The Grammys forgot Palestine


 

“Stand with humanity against apartheid and collective punishment.”

 

In past essays, I have written about news cycles and how quickly they move, causing us to forget what happened in the previous cycle. Last week, the world was treated to another example of influential people gathering to celebrate one another through music at the Grammy Awards. For the record, I haven’t watched many episodes over the years because I’m not really into mainstream music. However, this year I watched because of Kendrick Lamar, the rapper who shook up last year’s Super Bowl halftime show. His song, “Not Like Us,” still rings in my head, and I have often yelled, “I see dead people,” followed by screaming, “Mustard,” in the hallways of Saint Peter’s University during my lunch hour. I have no idea what the students or other professors think of my weird actions; I’m just expressing my feelings at the moment. Lamar was nominated in a few categories this year, and there was also a new artist to me who had been getting a lot of media attention. His name is Bad Bunny, and he hails from Puerto Rico and is Latin America’s most prominent artist.

While I do like Spanish-language music, I have never added him to my radar of artists to listen to or follow, even though I understand only a few words and phrases. It has a lot to do with me being a Baby Boomer, a term for an older person. I am a fan of Marc Anthony, another Puerto Rican star, whom I had the chance to see in concert at the PNC Arts Center many years ago. Yet Bad Bunny was selected for this year’s entertainment, which has caused a lot of controversy because he will sing only in Spanish. I did a quick Google search to see how many Americans are fluent in Spanish and was shocked to read that only about 57-59 million of the 342-345 million speak it fluently.

For those in the know, Puerto Rico is an unincorporated territory of the United States. Stop! What the hell does that mean? So, I looked it up. “An unincorporated territory is a U.S. insular area under federal jurisdiction where the Constitution does not apply in full, allowing Congress to determine which rights apply.” In essence, Puerto Rico counts only when the U.S. says it does. This sounds like some settler/colonialist shit, but, oh well, back to Bad Bunny.

Benito Antonio Martinez Ocasio, aka Bad Bunny, is a rapper who has taken over the Latin Trap genre. His rise to fame somehow caught the NFL's attention, and they allowed him to showcase his talents at one of the most significant sports events. He was also selected to receive a Grammy for the Album of the Year. During his acceptance speech, he stated, ICE OUT!” This was in response to the tragic events happening in several Democratic cities where ICE officers have been deployed and have used brutal tactics in an attempt to arrest and deport “undocumented” immigrants. His comment was controversial, but needed to be said. President Trump, who usually likes to be at most events to receive full and unrestricted exposure, has decided to skip this year’s Super Bowl game and instead will watch an alternate show put on by Turning Point USA, which will headline country/rock performer Kid Rock, whose lyrics, “Young ladies, young ladies, I like ‘em underage. See, some say that’s statutory, but I say it’s mandatory.” It makes sense now. 

I say to each his own, and who cares who Trump watches. However, what is lost in the Bad Bunny speech and missing from the news media cycle is what continues to happen to the victims of the apartheid Israeli regime in Palestine. According to Al Jazeera, Israel has continued to bomb and kill innocent people since the October 2025 “ceasefire.” Hearing about decapitated babies from the bombings is heartbreaking. Yet as the world waits to watch the Super Bowl and place their bets on who will win, the points total, the halftime score, etc., many innocent Palestinian victims will lose their lives. Sorry to say, the world won’t be paying attention to Gaza or to the many other countries whose kids are starving and being slaughtered.

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