Remember when the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency (aka ICE) detained 21 Savage earlier this year, claiming that he was unlawfully present in the country and leading him to accept that he might be deported? Well, since then, the rapper has been campaigning for immigrants’ rights and this week he’s been recognised for his efforts.
Specifically, the National Immigration Law Center – an organisation defending the rights of low-income immigrants and their families – has given him its “highest honour”: the Courageous Luminaries Award.
21 Savage (real name She'yaa Bin Abraham-Joseph) has, in the months since his detainment, made the most of the platform that arose with the #Free21Savage campaign, to defend and campaign for immigrants’ rights.
He’s also donated $25,000 to the Southern Poverty Law Center, which provides access to legal representation to immigrants in deep south detention centers.
Besides his work for immigrants, 21 Savage has also championed a financial literacy scheme to help kids deal with money and an Atlanta school drive. You can read more about these in his interview with Another Man.