Hispanic Heritage Month: Emilio Estefan celebrates U.S. Latinos with ‘We’re All Mexican’
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Emilio Estefan was watching the news during the summer and was increasingly saddened by the racist and xenophobic rhetoric he kept hearing on television about Mexicans and immigrants.
It was those hateful and “not positive things” about Hispanics that motivated the Cuban-American music producer to write “We’re All Mexican” – a raucous anthem celebrating the love that many immigrants have of living in the United States.
“We have so many problems, and they are talking about Mexicans being rapists and killing people. That wasn’t right,” Estefan told Fox News Latino ahead of the song’s release on Monday. “We love this country. We don’t take things for granted.”
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}He said the song is about the “love affair” immigrants have with the United States.
“It’s not about Donald Trump. It’s not about politics,” Estefan added.
For the single, the 19-time Grammy winning producer brought together some of the biggest Latino recording artists including wife, Gloria Estefan, Carlos Santana, Pitbull, Wisin, Thalia, Taboo from the Black-Eyed Peas, Carlos Vives, Jencarlos Cancela, Rita Moreno, Pepe Aguilar and others.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}“[The song] is to inspire Latinos and to show people that we love this country,” Estefan told FNL. “Thirty-five singers in the song, all celebrating America and American diversity.”
It was Estefan’s intention to release the single during Hispanic Heritage Month because it's a time when the community comes together to celebrate what makes us similar, and different.
“Even though we come from different countries, we feel the same things,” he said. “[We] make great contributions to this country. We just want to be recognized and to say, ‘Thank you.’”
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The music video for “We’re All Mexican,” released Monday, also includes cameos from comedians Kathy Griffin and Whoopi Goldberg, actors Eva Longoria, Amaury Nolasco, Carlos Ponce, Gabriel “Fluffy” Iglesias and Kate del Castillo. Celebrity blogger Perez Hilton, Guillermo Rodriguez from “Jimmy Kimmel Live” and celebrity chef José Andrés also make an appearance.
“Hispanics have died for this country. We pay taxes. We work hard,” Emilio Estefan told FNL. “The United States is my country. We don’t take it for granted.”
He added: “I want people to know what we love this country.”
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Another way that the Estefans are showing their love for the United States and the opportunities they received from living here is through their new musical, “On Your Feet! The Musical,” opening on Broadway next month.
Estefan called it an “immigrant love story” with a different sound not heard much on Broadway now. The show, which opened in Chicago this summer, stars Josh Segarra and Ana Villafañe and uses the music made famous by the Gloria Estefan and the Miami Sound Machine.
“It’s a celebration of love of people coming to this country who never forget where they come from,” he said.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Previews for “On Your Feet!” begin Oct. 5.