(Chamillionaire in July 2008. (CC) Brian Solis, www.briansolis.com and bub.blicio.us.)
I’m sure a lot of you out there are like, “I haven’t heard about Chamillionaire since ‘Ridin’ Dirty’ was on the airwaves!” But Chamillionare is back in the news, and it’s because of his generosity.
As reported by Remezcla, the rapper reached out to reporter Niraj Warikoo, who wrote about Jorge Garcia, a husband and father of two who had been in the U.S. for 30 years before being deported by the Trump Administration. Warikoo posted Chamillionaire’s email on Twitter, which brought on an onslaught of positive messages as well as those who felt the rapper was using this tragedy as a way to become relevant again. Chamillionaire went on Instagram to discuss the email.
“Unfortunately, a journalist that I reached out to took the email that I sent to him that I was trying to keep private and made it public,” he said in one if his Instgram videos. “And for those of you familiar with me, you know I’m the last person to chase publicity or attention. So I would like to say thank you to the wonderful people on social media that did more than just criticize, the people who helped me get in touch with Jorge Garcia’s wife, Cindy Garcia. We had a dope conversation.”
Chamillionare, who said his parents are also immigrants, addressed the people who told him black people should only look out for black people.
“A lot of people hit me saying they don’t understand why a black man would want to help Mexicans and nonsense like ‘They don’t do nothing for us. Black people only need to help black people. I’m sorry you feel that way, but I’m from Texas, Tejas. I know a lot of you have been misled to believe that toxic narrative that ‘Mexicans are doing this, and Mexicans are doing that,’ like they aren’t valuable contributors to our economy and society.”
“Here’s a little history lesson: Ridin’ dirty was produced by two Mexicans. The manager that took it to the top of the charts, Mexican,” he continued. “One of the retailers that sold the most mixtapes for me was Mexican. But he didn’t work in the store, he owned it. And guess who showed up at the shows? You guessed it.”
“If you don’t have respect for immigrants, or you don’t have respect for minorities, of you don’t have respect for women, is going to be very difficult for you to understand why the other side’s gotta be treated fairly,” he said.
Take a look at his Instagram videos below and write what you think about Chamillionaire’s solidarity lecture to his fans in the comments section below!
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