parte del J-Unit de Jenni Rivera. Es un compromiso y une responsabilidad. Es apoyarla y llevar con respeto su legado. J-Unit no es una moda. Es un Estilo de vida. Una entrega incondicional” (To be part of Jenni Riverd’s J-Unit. tis a commitment and a responsibility. It is to support her and carry on her legacy with respect. J-Unit is not a style. It is a way of life. An uncon- ditional surrender.) In 2010, she was named a celebrity spokesperson for the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence (NCADV) in Los Angeles. To further commemorate her dedication to battered women, the Los Angeles City Council officially named August 6 “Jenni Rivera Dey” Rivera also founded a charitable organization— the Jenni Rivera Love Foundation—that offered supportive services to single mothers and victims of both domestic and sexual abuse, espe- Gially undocumented immigrant women. Moreover, Rivera’ advocacy for gender issues also included LGBT equality. In addition, Rivera was extremely passionate about undocumented immigrant civil. rights. She was one of the first and the few major Latino celebrities to use the term “racist” in referring to Arizona's Senate Bill 1070." In fact, a press release announcing her participation in the May 29, 2010, Ari- zona state capital rally admonished other Latino celebrities for not showing up: “While other artists have contributed their names, Jenni has offered to present herself” A few days prior to the rally she would tweet @jennirivera, “el sabado esteré marchando en Arizona en con- tra de le ley SBi070. La marcha seré de seis millas a 10:30am” (On Saturday Tl be marching in Arizona to protest SB 1070. The march ‘will be six miles, at 10:30 am.) ‘As Michelle Gonzilez Maldonado put it, “Jenni Rivera did not just ‘use her fame as a form of self-promotion, but as a platform for popu- lations who are voiceless in the dominant discourse” Rivera testified to social injustice, immigrant xenophobia, and gender violence while often performing the very violent realities her fans survived daily. For example, Rivera drew on narcocorrido terms to describe her fans’ social networks: “es mi propia cartel” (its my own cartel), she said of her fan base, describing its function as making “un gran desmadre positive” (2 great deal of positive disorderliness). Jenni Rivera once tweeted out to her fans on J-Unit, “Dear J-Unit: When I die remember to please make sure I am buried upside UN DESMADRE POSITIVO >> 299 down... so the haters can continue to kiss my ass, Jenni” Rivera never seemed interested in playing nice with other celebrities or members of the public who sometimes launched judgmental attacks on her public dramas, failures at multiple marriages, and songs about badly behav- ing women, Rivera seemed born to fight, and her tough street smarts or malandrina sensibility prompted her strategies for playing music. Ina Dallas Morning News interview, Rivera once stated that when she wwas a child growing up in her immigrant community in Long Beach, “[ wastit allowed to have dolls” Raised among four brothers, she continued, my mom bought them Zor me, but they [her brothers] would tear them apart and get rd of them. They wanted to teach me arate and doing pop-wheelies inthe street and playing baséball and playing marbles and being a great wrestler. itkind of made me tough. I gotin trouble fT got into a fight and I came beck erying* Rivera's fan Diana Reyes once described her in a Twitter post as “La Diva, La malanéxina, La Gran Sefiora, La Socia, La Chacalosa, La Reina... Simplemente La Mejor” (The dive, the malandrina, the grand lady, the buddy, the chacalosa, the queen ... simply the best). The list is not merely an accounting of Riverds nicknames. It also calls out the mexicana subjectivities played every day in attempts to voice dissent against the corrective systems of normative fictions Monikers of disobedient gender such as la malan- drina and la chacalosa, among others cultivated by Rivera, created representations that—while controversial—formed musical specta- cles that shamelessly shattered the violent myth that for undocu- mented and class-disenfranchised mexicanas, complaisant silence, hard work, and playing by the rules result in safety, well-being, and freedom from exploitation. Rivera was well aware of her power and status, and by extension the ways she played her power in the music industry, as a means to persist and to be 2 witness for those strug- ling to exist. As such, Jenni Rivera and the virtual communities of her fans offer us the chance to consider the possibilities that new musical meanings and cultural media consumption can sometimes cultivate for Latin@ publics.300 <¢ DEBORAH 2. YARCAS Notes 2 Zenebengasi asin, Mash 2053 "introduction to Part 1 in The Chicana/o Ci (Chabram-Dernersesian (New York: Routledge, rom Toay Bennett, “Putting Policy into Lawrence Grossberg, Cary Nelson, Liclzed thecughous 1 use this syle to disrupt the distinction between one of Merican citizenship sad those Mexican is essay Tai to signify ng/producing/ consuming music that pertains to , “Jenni Rivera: Mexican-American Singer's Tregic End Echoes Life of Hardship on Journey to Stardom” Huffington Pose, December 1M, Alejo Sierra, "Jenni Rivera: La Divina” Open Your Eyer Latino Magazine, n.d 1, “Remembering Jenni” 104, UN DESMADRE Positive >> 301 20, José Esteban Musoz, Disidentfcations: Queers of Color and the Performance of elie (MGanespols Univers of Minne Pres 199), 27, Que Me Entierren con la Banda (Foncwisa, 1999) 28, See hnpsfwwwyourube-com/ratchtv=a0U6-solSis, Rivera performs wisat [Burch becuse he dae he ucgeaf theta of hosands of people ‘who will march prior to the concert and who have been tagetod by this302 << DEBORAH 8. VARGAS [natfel law that views any Mexican American or anyone with brown ckin as “reasonably suspicious” 36, See hetpsy/twittercom/jenniriversfans