Los Angeles: During her Grammy acceptance speech, singer-songwriter Shakira took the opportunity to talk about the political turmoil surrounding President Donald Trump’s immigration policies.
Shakira, who was awarded for the best Latin pop album for “Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran” from Jennifer Lopez, the “Waka Waka” hitmaker thanked her children and dedicated the award “to all my immigrant brothers and sisters in this country,” she said.
“You are loved. You are worth it and I will always fight with you,” added the Colombian singer.
Additionally, Shakira also honoured “all of those women who work really hard everday to provide to their families.”
She concluded by saying: “You are the true She-wolves.”
Grammys host and comedian Trevor Noah earlier in the evening made an unsightly joke about Colombia and its ongoing battle with criminal activity, reports variety.com.
He said that the “Hips Don’t Lie” songstress “was the greatest thing out of Colombia that isn’t a Class A felony.”
Trevor also talked about how the Grammy winners are chosen after a vote of 13,000 members of the Recording Academy, quipping that the voting class also included “20 million illegal immigrants.”
The jokes fell flat, seeing that just down the road, thousands of protesters had gathered to combat President Trump’s aggressive policies against undocumented immigrants and promise of mass deportations, reports variety.com.
In the days since Trump was sworn into office, ICE agents have conducted high-profile raids and sent military and charter planes carrying undocumented immigrants back to their countries of origin, causing mass panic across the nation.
Shakira also addressed this on the red carpet ahead of the show, telling LA Times en Espanol: “I was also an immigrant who came here to this city with a dream. I know very well what those setbacks are like, but also how strong our people are. Latinos are unstoppable and I won’t tire of fighting with them and for them. Together, we will persevere.”
(IANS)
