https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/17/opinion/jay-z-meek-mill-probation.html


Jay-Z: The Criminal Justice System Stalks Black People Like Meek Mill


By JAY-Z NOV. 17, 2017


A Philadelphia judge sentenced the rapper Meek Mill to two to four years in prison for violating probation. Credit Matt Rourke/Associated Press

This month Meek Mill was sentenced to two to four years in prison for violating his probation. #FreeMeek hashtags have sprung up, and hundreds of his fans rallied near City Hall in Philadelphia to protest the ruling.

On the surface, this may look like the story of yet another criminal rapper who didn’t smarten up and is back where he started. But consider this: Meek was around 19 when he was convicted on charges relating to drug and gun possession, and he served an eight-month sentence. Now he’s 30, so he has been on probation for basically his entire adult life. For about a decade, he’s been stalked by a system that considers the slightest infraction a justification for locking him back inside.

What’s happening to Meek Mill is just one example of how our criminal justice system entraps and harasses hundreds of thousands of black people every day. I saw this up close when I was growing up in Brooklyn during the 1970s and 1980s. Instead of a second chance, probation ends up being a land mine, with a random misstep bringing consequences greater than the crime. A person on probation can end up in jail over a technical violation like missing a curfew.

Taxpayers in Philadelphia, Meek Mill’s hometown, will have to spend tens of thousands of dollars each year to keep him locked up, and I bet none of them would tell you his imprisonment is helping to keep them safer. He’s there because of arrests for a parole violation, and because a judge overruled recommendations by a prosecutor and his probation officer that he doesn’t deserve more jail time. That’s why I stopped my show in Dallas last week to talk about Meek.


Look at what he’s being punished for now:

In March, he was arrested after an altercation in a St. Louis airport. After video of what had actually happened was released, all charges were dropped against Meek. In August, he was arrested for popping a wheelie on a motorcycle on his video set in New York. Those charges were dismissed after he agreed to attend traffic school.



Think about that. The charges were either dropped or dismissed, but the judge sent him to prison anyway.


The specifics of Meek’s case inspired me to write this. But it’s time we highlight the random ways people trapped in the criminal justice system are punished every day. The system treats them as a danger to society, consistently monitors and follows them for any minor infraction — with the goal of putting them back in prison.

As of 2015, one-third of the 4.65 million Americans who were on some form of parole or probation were black. Black people are sent to prison for probation and parole violations at much higher rates than white people.


In Pennsylvania, hundreds of thousands of people are on probation or parole. About half of the people in city jails in Philadelphia are there for probation or parole violations. We could literally shut down jails if we treated people on parole or probation more fairly.

And that’s what we need to fight for in Philadelphia and across the country. The racial-justice organization Color of Change is working with people in Philadelphia to pressure the courts there and make that vision a reality. Probation is a trap and we must fight for Meek and everyone else unjustly sent to prison.



Jay-Z is an entrepreneur, philanthropist and multi-award winning musician. Meek Mill is signed to his entertainment company, Roc Nation.

Allegedly, she wanted him to leave his record label to join her friend's, and give a shout out on a song

http://www.vulture.com/2017/11/fbi-reportedly-looks-into-judge-after-meek-mill-sentencing.html

DAMN THIS PRISON INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX MAKING ME ROOT FOR THAT NIGGA

(those first few mixtapes were absolute fire tho)

it really is a lose lose for folks.

the microscope it puts you under....it is real hard not to violate in some kind of way...on some little sh*t.

this part:

On the surface, this may look like the story of yet another criminal rapper who didn’t smarten up and is back where he started. But consider this: Meek was around 19 when he was convicted on charges relating to drug and gun possession, and he served an eight-month sentence. Now he’s 30, so he has been on probation for basically his entire adult life. For about a decade, he’s been stalked by a system that considers the slightest infraction a justification for locking him back inside.

What’s happening to Meek Mill is just one example of how our criminal justice system entraps and harasses hundreds of thousands of black people every day. I saw this up close when I was growing up in Brooklyn during the 1970s and 1980s. Instead of a second chance, probation ends up being a land mine, with a random misstep bringing consequences greater than the crime. A person on probation can end up in jail over a technical violation like missing a curfew.

and it makes sense because if you do the math of the odds, it's fucked. Plus lets not act like probation isn't its own scam; you gotta pay for those visits along with anything else the court deems you to do (psychologist, etc).

Friend of mine was paying hundreds of dollars a month for PROBATION, LOL. What kind of shit is that

the base
the rehab
the cost of tranposrtation
you name it.


Then on the other side, there are business people licensed by the County/State who receive money for enrolling you in the programs, but they might not notify you P.O. as to whether or not you were even ABLE to comply. So...you can legitimately 'miss the boat' through no fault of your own and still be violated because of a communication breakdown..

and it's ALL. ON. YOU

(white) people will make something of the last line, i'm sure



>Jay-Z is an entrepreneur, philanthropist and multi-award
>winning musician. Meek Mill is signed to his entertainment
>company, Roc Nation.
>

and definitely not news

Yeah he's 100% right, but I'm sorry he's 20 years late to the conversation and this kind of pisses me off because Jay-Z has had a powerful platform for over 15 years and has not done a damn thing with it. So Pardon me but this just burns me.




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"I cannot see how nature could have created itself. Only a supernatural force that is outside of space and time could have done that. ~ Francis Collins

He's done nothing with it? Shut up.

..you can't be serious.


*skatin' the rings of saturn*


..and miles to go before i sleep...

We've all talke about the BS of thr criminal justice system. Where wah his op-ed's been for the last 15 yrs?

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"I cannot see how nature could have created itself. Only a supernatural force that is outside of space and time could have done that. ~ Francis Collins

i mean, this was 3 years ago: http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/jay-z-russell-simmons-new-york-governor-criminal-justice-reforms-20141211

people wake up on their own time.

And effect change in the past 15 years? Colin Kaepernick has done more with less teim.
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"I cannot see how nature could have created itself. Only a supernatural force that is outside of space and time could have done that. ~ Francis Collins

https://www.themaven.net/allhiphop/opinion/can-he-live-the-charity-work-of-shawn-jay-z-carter-Wll92OcRGEqLqi51ZIyFpg?full=1

April 1999 – Jay-Z donated his proceeds from the Denver stop of the Hard Knock Life Tour to help the families of the victims of the Columbine tragedy.

August 2000 – Hosted, commentated, and made a donation at a charity basketball game that benefited the Boys Harbor summer camp and T.H.A.N.K.U. (The Hillcrest Avenue Neighborhood Kids Union).

2001 – Jay-Z and Roc-A-Fella Records formed Team Roc, a charity organization affiliated with the New York Mission Society that created basketball leagues for at-risk youth.

September 2001 – Jay-Z donated $50,000 to the World Trade Center relief effort. On The Blueprint album tour he donated proceeds from every ticket sold to the relief effort.

October 2001 – Performed at ‘The Concert for New York City,’ a benefit concert for victims of the 9/11 tragedy. Hov also donated unique memorabilia that was later auctioned off to support the Robin Hood Foundation.

November 2001 –Hosted and performed at the ‘Jay-Z’s Thanksgiving Give Back Concerts’ in New York. Proceeds went to the Team Roc organization.

March 2002 – Headlined and donated to the Urban Aid 2 benefit concert in support of Russell Simmons’ charity that raises funds awareness for HIV prevention initiatives.

December 2002 – Jay-Z surprised a group of youth who were a part of the New York Knicks reading program for inner-city kids. He joined them in class for the day and read to them.

2003 – Formed the Shawn Carter Scholarship Foundation with his mother Gloria Carter. They founded the charity on the belief that any motivated individual in need should have the opportunity to further his or her education. Since its formation the Foundation has donated over $1.5 million to more than 750 students who would have otherwise not been able to afford a college education.

2003 – Since the first branch opened in 2003, each 40/40 Club has ensured that a percentage of profits is given to music and sport charities in deprived communities. The Club also gives first option on jobs to unemployed young people.

November 2003 – All proceeds from his legendary ‘Fade to Black’ concert went to various charities. During the show he donated $25,000 to each mother of Biggie and Tupac to be used for their charitable efforts.

May 2004 – Jay-Z hosted a charity luncheon for the Golden Gloves Foundation, and along with Team Roc he formed a scholarship program for underprivileged youth who have boxing potential.

July 2004 – Enlisted Beyonce, Tyra Banks, Queen Latifah, Kanye West, and more to design a pair of Reebok S. Carter shoes to be auctioned off. All proceeds went to the Shawn Carter Foundation and Jay matched the donations.

September 2005 – He donated $1 million to the American Red Cross’ relief effort after the devastating Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans. Hov also put in personal calls to his famous friends to encourage them to donate, and appeared on the BET telethon for Hurricane Katrina to appeal to the general public.

2006 – Sent more than $2,500 worth of designer street wear to the Campaign for Adolescent and University Student Empowerment, a foundation that supports the low-income area of Spring Hill in DeLand, Orlando.

2006 – Funded and co-produced the documentary film Black Sorority Project: The Exodus. The film told the story of 22 female students at Howard University who defied barriers of race and gender to join the women’s suffrage movement and form a new sorority, Delta Sigma Theta, which is still known as one of the nation’s most formidable women’s organizations.

August 2006 – Met with United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan at the organization’s headquarters in New York. He joined forces with the United Nations and together they planned to help fight the global water crisis. He set out on his Water for Life world tour, traveling all over the world filming the documentary ‘Diary of Jay-Z: Water for Life’. He installed pumps and water sewage solutions in impoverished villages all over Africa.

August 2006 – Jay-Z personally-pledged $400,000 to PlayPump International for the installation of water pumps in malnourished villages in Africa.

November 2006 – Performed a concert in New York city for his Water for Life program with the UN. The concert raised almost $300,000 for PlayPump International

November 2006 – Hosted and played in a charity poker game. $403,862 in proceeds went to the Shawn Carter Scholarship Foundation and AROD Family Foundation.

May 2008 – Established an educational trust for the two children of Sean Bell, the unarmed man shot and killed by the police in November 2006 on the day he was to be married. Jay-Z also made sure Bell’s fiancée, Nicole Paultre Bell, was taken care of and hired her to appear in Rocawear’s ‘I Will Not Lose’ advertising campaign.

June 2008 – Designed a pair of wellington Hunter Boots during his time at the Glastonbury Music Festival to be sold at auction. Proceeds from the auction went to WaterAid to raise much need funds for their work in Madagascar improving access to safe water, hygiene and sanitation

June 2008 – Donated to the Robin Hood Foundation’s annual fundraising drive. The foundation’s proceeds support 240 poverty-fighting programs in New York City.

August 2008 – Performed at the Africa Rising Music Festival to raised money for Africa Rising, an organization established in 2006 to reflect the culture and positive attributes of Africa’s social, political, and economic progress.

December 2008 – Designed an I/denti/tee shirt in collaboration with Bono for Bono’s charity EDUN LIVE, which works to improve the skills of their clothing workers and aims to foster trade in Africa by ensuring all of its products are 100% African, from “grower to sewer”.

February 2009 – Formed the charity Two Kings with LeBron James. They donated over 150 musical instruments to the Mesa Arts Academy in Mesa, Arizona.

April 2009 – Jay-Z donated $25,000 to the Mary J. Blige and Steve Stoute Foundation for the Advancement of Women Now.

September 2009 – Organised the charity concert ‘Answer the Call’, which benefited the New York Police & Fire Widows’ & Children’s Benefit Fund. The concert raised $750,000.

January 2010 – Recorded ‘Stranded (Haiti Mon Amour)’ with Bono, Rihanna, and The Edge. They performed the song during a live charity telethon. Proceeds from the sale of the song supported rebuilding in Haiti after the 2010 earthquake.

February 2010 – Donated a signed Gibson Guitar to a charity auction for the Artists for Peace and Justice Foundation.

February 2010 – Jay-Z and LeBron James’ Two Kings charity conducted a counseling session for the Boys & Girls Club of Greater Dallas in Texas.

September 2010 – Performed at the Keep a Child Alive organization’s Black Ball to raise awareness and urgently needed funds to help children and families affected by HIV in Africa and India.

May 2010 – Donated and signed one of his favorite Audemars Piguet to an auction that benefited the Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS. The watch sold for $220,000.

August 2010 – Partnered with Nike to create five pairs of exclusive ‘All Black Everything’ Air Force Ones, which were auctioned to benefit the Shawn Carter Scholarship Foundation.

November 2010 – Donated and signed bottles of Armand de Brignac to be auctioned to benefit The Compound Foundation, who provides funds and equipment to build recording studios inside local group home centers.

New Years Eve 2010 – Auctioned VIP tickets to his and Coldplay’s headlining show at the Cosmopolitan Hotel in Las Vegas to benefit The Grammy Foundation.

February 2011 – Jay-Z and LeBron James’ charity Two Kings started renovating over 100 public parks and gyms across America.

March 2011 – Raised $42,000 for the Stephen Gaynor School, a non-profit school for students with learning differences, by auctioning the chance to sit courtside with him at two Nets vs. Knicks games.

June 2011 – Donated to auction a coveted internship at Roc Nation, with proceeds benefiting the Mary J. Blige and Steve Stoute Foundation for the Advancement of Women Now.

September 2011 – Hosted a fundraiser at Pier 54 in New York for the Shawn Carter Foundation. The event raised over $1 million in proceeds.

January 2012 – Jay-Z and Beyonce donated a large portion of the gifts given to them upon the birth of Blue Ivy Carter to charities that could pass them on to those less fortunate.

February 2012 – Jay-Z performed two concerts at Carnegie Hall to benefit the United Way of New York City organization and the Shawn Carter Foundation.

February 2012 – Jay-Z donated $25,000 to the Whitney Houston Memorial Foundation in the wake of her untimely death.

March 2012 – Donated the Maybach 57 used in his and Kanye West’s ‘Otis’ video to auction, where proceeds went to Save the Children’s relief efforts for the East Africa Drought Disaster of 2011.

September 2012 – Executive-produced and funded the release of Shola Lynch’s independent documentary Free Angela & All Political Prisoners.

October 2012 – Jay-Z auctioned ten limited-edition signed Brooklyn Nets ‘Carter #4’ jerseys on eBay. Proceeds went to the Shawn Carter Foundation.

September 2012 – Proceeds from Jay-Z’s Made in America festival went to the United Way of Greater Philadelphia and Southern New Jersey organization.

November 2012 – Donated to the Hurricane Sandy relief effort. He also purchased and donated generators to New York residents after they lost power during Hurricane Sandy.

July 2013 – Donated a large sum of money to the Marina Abramović Institute. In 2015 she would publicly accuse him of not donating to her art foundation, but later had to apologize as records show he had indeed donated.

September 2013 – Donated to the Made in Africa Foundation and helped launch the Africa50 campaign, which aims to lift 200 million Africans out of poverty.

October 2013 – Jay-Z releases a holiday collection with New York department store Barneys. After racial profiling issues arise with the store Jay ensures that 100% of the profits will be donated to his Shawn Carter Foundation. Proceeds top $1 million.

2014 – Donated to and supported charities who demand and fight for justice for those discriminated against in the trans-community.

June 2014 – Jay-Z and Beyonce’s On The Run tour donated $1 from every ticket purchased to the Shawn Carter Foundation. A portion of the proceeds from each Chase Lounge VIP Ticket Package was also donated to the Shawn Carter Foundation.

August 2014 – Donated tens of thousands of dollars to pay the bail charges for hundreds of protestors who were arrested during the Ferguson protests after the death of Michael Brown.

August 2014 – Organized the Roc Nation Summer Classic charity basketball game. All proceeds benefited the RC22 Foundation and PitCCh-In Foundation.

September 2014 – Jay performed as the headliner for the Global Citizen Festival and made a substantial donation to the cause. The Global Citizen project aims to end extreme global poverty, as well as focusing on solving epidemics like Ebola, ending the HIV/AIDS crisis, and providing clean water.

December 2014 – Jay-Z paid for and hand-delivered “I CAN’T BREATHE” shirts to the Brooklyn Nets locker room to promote the ‘Black Lives Matter’ movement on a national scale.

December 2014 – Met with the Governor of New York State Andrew Cuomo about doing a top to bottom review of the Criminal Justice system. Jay pushed them to discuss how everyone can work together to pass a reform package that ensures equality in the eyes of the law.

April 2015 – Donated tens of thousands of dollars to pay the bail charges for hundreds of protesters who were arrested during the Baltimore protests after the death of Freddie Gray.

May 2015 – Donated to the Baltimore Justice Fund. TiDAL live-streamed Prince’s Rally 4 Peace concert and they matched the donations made by the general public during the stream.

May 2015 – Visited Baltimore on Mother’s Day to attend Prince’s ‘Rally 4 Peace’ concert, and backstage he met with Freddie Gray’s family in a visit closed to the press. Hov and Beyonce donated a large sum of money to the family to help them continue their journey for justice.

May 2015 – Jay’s longtime friend and collaborator dream hampton reveals that he has donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to the ‘Black Lives Matter’ campaign, helping to establish new chapters of the movement all over the country.

June 2015 – Supported Roc Nation Sports athlete Robinson Cano at his annual charity event ‘Canoche’ in Seattle. Hov donated a signed bottle of Armand de Brignac, which sold at auction for $5,500. He also made a private contribution to Cano’s charity fund.

August 2015 – Jay Z signed and wrote lyrics on two used skateboards, donated by professional riders Paul Rodriguez and Shane O’Neil, for the Tony Hawk Foundation’s ‘Boards + Bands’ fundraising initiative.

September 2015 – As with every Made in America festival, Hov provides space free of charge to charity organizations in an area called the ‘Cause Village.’

October 2015 – Organized the TiDAL X: 10/20 charity concert. Enlisted his talented friends to donate their time and efforts and held a concert where 100% of the proceeds were matched by TiDAL and donated to charity. The event raised $1,500,000 which the New World Foundation and Harry Belafonte’s Sankofa non-profit group will give to organizations dealing with income and racial inequality, childhood education, and relationships between local communities and law enforcement.

Enjoy your sacred cow.
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"I cannot see how nature could have created itself. Only a supernatural force that is outside of space and time could have done that. ~ Francis Collins

That Jesus character tells it.

You may have read it at some point.
Check it out again, fam.

You may possibly find it applicable right now.