Singer at Dodger Stadium sings national anthem in Spanish in protest against L.A. immigration raids [View all]
Los Angeles is home to a reported 1.8 million Spanish-speaking residents but rarely do they hear the national anthem sung in that language.
On Saturday night at Dodger Stadium, with 51,548 fans on their feet and television cameras trained on the field, Vanessa Hernández stood behind home plate and sang the national anthem, which is traditionally sung before every sporting event in the United States.
Only this time, it was different.
Known to fans by the stage name, Nezza, the Dominican American singer took the mic at Dodger Stadium and performed “El Pendón Estrellado,” the official Spanish-language version of “The Star-Spangled Banner” — apparently against the wishes of the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Wearing a shirt adorned with the flag of her family’s homeland, Hernández’s voice quivered with emotion as she reached the final line, her eyes welling with tears. But her defiance was clear.
As she later shared on her TikTok, a Dodgers staff member had explicitly told her, “We are going to do the song in English today.” She didn't answer her, but then she let her singing do the talking, performing the anthem in Spanish. "I just felt like I needed to do it, para mi gente," (for my people), she explained on TikTok.
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/singer-dodger-stadium-national-anthem-spanish-nezza-rcna213236
I say, good for her. We are, to paraphrase the slogan of Guyana, one nation, many peoples.
= new reply since forum marked as read