Dominican-born singer Nezza did not sing the traditional “Star Spangled Banner” before the LA Dodgers at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles this past Saturday.
Instead, Dodger officials attempted to prevent the singer from performing “El Pendon Estrellado,” a Spanish-language version of the song. She did it anyway as a sign of solidarity with immigrants around the United States.
As a nationwide swath of “No Kings” protests and ongoing protests in Los Angeles continued to push back against President Donald Trump’s immigration raids, the artist and content creator Vanessa Hernandez sought a way to show her support.
“El Pendon Estrellado” was commissioned by President Franklin D. Roosevelt as a part of his “Good Neighbour Policy” to share patriotism with Latin America. The U.S. Government chose Peruvian immigrant Clotilde Arias’s composition in 1945.
Hernandez shared a video on her TikTok account chronicling her interaction with a Dodgers employee, stating they would prefer the anthem to be sung in English.
“We are going to do the song in English today, so I don’t know if that wasn’t translated — er, communicated,” the employee said.
Hernandez then sang “El Pendon Estrellado” donning a Dominican Republic shirt before the Dodgers took on the San Fransico Giants. The singer then shared a second TikTok video, noting she was still very emotional from the experience.
“I didn’t think I’d be met with any sort of no,” Nezza said in the second video. “Especially because we’re in L.A., and with everything happening. I’ve sung the national anthem many times in my life, but today, out of all days, I could not. I just felt like I needed to do it. Para mi gente.”
She then explained why she felt compelled to sing the Spanish version of the anthem in that moment. It comes down to her family’s origins and the sight of families being separated by the current administration’s policies.
“My parents are immigrants,” Hernandez explained. “They’ve been citizens my whole life at this point, they got documented really early, but I just can’t imagine them being ripped away from me, even at this age, let alone a little kid. Like, what are we doing?”
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Murjani Rawls may be reached at mrawls@njadvancemedia.com