Entertainment
“CHAINED TO THE CITY” Black Inequity In The American Justice System
Recently 2 big names in Hip Hop, Meek Mill and Kevin Gates were released from prison, after spending a combined 14-month prison sentence.
Gates was released January 10, 2018, from an Illinois State prison after serving 9 out of a 30-month sentence, for a felonious weapons charge. In 2015, Gates was also convicted of battery and served 180 days in Polk County, Florida, after he kicked a female fan with force because she grabbed him. As a result of Gates criminal past, he is unable to carry a weapon or leave the state of Illinois.
“CHAINED TO THE CITY”
Last week, Gate’s wife Dreka, took to his Instagram page to update his fans and express her frustrations. She captioned the video “chained to the city”. In the video, she states that:
“Kevin is unable to make it to the shows this weekend and next weekend. The Illinois Dept. of Corrections has prevented Kevin from leaving the state of Illinois. He isn’t even allowed to come home to California where we live, and since he was released in January he has not been able to come home not 1 time.”
She then went on to apologize for his absence but reassured the fans that he would make it up to them and that he is in the studio going hard.
ENOUGH IS ENOUGH
At what point is enough, enough? He has already served time for his mistakes. He has permanently lost his right to bear arms. Now it appears that the justice system is attempting to take his livelihood as well.
When you look at the system and how it is designed to keep men of color oppressed. It is no wonder why often times they feel forced to regress back to their old lifestyles and street mentality. If men of color with status, money, and power are being derailed and unfairly treated, it is without question that thousands and thousands of black men caught in the prison system are just like the proverbial hamster wheel, just spinning and spinning, but getting nowhere, but exactly where they started.
#FREEMEEK
Meek Mill, was also released from prison on Apr 23, 2018, in Pennsylvania, after serving 5 months of a possible 2 to a 4-year prison sentence for POPPING WHEELIES on a dirt bike and getting into a scuffle. These two offenses violated probation from charges stemming from a drug and gun case in 2008.
It is unconscionable that an entire decade later, that Mill is still paying for the non-violent transgressions, which resulted in his early adulthood.
Fortunately, Mill has garnered support from all over the world, many of whom are celebrities and individuals with money and power. Even Queen Bey herself was talking about “FREE MEEK”.
But what about the disenfranchised brother who doesn’t have the support of JAY Z, TI, and MICHAEL RUBIN?
Debt To Society = PAID IN FULL
Both Gates and Mill have paid their debt to society. But in the eyes of the American Justice System, which is just another form of modern day slavery, their offenses are unforgivable. Not because the nature of the crimes are so atrocious, but because the individuals that committed the crimes are deemed as a menace to society, simply because of the color of their skin.
If this is happening to high profile celebrities, who are able to afford elite legal counsel to represent them, it is without question that thousands of black men and women across the country are experiencing an even higher level of inequity and disparity.
Mill has promised to fight the good fight, for others who have also been unfairly imprisoned for offenses that deserve a bit of grace. Hopefully, now that celebrity light has been shed on this age-old issue, the shift for fair and equal rights will begin. Then and only then, will America truly be great, with LIBERTY and JUST for ALL!!!
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In a story published Tuesday evening, Page Six is reporting that Kim Kardashian and Kanye West are getting divorced, with the two already in settlement talks. The news comes after the couple spent the holiday season separately – Kanye at his ranch outside Cody, Wyoming, Kim and the kids with her famous family in southern California.
A source close to Kardashian was quoted saying, “Kim got Kanye to go up there so they could live separate lives and quietly get things sorted out to separate and divorce. She’s done.” Kardashian, 40, and West, 43, are said to be splitting because of marital problems directly related to Kanye’s very public mental health struggles.
For several years the rapper’s various antics have caused fans to worry. After coming out as a Trump supporter, West then announced his own 2020 presidential bid under a new political party: the Birthday Party. At a campaign rally in South Carolina, he was seen rambling, debating individual audience members, and at times, crying. In various interviews, he has rambled on almost incoherently, and his tweetstorms are now infamous.
For her part, Kim has always supported her husband and has openly discussed the difficulties of their marriage. Back in June, she shared on social media, “Anyone who has [bipolar disorder] or has a loved one in their life who does, knows how incredibly complicated and painful it is to understand… People who are unaware or far removed from this experience can be judgmental and not understand that the individual [themself] have to engage in the process of getting help no matter how hard family and friends try.”
It appears she has finally reached her limit in the union with the unnamed source saying, “She is serious about taking the bar exam and becoming a lawyer, she is serious about her prison reform campaign. Meanwhile Kanye is talking about running for president and saying other crazy s**t, and she’s just had enough of it.”
Separately, a source close to Kanye alleges that the rapper is sick of his wife and her family, which might have some truth to it since he has tweeted some pretty nasty things in the past. “I been trying to get divorced since Kim met with Meek at the Warldolf [sic] for ‘prison reform,’” he said in a now-deleted July tweet. Recently, he hasn’t been featured on his wife’s Instagram and has largely remained out of the public eye.
With the news yet to be confirmed, the “divorce is imminent” reports are just rumors for now. We’ll be following the news as more information comes out.
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