You may not remember who won the Super Bowl — or even who played in The Big Game. But, you probably haven’t forgotten Emme Muñiz’s performance with her mother Jennifer Lopez, which ran away with the entire night.
With one jaw-droppingly poignant rendition of “Let’s Get Loud,” 12-year-old Muñiz became the kind of star who owned the Twitter conversation. Now, seven months later, J.Lo's daughter is spreading her creative wings even further with the September 29 debut of her first book, Lord Help Me — revealing herself as a thoughtful and ambitious member of the next generation of Latinx women. Muñiz is a proud Latinx girl who isn’t afraid to dive deep into religion, even at her young age.
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“[My spirituality] started with my family. It first came from my mom and my grandma and my aunts. My grandma is very religious,” a thoughtful Muñiz told Refinery29 over Zoom, referring to her maternal grandmother, Guadalupe "Lupe" Lopez. “I used to see her a lot. So, whenever I saw her, we always prayed together. We prayed at dinner. We prayed before we went to bed.”
Lord Help Me — as its title suggests — taps into that deep well of familial spirituality (Muñiz’s father is pop star Marc Anthony). The Christian book recommends prayer to its reader as a way to overcome life's obstacles. Lord follows a girl’s running conversation with God, wherein she asks her higher power for guidance in everything from self-patience and familial matters to saving endangered animals like the sloths.
For Muniz, spirituality and respecting the environment are one in the same. “God created the environment and everything here,” she said. “So of course it goes hand in hand, these are His creations. He made them. He made everything. So he’s definitely proud of it.”
Muniz initially made Lord Help Me for “fun” with her nanny Jessica Morrison and a store-bought book kit. “Then we noticed how powerful it could be and what an impact it could have on the world,” Muniz explained. Now she is pondering what other avenues could help her share that perspective with the world. Like, say, singing.
When asked if music may also extend that aim, Muniz responded, “Yes, I do think it is another way to share the message! ... You can share [a message] with people and ask them to spread it to other people. Or, you can tell them how important it is and then they might do it on their own.”
Lord Help Me may just be the second step in Emme Muniz’s plan to save the world.
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