As award season continues, the 68th Annual Grammy Awards ceremony has wrapped up with an emotional night.
Though many have voiced their opinions on who should have received what awards, speeches calling out the U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) that occurred that really stole the spotlight that night and united most of those in the audience.
Artists were seen flourishing their gallant looks and attire, as one of Hollywood’s most notorious award events demands. But reflecting the light of most paparazzi flashes, shined the bright pins that numerous attendees were caught wearing.
Pins with the slogan of “ICE OUT” were witnessed accessorizing most outfits of many household names such as Hailey and Justin Bieber, Billie Eilish, Finneas, Kelhani, Amy Allen and more.
The artists’ pins recalled those of Mark Ruffalo and Natasha Lyonne at the Golden Globes Awards, which held the phrase “BE GOOD.”
These pins hold different meanings but share the same purpose of the same campaign. They share a mutual condemnation of the recent acts and news of the recent deaths of American citizens by the witnessed hands of the American Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
The rising national tensions regarding the recent actions that have taken the campaign for criticizing ICE were clear to make some sort of presence during the night.
The real recognition that was perceived from the night was after Billie Eilish’s acceptance speech after winning the award for Song of the Year.
“As grateful as I feel, I honestly don’t feel like I need to say anything but that no one is illegal on stolen land,” Eilish said. “It’s just really hard to know what to say and what to do right now and I just, I feel really hopeful in this room, and I feel like we just need to keep fighting and speaking up and protesting. Our voices really do matter and people matter, and F*ck ICE is all I wanna say, sorry.”
Similarly to Eilish, Olivia Dean, now a Grammy-winner as Best New Artist of the year, accepted her own award with her own acknowledgement to immigration.
“I guess I wanna say I’m up here as a granddaughter of an immigrant,” Dean said. “I’m a product of bravery, and I believe those people deserve to be celebrated.”
Lastly, the Puerto Rican artist, Beniro Anotnio Martínez Ocasio, otherwise more famously known as Bad Bunny, won his own award for Best Album.
His album, “DeBí Tirar Más Fotos,” has been called a celebration of Latin Music and its people, it has encapsulated the struggle that can come from reminiscing a life that was marred by hardships, and the leaving of one’s own family behind to look for a new life.
It is an album that has truly become a love letter to his homeland, and as he accepted his award, he began his speech by speaking in English, “Before I say thanks to God, I’m going to say, ‘ICE out,’” Bad Bunny said. This was continued by the now famous quote of “We’re not savage, we’re not animals, we’re not aliens. We are humans, and we are Americans.”
Though the Grammy official website cuts this specific statement out, the rest of the speech is in a mix of both English and Spanish, “I want to dedicate this award to all the people that had to leave their home, land, their country to follow their dreams.”
The Grammys provided regular citizens with the opportunity to celebrate their favorite artists for a mode of entertainment, and they in return were given the courage and reality check that is needed in the midst of celebration.
