Reclaiming Joy: The Halftime Show We Needed
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It’s possible I have no business being here, since this moment truly belongs to Latino and Latina voices.
But I’m here anyway, because there was something in the Super Bowl halftime performance that felt defining and worth discussing.
Every year, what we call the world’s biggest stage is not just the music industry’s latest fascination. The NFL understands that the halftime performance needs to tell a story of our time. The committee selects a catalyst, feigns censorship of the message, and then, behind the curtain, they let out the leash.
This year, the performance exceeded the task at hand. Admittedly, I write this as a huge fan of Latin culture and the people who have brought our world some of the most delicious food and intoxicating music. It’s a culture that embraces and celebrates life and community, and when things get bad, always finds a way to bring color and vibrancy that reminds us we are alive and that this life is worth living. It’s a genuine skill they possess, one I had the pleasure of witnessing firsthand in the heart of my 20s when I solo backpacked for 14 months through Central and South America, followed by a stint living in Buenos Aires teaching English.
During those defining years, I came to respect the cultural touchpoints: the bodegas and mercados, the parks where friends gather to play dominoes, checkers, and chess, the street vendors selling helado and elote, the nail and hair salons that affirm and celebrate womanhood, and the gathering places that are the heartbeat of the community.
As recent as last Sunday, I didn’t know anything about Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, aka Bad Bunny. I wouldn’t have been able to pick him out of a crowd. But here I am just days later, his music on repeat in my head, the salsa and reggaeton moving through me as I cut veggies for dinner. I came away from his performance with an uplifted feeling that has taken me by surprise.
There are so many layers to unpack, but the one that stays with me is this: in a time when a culture has been vilified and literally hunted in the streets of a country that promises freedom from tyranny, what we witnessed on Sunday was a population of people doubling down. The music was both fresh and timeless, the details representing all that we love about a culture that celebrates vibrancy and joy even in the face of oppression.
What Benito brought to center stage is what it looks like when you’re told to be less, to be small, to be afraid—and instead you find joy and reclamation in exactly who you are. This wasn’t just a performance; it was a statement of truth. We are not what YOU say we are. We are who WE say we are.
This. This is the takeaway. This is why anyone who watched with an open mind and love in their hearts, might have come away feeling more connected—perhaps even with an inexplicable hope and joy—despite not having an ounce of Latin blood in your veins. Right now, it’s easy to get caught in shock and despair, to feel deeply how we are in the dark night of our collective soul. But moments like this present a choice: to stay there, giving in to the darkness, accepting it as the new normal, or to turn inward and remember who you are, and the power you hold in exactly who you were made to be.
We all stand on that threshold, now with a beautiful example of hope and pride playing on repeat in our awareness.
We all make a choice to focus on something every day.
What will you choose?
