Photo of a Selena look-alike contest at Country Burger in 2014 by Danny Fulgencio
Selena died 25 years ago this week.
About 500 people gathered for a vigil in her honor in Downtown Dallas on April 1, 1995, the night after she was killed. At the time, it seemed like every car in Oak Cliff had a tribute to Selena scrawled in white shoe polish on its windows.
At John F. Peeler Elementary, students decorated their classrooms in honor of the Tejano singer and were allowed to watch TV coverage of Selena’s funeral in Corpus Christi, which drew thousands of mourners.
Selena, who was just a couple of weeks shy of 24 when she died, didn’t have a strong connection to Dallas other than she was just really popular here. She and her band frequently performed at Tejano clubs in the Dallas area.
An annual celebration of Selena at Country Burger in Oak Cliff started about six years ago. 214 Selena was canceled this year because of coronavirus, but not before De Colores produced this touching video to promote the event.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_eeIteXEq8]It contains footage from the video Selena shot at Martin Weiss Park, thanks to Gilbert Cortez, whose cable-access TV show, Tiempo Live, filmed it.
The 25th anniversary of Selena’s death is Tuesday, March 31. Her birthday is April 16, and she would’ve been 49. Will you be celebrating?
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RbkWsZZ1FeQ]
