21 Savage also was known as She’yaa Bin Abraham-Joseph was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement last Sunday in Atlanta, Georgia and ALL of black Twitter was SHOOK!
Our favorite hometown rapper, who we thought was a native resident of Zone 6, was actually thugging from across the pond! While Black Twitter kept the jokes coming about 21, a large amount of the Twitter community realized that immigration policy is not just an issue that affects the Hispanic/Latinx community but all of our communities.
21 came to this country in 2004 as a seven year old under an H-4 Visa. He made a brief exit out of the country and returned under a new visa and has been physically present in this country for the last 20 years. (Technically he should be protected from deportation under the Dreamers ACT but that’s neither here nor there)
The support that 21 Savage has gotten from the Black community has been tremendous. From fans to artists, the people want 21 Savage to be FREED! Jay Z has hired a whole legal team to assist with 21 savage’s legal trouble.
Although 21 Savage was arrested based on a felony charge, 21’s record has been expunged, making his ICE detainment invalid. Many believe that since the rapper has been impacting the community in a positive way, (by having back to school drives and rapping about financial literacy in the black community), that, ICE is placing a restraint on him to the progressive impact he was curating within the black community.
As a community, we should all follow Jay-Z’s lead when it comes to taking this issue more seriously. Immigration does affect the black community and this is not a fight we should leave to the Hispanic/Latinx community alone. Plenty of our brothers and sisters are sitting in ICE detainment centers right now without the proper resources because the black community and others refuse to educate themselves on an issue they believe does not affect them.
The unity shown on black twitter is great, and we love a good joke, but none of it matters if it’s not displayed in real life. It is our jobs as responsible, conscious citizens to educate and ourselves on matters that may not affect our immediate community as well as do something with the knowledge we’ve researched. Twitter threads are not enough.
So as you finish this article, I’m calling you to action. Read something on 21 savage’s case, learn about the Dreamers Act, sign a petition anything that allows you to be an activist outside of Twitter. Because while this may have happened to a unique person, this case is not unique. Things like this have been happening for decades now and even more now under the Trump Administration. The world needs you to be competent, this country needs you to be educated.