JLo's "Born in the USA" Performance

In one of her most impactful segments in the 2020 Super Bowl performance, Jennifer Lopez strategically featured the song "Born in the USA," while wearing a cape with the Puerto Rican on one side and the American flag on the other. The choice of this song aimed to communicate a powerful message: Latinos belong in the United States. Specifically, it underscored the status of Puerto Ricans as US citizens, communicating that although Puerto Rico is not a US state, it is a US colony and therefore its people are considered and should be treated as US citizens too. 

JLo's daughter, Emme, took center stage, singing her mother's 2000 single "Let's Get Loud" from within a cage. Surrounding the stage, other young girls sat in cages, symbolizing the children in confinement near the Mexican border. Lopez utilized one of America's largest platforms to shed light on the issues arising from Trump's immigration policies. This segment went beyond a mere performance, as JLo brought out a group of young girls to symbolize the new generation bearing witness to societal injustices. The implicit message was a plea for a better world for these children. Despite facing last-minute pressure from the NFL to remove the cages and alter her intended message, Lopez remained true in her commitment to raising awareness about immigration injustices.

Through this courageous act, JLo not only spotlighted the mistreatment of Mexican children at the southern border but also personified an alternative narrative for Latina artists. In defiance of stereotypes that often portray Latina musicians as solely hypersexual performers, she challenged the dominant discourse by presenting a performance with, as she describes in the documentary, "something with substance". She used this large platform to convey a message that transcends stereotypes, urging the world to see Latina artists in a multifaceted light.