Amid ongoing Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids occurring in Los Angeles and throughout the nation, Shakira is opening up concerning the realities of being an immigrant in the US.
The 48-year-old singer spoke with the BBC final week about shifting as an adolescent from her native Colombia to Miami within the ’90s.
“I was only 19 when I moved to the US, like many other Colombian immigrants who come to this country looking for a better future,” she stated. “And I remember I was surrounded by Spanish-English dictionaries and synonym dictionaries because back in the day I didn’t really have Google or ChatGPT to [help].”
Additional commenting on her “very precarious” scenario, Shakira famous that she used the works of poet Walt Whitman and singer-songwriters Leonard Cohen and Bob Dylan to refine her English abilities.
However past the language studying pains, the “Estoy Aquí” artist spoke on the emotional toll of the immigrant expertise.
“It means living in constant fear. And it’s painful to see,” Shakira stated. “Now, more than ever, we have to remain united. Now, more than ever, we have to raise our voices and make it very clear that a country can change its immigration policies, but the treatment of all people must always be humane.”
This isn’t the primary time Shakira has touched as regards to immigration in current months.
Whereas accepting the Latin pop album Grammy for “Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran” in February, the “Whenever, Wherever” singer devoted her award to her “immigrant brothers and sisters in this country”
“You are loved, you are worth it and I will always fight with you,” she stated.
Shakira’s current phrases of solidarity with the immigrant neighborhood got here as different main Latin American music acts used their platforms to sentence the ICE raids and align their sympathies with immigrants. Becky G, Ivan Cornejo, Fuerza Regida, Junior H, Grupo Frontera and Maná have been among the many acts to publicly voice concern for the immigrant neighborhood.
