Jay Z shifted some time ago from primarily weaving tales about his former life as a drug dealer into the business mogul he is today. Earlier this year, the Brooklyn star helped produce a series regarding the tragic case of Kalief Browder, which has ignited Hov’s passion into taking on the criminal justice system and what he calls the “exploitative bail industry.”
The artist born Shawn Corey Carter expressed his desire to enter the criminal justice reform fray in an editorial written exclusively for TIME. In the piece, Jay tackles the politics of the bail industry and how companies profit on the backs of people of color who are disproportionately arrested and legally wrangled far more than their white counterparts. This Father’s Day, Jay hopes to bring attention to the matter by joining an existing campaign that helped bail mothers out on Mother’s Day.
“[W]hen I helped produce this year’s docuseries, Time: The Kalief Browder Story, I became obsessed with the injustice of the profitable bail bond industry. Kalief’s family was too poor to post bond when he was accused of stealing a backpack. He was sentenced to a kind of purgatory before he ever went to trial. The three years he spent in solitary confinement on Rikers ultimately created irreversible damage that lead to his death at 22.
“Sandra Bland was also forced to post bail after her minor traffic infraction in Prairie View, Texas, led to a false charge of assaulting a public servant (the officer who arrested her was later charged with perjury regarding the arrest). She was placed in a local jail in a pre-incarcerated state. Again, she was never convicted of a crime. On any given day over 400,000 people, convicted of no crime, are held in jail because they cannot afford to buy their freedom,” Jay wrote for TIME.
Read Jay Z’s full op-ed here.
Now just if he didnt glorify selling crack cocaine which sorta set a bar for his own people by glamorizing it
The guy can literally hold a sign that says “I Love Selling Crack” and it still wouldn’t be glorification. He can rap all he wants about crack, the problem is his “own people” are NOT “glamorizing” these types of situations.
Tell that to the millenial generation an entire generation being told sell crack like me you can go to the top and made it a dream like some people have dreams of bein ball players or famous he glamorized the idea to people who didnt have nothing to dream just do what he did and youll be alright which 99.9% of the time it never goes alright ask the inner cities i just think its pathetic that you become rich off of destroying a generation s way of thinking then later you try preaching the fucking morale high road its hypocritical bullshit and only reason hes doing it is caue it helps him ad bey sell records just like rapping about being a drug dealer made him rich in the 90’s ad 00’s and now that generation X and the millenials are waking up a bit he had to change his course or else he woulda been seen as the bad guy hes a pathetic puppet suit being played call him russel simmons JR
You’re dumb.
HE’S TOO BUSY GLORIFYING HIS EGO TO WORRY ABOUT CRACK!!!! WATCH THIS FOOL RUN FOR OFFICE!!!! JUST SO HE CAN PUT THAT ON HIS RESUME!!!! LIKE “OWNING” THE NETS!!!! HAHAHA!!!! FOH!!!!
So by your logic, a man cannot genuinely help people? He’s going out of his way, to champion a cause that he wants to bring attention to. What’s wrong with that? Should he just refrain from helping people? Should he just continue to make rap music and not give back? I’m confused on your logic. If he does nothing, then people will say ” He’s does nothing for his community”, if he does help, people will say “He’s glorifying his ego, FOH”. What should he do? His past is his past, just like yours. The difference is he is trying to correct his. How about you? —- Can you give an educated response to this?
Yep. Some “whites” now gonna hate Jigga. Just like they do to anyone else who tries to make a change and speak for his people. T.i, Talib, Killa Mike on and on. Talking about his past and all that bs. Who got a clean past. Name them.
Hard to speak for your people when your the morons who got rich off of exploiting your own people and encouraging shitty ass lifestyles they knew would rarely ever bring success why would i hate on jigga? If we are making this about RACE do i need to name a list of whites who did go for THERE own? Like you know giving to churches hospitals foodbanks orphanages and schools instead of buying a bunch of stupid fuckin cars snd gold chains?
All you people act like you wouldnt do the same if you had that type of money. When you “whites” bought all the slaves over and oppressed them for a long ass time and then suddenly free them you all act like they just gonna be “normal” like all of you. When ppl haven’t seen $ their whole life and then suddenly find themselves swimming in $ they spend it cuz they don’t know better. Jay & the rest of those ppl he listed finally realized that their legacies won’t be about how much $ they made but will be on the impact they made on society. If ppl change for the better you should be congratulating them instead of criticizing their past.
Excuses. I never had money growing up. Now that I work, I save money. I don’t spend every cent I earn.
The second US states started banning slavery MANY many black slave owners started popping up in the yet to be emancipated states. They were known to be especially cruel to their slaves. In fact the largest slave owners ever in New Orleans was a black married couple, look it up!
You ignorant clueless child, there are literally 1000+ times the number of slaves in African countries then there ever was in the US. It’s blacks enslaving blacks by the way.
Wow. Resorting to name calling while not using words correctly. When you use then instead of than it completely changes the meaning of a sentence.
Name calling while not using words correctly is ……I can’t even think what it is. When you use then instead of than it completely changes the meaning of a sentence.
Your small minded
I respect what Jay is doing for STRANGERS…
To the ones who are stone throwing…….go bail out someone you know ……. come back and tell us about it
If you unhappy about what he’s doing it only means he’s not doing it for YOU
Here it is, the black george soros in the making… already taking his money and now the once drug peddling, violent gangster has become a social activist with hundreds and hundreds of millions of dollars. Why would someone take this elitist piece of trash seriously when his raps involve killing police, selling drugs and guns and the shameful treatment of women? Boycott this n@z! pedophile supported piece of trash and take the voice away from these criminals who feel they are the people who should have an opinion on reforming our justice system.
My bad. That was meant for Groucho
Ignorance hasn’t been bliss for you has it?
Like I told you sell drugs. No, Hov did that so hopefully you won’t have to go through that
Jay-Z finally waking up? 2 Pac was speaking on these matters in his 20s. Its a multibillion industry.if u thought slavery was dead wake up. watch the movie “13”