Following Bad Bunny’s record-breaking Halftime Show at the Super Bowl, a friend asked me what lessons we as Latinos should take from this, especially those of us who work in advocacy.
The show exuded joy. It was captivating and infectious and transmitted a message of love and unity.
But most of all, it was about authenticity. Bad Bunny didn’t change his lyrics, didn’t tone down his references to his culture. He highlighted them and told us who he is. That’s the lesson those of us in research and advocacy should take to heart.
When Culture Drives the Science
When we conduct studies that honor language, cultural context, and community values, we get better data, build real trust, and find insights that improve health outcomes for everyone.
Countless studies have demonstrated this. A 2012 meta-analysis published in the Journal of Cardiovascular Nursing analyzed randomized controlled trials and found that culturally tailored diabetes education produced significant improvements in glycemic control among ethnic minority participants compared to usual care. These programs worked especially well when they used bilingual educators, community health workers, and materials that actually made sense to the people using them. The takeaway is clear: When care reflects people’s lived realities, outcomes improve.1
Proof It Works
Project Dulce in San Diego also proved it. The 2005 study paired nurses with promotoras (a lay Hispanic/Latino community member who receives specialized training to provide basic health education) who delivered education and support in participants’ own language and cultural context.
The results: significant drops in HbA1c, blood pressure, and cholesterol. What made it work wasn’t just good medicine. It was trust, cultural understanding, and real community engagement.2
Communities as Partners
Good care requires cultural flexibility. Providers asking about and responding to patients’ beliefs, language needs, and lived realities instead of making assumptions.
Communities aren’t just research subjects. They’re partners whose cultural knowledge makes the science stronger.
Just as Bad Bunny’s authenticity made him a global phenomenon, culturally grounded health research expands our impact and improves health for all communities.
The Call to Action
The world is ready to hear from us. Our presence isn’t exclusionary. It enriches and transforms health outcomes for all communities, creating a system that saves lives and resources through genuine inclusion.
It’s also our responsibility to our communities. If we fail to incorporate our voices in the research and in the science, we’re failing them. This is not a time to shrink or stay quiet. We have to work harder to make sure our voices are included.
A Message to Funders
Funders need to step up, too. The old way of doing things, with reliable federal grants and government support, is over. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said it best: “The old order is not coming back,” and “nostalgia is not a strategy.”
We need to knock on more doors. Funders should recognize the moment and know that only through community-powered research in those communities hardest hit by cuts and deprioritization will we be able to keep the flame alive. Funders who support an inclusive society must step up right now to help us make up for lost ground.
- Nam, S., Janson, S. L., Stotts, N. A., Chesla, C., & Kroon, L. (2012). Effect of culturally tailored diabetes education in ethnic minorities with type 2 diabetes: A meta-analysis. Journal of Cardiovascular Nursing, 27(6), 505–518. https://doi.org/10.1097/JCN.0b013e31823368c7
- Gilmer, T. P., Philis-Tsimikas, A., & Walker, C. (2005). Outcomes of Project Dulce: A Culturally Specific Diabetes Management Program. Annals of Pharmacotherapy, 39(5), 817–822. https://doi.org/10.1345/aph.1E583
I appreciate the author’s point about culturally grounded research—language and context matter, and communities should be partners, not props.
But I don’t agree with framing Bad Bunny’s halftime show as a “unifying Latino moment.” I’m Colombian, and I can say plainly: he does not represent all of us. Latinos are not a monolith—we come from different countries, traditions, and political perspectives.
Authenticity is valuable. But presenting political messaging as “our collective voice” risks reducing a diverse community to a single narrative. Inclusion should expand representation, not compress it.
Healthy philanthropy requires inclusion without assumption—and without speaking for those who have not consented to be represented. A philanthropy publication isn’t the place to campaign for any political moment, no matter how it’s packaged.
And as a practical matter — many funders lean to the right. This kind of narrative doesn’t sit well with them, and nonprofits that depend on broad donor support should keep that in mind.