Some people do more and talk less. While a lot of other things are going on in the world this Oscar and Grammy winning celebrity continues to fight the good fight for an often forgotten population. Chart topping records and ‘racks on racks’ aside, John Legend Launches Campaign to End Mass Incarceration!
Clearly he wasn’t just “talking the talk” when he dropped his part of that epic Oscars speech this year. John Legend Launches Campaign to End Mass Incarceration called “FREE AMERICA,” a multi-year initiative including concerts and events. Vibe reports it all starts this week* when the R&B crooner, songwriter and musician participates in a press conference with Texas state legislators and also performs at a correctional facility while there.
John Legend Launches Campaign to End Mass Incarceration and will also perform at a California institution as well as co-host a criminal justice event in Washington, DC. Making more moves to give back, we’ve heard him speak on being a college grad and education reform especially for the under-served. When it comes to the effect of mass incarceration on our community Legend told the Huffington Post:
“We have a serious problem with incarceration in this country. It’s destroying families, it’s destroying communities and we’re the most incarcerated country in the world, and when you look deeper and look at the reasons we got to this place, we as a society made some choices politically and legislatively, culturally to deal with poverty, deal with mental illness in a certain way and that way usually involves using incarceration.”
…that’s definitely #RealTalk. With so much money and power in our community it’s great to see people ‘put it to good use’ and not be focused on how it will affect their image. John Legend Launches Campaign to End Mass Incarceration and the FREE AMERICA platform has reportedly already had success with California’s Proposition 47, “which lessens sentences for crimes such as forgery, fraud, petty theft and possession of small amounts of drugs by classifying them as misdemeanors instead of felonies.” Other artists joining FREE AMERICA will be announced at a later date.
Salute to that!
