Jenni Rivera

In honor of Hispanic Heritage Month, every school day The Cardinal will feature a prominent and historical Hispanic American, living or dead, who has worked toward change, advancement, and/or world peace. Some of them are heroes, and some are unsung heroes, who deserve recognition, and have made a contribution to society.

Judith Sanchez, Staff Writer

October 9, 2023

Jenni Rivera was born on July 2nd, 1969. She was a singer, songwriter, reality TV star, businesswoman and activist. Rivera was best known for singing the styles banda, mariachi, and norteño.

Even though she was very successful, she went through many hardships in her life. At 15-years-old she got pregnant with her first daughter (Chiquis) by Trino Martin, and then had two more. During that time, she and her children went through physical, mental, and sexual abuse. This led to depression and two suicide attempts but after leaving her husband she started working at her dad’s record company and discovered her love for singing.

Rivera started performing in bars where she met Juan Lopez, her second husband. A little while after getting married, Juan was sentenced to 6 months in prison for smuggling immigrants. After getting out of prison they had two children together, but they later divorced because of his infidelity. As her music started to become more popular, she became known as “La Diva de la Banda”. She also found out her first husband molested her sister and daughter. He avoided capture for nine years before being arrested and sentenced to thirty years. Her second husband was sentenced to ten years for drug dealing.

Despite all her hardships, she was very successful, and became the spokeswoman for the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence and she founded the Jenni Rivera Love Foundation which helped women who were victims of violence, children with cancer, and immigrants. She also married former baseball player Esteban Loaiza and starred in multiple reality TV series. Unfortunately, Jenni and six others died in a plane crash on December 9, 2012.

About the Contributor

Judith Sanchez, Senior Editor

Judith Sanchez is a senior here at Hoover High School and a part of the ALMA Academy. She has been in the yearbook since her sophomore year because it is a great class. She has been a part of Mid-City Can and this organization helps raise money to improve the park across the street from their office in Henwood Park. Mid-City also attends city council meetings to discuss why the park needs funding. She spent this summer working at SeaWorld in the food carts and restaurants. Having this job over the summer helped her with talking to new and different people, and it helped with having patience when dealing with people. In her free time, she enjoys listening to music and watching films, her favorite songs are "Juna" by Clairo, "Taste" by Sabrina Carpenter, and "Guess" by Charli xcx. Her favorite films are Little Women and The Virgin Suicides. Her favorite foods are pasta, and her favorite drinks are lemonade and diet Coke. In the spring, she will graduate and head off to college. Some things that she is excited about are Grad night which will happen on her birthday and the Senior Walk that she has wanted to do since elementary school.