There is terrible news coming out of Mexico this week as media reports say Jose Arredondo, a U.S. citizen and father of K-Pop star Samuel, was reportedly beaten to death in Cabo San Lucas. The 58-year-old, who is the well-known owner of a car dealership in Bakersfield, California, was found dead on Tuesday morning in a condominium with “signs of blunt force trauma,” police said. According to a local media outlet, Tribunal de Los Cabos, Arredondo was discovered “laying on the floor with several wounds caused by a knife in the back.” 

This story is shocking on many fronts as authorities try to uncover more details on how this all could have happened.

Arredondo was a revered family and community member in the Bakersfield area who came to the United States at the age of 11 from the Mexican state of Michoacan. He would work his way up to own several local dealerships after starting off washing cars in Los Angeles. Arredondo would be promoted to become a salesman that would be the start of a career auto retail industry. 

One of Arredondo’s closest friends was Rev. James Ranger, the lead pastor at New Life Church, where he attended for 20 years. Ranger told Bakersfield.com that Arredondo was “the real deal” and an individual would constantly give back to the church, this included donating brand-new cars to the church for fundraising. 

“He was tough as nails but he had a beautiful heart,” Ranger said about his good friend. 

While Samuel’s father came from Mexico and his mother from Korea, he was born in the U.S. Samuel, whose full name is Samuel Kim Arredondo, rose to stardom at a young age. He would appear in many of his father’s car dealership commercials and sing. He would also appear on the online show Seventeen TV before making it big on the K-pop scene. 

There has been much support and condolences that have been pouring in since the news broke.  

Many of Samuel’s fans have taken to social media to share their thought and deep condolences for the tragic news of his father’s passing. “My condolence. I hope that you are surrounded by your loved ones and I know it’s hard but please stay strong, you’re not alone Samuel #StayStrongSamuel,” one user wrote on Twitter. 

Another fan took the time to write out a short personal message for Samuel. She said that many of his fans are standing right there with him during this difficult time. 

“Dear Samuel, I know you’re not fine right now… What you’re facing is so hard and depressing but always remember… We-your fans- will always be here with you. We had your back. Always. Sending all the love I can give. Louise Lazaro. Your fan.”

This untimely death has struck the Bakersfield community as much as it has many of Samuel’s fans. 

Arredondo played a huge role in his community and many have shown their support and how he affected their lives personally. Besides being a car dealership owner, Arredondo played a pivotal role in encouraging children to stay in school and pursue higher education. He also was a big supporter in feeding farm labor workers in the nearby Central Valley.

Francisco Duran, who was a fan of Arredondo growing up, wrote on Facebook that the news hit him hard. He was one of those that was personally touched many of his positive car commercials. 

“Sad news. I was thinking about quitting Bakersfield College back in 1995 when I saw him on TV. He was encouraging kids to stay in school. He changed my mind about quitting.”

John Pitre, the chief operations officer at Motor City Buick GMC and Motor City Lexus of Bakersfield, told the Bakersfield.com that the untimely death was a “tragic event.” Pitre noted that Arredondo played a big role in the car dealers business. 

“He was a valuable member of our community and we’re certainly going to miss him,” Pitre said. “We’re certainly in mourning and we’ll say a prayer for him.”

While there are still many questions about the case there are still no suspects that have been identified at this time, investigators said.

READ: Korean Boy Band BTS Opened A Pop-Up Shop In Mexico City And The City Lost Its Mind

Latinx representation in media is limited but leaders like Kay Lopez,a  34-year-old social strategist and content developer, are working to change that. For her latest project she developed 100 gifs to better represent Latinas beyond those normally attached to brands or stereotypes. 

“I wasn’t finding any gifs that really spoke to how I felt Latinas should be describing their power and self. The few gifs that I did come across were tied to alcohol brands and soccer teams. It was hard to understand why these gifs didn’t already exist,” she told FIERCE by mitú. 

Her background is in social strategy and content development, and she used her skills in graphic design to create the gifs “that spoke to the Latina community.”

She also tapped into the community she developed through the Instagram account, Latinas Poderosas which has more than 30k followers. 

The ethos behind the online community is to uplift Latinas and claim space in the digital world while promoting positivity. 

“Empowering our community is the foundation of Latinas Poderosas. My goal has always been to empower Latinas by showcasing both past and present Latinas who have created positive impact. Women who have not settled, women who have pushed boundaries and who have made their dreams possible despite obstacles.” she said.

This was the same intention she brought to the project so she reached out to the members of this community to find out what it was they wanted, opening up her DMs to suggestions and requests.

She initially drafted several empowering terms that spoke to Latinx in a positive way.

Eventually, her efforts evolved into working to ensure she represented the diversity within the Latinx community. 

She asks for two to three words max per phrase and is continuously looking for popular colloquial adjectives throughout Latin America  to “truly capture the diversity of our community.” 

“I wanted terms that were not focused on one country, I wanted to pull and showcase the diversity in our phrases and the diversity of the Spanish language. Today you’ll find gifs that read ‘cachimbona’ a phrase used in El Salvador, ‘La Llorona’ which ties to Mexican [folklore], ‘Ya Tu Sabes’  used in the Dominican Republic, and, one of my favorites, ‘Blaxican’ created by special request. The more terms we have the more impact we have!”

Since launching earlier this month the gifs have already generated more than 20 million views and counting and so far the most popular terms are “Prima Hermana,” “Mija,” and “Bebecita.” 

Lopez, who is a first-generation Mexican-American Houston transplant living in Los Angeles, is constantly working to make the gifs more inclusive and representative. 

According to one report, nearly 40 million Instagram users over the age of 18 were Latinx in 2014 and yet, according to Lopez, the only gifs available to Latinx were primarily stereotypes. 

“I want to refrain from Latinx stereotypes as much as possible, words like ‘caliente,’ ‘chancla’ ‘tacos’ – with the exception of  ‘tacos before vatos’ which was a request from a fan – and I definitely want to stay away from words that insult our community or other communities. I want the gifs to showcase the diversity of our language, our culture, and the vibrancy of our roots.”

Diversity in a community that includes nearly a quarter of U.S. Latinos who self-identify as Afro-Latino among the millions of immigrants who come from 33 countries throughout Latin America and the Caribbean. 

Her efforts are undoubtedly making the social sphere all the more colorful.

This addition to the digital landscape means that when someone searches “Latina,” “latinas poderosa” or “latinx” in the gif section on Instagram or Snapchat, they’ll be flooded with colorful words including “reina,” “poderosa,” and “diosa.”

Switching up the narrative is ultimately the goal, it’s empowerment at people’s fingertips when the terminology associated with the Latinx community, specifically women, goes from sexual or provocative (the common associations with Latinas) to diverse and uplifting. 

“I want Latinas to know that they matter, that they’re seen and heard. I want to encourage our community to create. If you find our narrative missing don’t just shrug it off, do something and create it because no one else will create it for us.”