I have chosen Miguel’s Now as the song I want to focus on because it is the one I feel most connected to. When I first encountered the song, I couldn’t believe that there was a song directed towards the issues of immigration around our nation. Before listening to this song, I didn’t know there were songs about immigration. It is an issue that is heavily discussed in the public, but a lot of artist don’t write songs about it. For me, this is an issue that hits close to home, as my parents are both immigrants.

The song speaks out against the current immigration state of the nation specifically the relationship between Trump and the border. It aims to shed light on some of the hidden stories about the immigration system. This song is off Miguel’s War and Leisure album, which tackles a wide variety of political issues. In the album, Miguel is openly advocating for immigrants, at time when he is reconnecting with his own roots. Miguel’s father immigrated from Mexico, so Miguel felt especially connected to these issues.

Knowing Miguel’s connections to the issue, I hope to learn more about the why now? Every word in the song is has a double mean and I want to learn more about what lies behind the words. I hope that this song exposes me to other songs about immigration. Through some preliminary research, I have found that there are other songs that highlight issues of minoritized groups without having a loaded message in their songs, such as Benny Blanco’s I Found You. Immigration has always been a focus in our nation. Immigrants have been a group of people that face a lot of negativity because of misconceptions. It is important that people start speaking out in favor of immigrant rights.

I do like this song and am sad that after studying the song for 11 weeks I will probably never want to hear it again. Immigration is an issue that I am passionate about and am excited to know what kind of story lies behind the words. Immigrants rights is not something that is advocated for enough. What Miguel does in the music video to the song is something that is not done enough. He visited an immigration detention center and allowed the people their to share their stories. The best way to understand an issue is to talk to the people being directly affected. I hope to try to emulate a similar idea throughout my project. I want to talk to people who have a personal connection to immigration.

With this project, I am concerned that there is not enough information out there about the song because it is fairly new. It is about a current and specific issue, so I hope that I am able to broaden the scope of my research. I want to challenge myself to step out of my views in this project, since I already feel connected to the issue. I am excited and hopeful that this project will teach me about immigration advocacy, as well as a little bit about myself.

Vilma