Meek Mill has pledged to support Philadelphia mayor Cherelle L. Parker after a mass shooting left eight teenagers injured.
According to NBC Philadelphia, three gunmen opened fire on a bus on Wednesday (March 6) as high school students waited at the bus stop.
Police said seven teenage boys and a teenage girl were shot. One of the victims, a 16-year-old boy, is fighting for his life after being shot nine times, while the other seven are in stable condition.
Responding to Mayor Parker appearing on the news to say “enough is enough” in regards to continued violence in the city, Meek said he wanted to be a part of the solution in his hometown.
“I wanna help her especially with education,” he wrote on X. “I have dreams of working with the Yas foundation with dream chasers academy to offer these kids resources with technology and to travel outside of that environment to understand life! I’m in on reform ima join helping with education!”
He added: “If you black or brown talk about this … it’s kids that’s gonna pick up guns because they think they gonna die b4 they turn 21 for a gun license! You will go from Xbox to Glock because of your environment … and get locked up for trying to survive it it’s terrible!”
The rapper also called on people to not follow bad examples set by their elders: “Growing up around killers that won’t reason with you before they kill you is like trying to negotiate with a terrorist.
“In our city we used to death and currently going through something with everybody killing everybody it’s hard to focus or prosper! DO NOT FOLLOW THE HEATHENS!”
Meek Mill has attempted to become more involved in the community and politics following his 2017 prison stint for a parole violation.
Last year he, along with Kevin Hart and billionaire Michael Rubin, banded together to help low-income students in the Philadelphia area.
According to a press release, the trio donated $7 million to be spread across 60 private and parochial schools. The money was partly used to offer the students scholarships and provide them with at-home tools such as WiFi, laptops and tablets.
In partnership with Meek’s REFORM Alliance charity, more than 30 children — all of whom had parents who were unjustly affected by the criminal justice system — were treated to a superstar-filled Christmas.
And nobody wants to say the obvious thing. That rap music, like the music Meek Mill makes, is what all these kids are listening to while they shoot each other. You don’t think it would make a difference in the streets if rappers stopped encouraging it? Then you’re delusional. I love hip-hop. I’ve been listening to rap my whole life. But the truth is the truth. And the truth is that rap music is a terrible influence on young people, especially black kids. This “I’m just a product of my environment” b.s. doesn’t hold water anymore. But these rappers will never change their content because god forbid they sacrifice one dollar, even if it’ll save a life. You show me ONE Meek Mill album where he doesn’t reference guns and crack at least 20 times, and maybe I’ll believe this guy actually cares. It’s easy to show up with turkeys on thanksgiving, and sneakers on Christmas, and backpacks before school starts, but are you actually willing to BE the example. To say flat out, guns and drugs are BAD. You can send that message without being soft. I don’t ever remember anyone saying that Rakim, or Big Daddy Kane, or EPMD we’re soft. Rappers were Men back then. Rappers now, like Meek Mill, are still little boys who are enamored with gangster lifestyle even if they don’t live it. They can’t get over their fascination with it, so they’re not willing to speak out against it in a real way. They remind me of politicians that won’t speak out against guns in fear of losing support from the NRA. These rappers are COMPROMISED, because they’ve sold their soul for money and have forfeited their ability to be really HONEST about anything.
Well said truth.
I blame single parent households
Facts. I’ve seen dudes in the suburbs crash out too being influenced by the garbage music.
Single parent households and generational welfare hurt people bad. Spending a lifetime on the system = being lazy, not passing anything down, and not accomplishing anything. Keeps people in their place. Sad stuff. Those who work for everything build and build, and so long as the next generation continues to build, their families eventually end up starting off with a good chunk of change or good connections through peoples lifetimes of hard work. Single mothers and welfare go hand in hand though. They do it on purpose. Not working is bad for anyone and everyone.
And thank you for saying it @Stormcloak.