Lauryn Hill posted a “Letter of Recognition” to her supporters on her tumblr page yesterday (October 8).
The letter comes less than a week after the rapper-singer was released from prison after being incarcerated for failing to file taxes from 2005 through 2007. Hill had been incarcerated since July 8 at a Danbury, Connecticut prison.
Hill’s letter is as follows.
“Letter of Recognition –
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Firstly, I want to thank everyone who wrote letters and sent packages and books. Because of you there was not one day that I didn’t receive mail while I was away. I appreciated that. Know that many of your letters not only touched me but continued to confirm for me what I already knew but needed to hear again: that sincere expression has a serious purpose. If one of you had been touched, picked up, encouraged or prevented from succumbing to some measure of social or Spiritual decline, then it was worth it. Folks, walk strong, seek light and Universal reproof in all things. Know that man-made concerns and Universal concerns are not always in agreement. Obviously, strive to please God. Thank you again and again.
In Love and Freedom,
Ms. Lauryn Hill
@mslaurynhill”
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The letter then lists scores of people Ms. Hill says that she would like to thank “for their words of encouragement and support.”
In 2012, Hill pled guilty on the tax charges after she admitted that she intentionally chose not to file taxes from 2005 to 2007. In a 2012 Tumblr, Hill said that her decision “to withdraw from society” affected her ability to pay taxes.
“My intention has always been to get this situation rectified,” said Hill in her post. “When I was working consistently without being affected by the interferences mentioned above, I filed and paid my taxes. This only stopped when it was necessary to withdraw from society, in order to guarantee the safety and well-being of myself and my family.”
Since being released from prison, Hill has also released the single “Consumerism.” Hill raps about corporate greed and racism, among other topics on the song, which arrived October 4. “Modernism has created modern prisons,” she raps on the song. “Neo-McCarthyisms, new colonialisms.”
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According to MTV News, “Consumerism” was created prior to Hill’s prison sentence and finished through a series of phone calls made with Hill during her incarceration.
This week, it was reported that HIll requested to go on tour from November 15 through December 31, and that a judge has given her permission to do so.
As part of Lauryn Hill’s sentence for tax evasion, the rapper-actress was required to complete three months of home detention. Hill will be required to seek approval for each stop of the tour from her probation officer, and will have to serve the remainder of her home detention sentence after the tour concludes.
RELATED:Lauryn Hill To Go On Tour Instead Of Beginning Home Detention
