Meek Mill feels grateful. Image Source: Okayplayer
Meek Mill feels grateful.
American rapper Meek Mill, real name Robert Rihmeek Williams, believes that no one deserves to spend the holidays in prison as he pays bail for 20 Philadelphia women.
According to a press release, Meek Mill, who is a co-founder of his social justice organization, REFORM Alliance, decided to bail out 20 Philadelphia women who were at the Riverside Correctional Facility so that they could spend their holidays with their families. He said that no one should have to spend the holidays in jail simply because they cannot afford bail, and no child should be without their parents during this time if we can do something about it.
Fox29.com reported that the five women were released on December 23rd and reunited with their families just in time for the holidays, and another 15 women will be released by next week. It was also reported that all 20 women would receive gift cards so they could purchase either gifts for their children or groceries for the family at their discretion.
Meek Mill said that he was devastated when he couldn’t spend the holidays with his son when he was incarcerated, so he understands what these women and their families are going through. He added that he is just grateful for having the opportunity to help the women who will be spending the holiday with their respective families and loved ones.
According to reports, Meek Mill founded the REFORM Alliance in 2018 with Michael Rubin, Jay-Z, Robert Kraft, and many others, and has since helped pass 16 bills in 10 states aimed at encouraging stable communities, relatively strong families, and community security for all.
The REFORM Alliance organization's goal is to transform supervised release and parole by passing policy and trying to establish real pathways to full-time work and happiness outside of the criminal justice system. Meek Mill has been a vocal advocate for those he claims are affected by the unfairnesses of the criminal justice system which he knows experienced firsthand.
He stated that for the ordinary working person, having lost their job and trying to lose their residence because of a technical violation would start driving them into poverty once more and put them in a psychological condition that would make moving forward challenging. And since he was affected by it, they are continuing to work on parole and probation now.
Earlier this year, Jay-Z and Meek Mill, along with Fat Joe, Robin Thicke, Big Sean, and Kelly Rowland, prompted lawmakers to restrict the use of rap lyrics in court.Jay-attorney, Z's Alex Spiro, and University of Richmond professor Erick Nielson addressed a letter to lawmakers trying to persuade them to pass the Rap Music on the Trial bill.
According to the letter, instead of recognizing rap music as a form of artistic expression, police and attorneys make the argument that the lyrics should indeed be perceived as "autobiographical journals," in the words of one prosecuting attorney, despite the genre's longstanding tradition of the storytelling that advantages figures of speech, is deeply embedded in hyperbole and hires all of the same poetic techniques found in more traditional works of poetry. They went on to say that this tactic successfully tries to deny rap music the position of art, giving the prosecution a threatening advantage in court. They are very often able to obtain verdicts even when other evidence is missing by presenting rap songs as rhymed confessions of unlawful acts.
The bill's goal is to restrict the permissibility of a defendant's music as evidence during a criminal trial. Prosecutors would be required to continue providing "clear and unambiguous" substantiation that a plaintiff's original expression is "literal," instead of metaphorical or pure fiction, according to the draft legislation. At the time, Fat Joe told Rolling Stone that their songs are a creative way to express oneself and amusement, just like any other genre. They would like to have their words to be acknowledged as art rather than used as a weapon in court. He added that he is keeping his fingers crossed that the governor and all the policymakers in New York consider their document, protect their artistic privileges, and make the right choice to pass this bill.
