Imagine coming to this country at 14 and growing up in one of the ghettos of the cities of America.
You adapt to the culture, customs and language and pulling yourself up by the bootstraps to go out and get the American dream that the mythos of this country is built on from stories throughout history.
You stumble, but beat the odds and make it out of the slums to become a superstar rapper and use that as a tool to have a positive influence.
Then, you’re arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
This is what happened to rapper 21 Savage.
His story isn’t much different than other Dreamers here in the country who face being detained and deported at anytime from the only land they know.
What makes this case unique is he was convicted of felony drug charges in the U.S back in 2014. However, this conviction was expunged in 2018 long after his visa expired.
So why didn’t the felony trigger his deportation from the country five years ago? Why arrest him now?
Recently, his music is going in a different route than his gangster-rap norm. He has also become more of an activist using his platform to shed light on the plight going on in the inner cities with poverty, education and lack of resources.
Less than a week before his recent arrest, 21 Savage performed his single “A Lot” on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon where he rapped an alternate verse containing lyrics about immigration.
The timing of his arrest seems rather suspicious.
The federal government and its agencies have used their resources in the past to try to stop the movements by people of color such as The Black Panther party, Malcolm X and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. These people were perceived as threats for wanting to improve the situations, communities and mindsets of people of color.
21 Savage should not be deported, and anyone who comes to this country as a child and strives to become a success needs to be granted citizenship to this country by any means necessary.
