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Meek Mill told NBC News in an interview that aired Wednesday that while he's grateful to be out of prison, he wants the movement that helped him to extend to the system as a whole.
Meek Mill, whose real name is Robert Williams, became a cause célèbre of fans and fellow rappers after he was sentenced to up to four years in prison for for popping a wheelie, which a judge ruled violated his parole from a case in 2008 that prohibited reckless driving.
After spending five months in prison, he was released Tuesday after the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ordered the rapper be granted "unsecured bail," overruling a lower court’s decision.
Soon after his arrest, he said on social media that he understood "many people of color across the country don’t have that luxury and I plan to use my platform to shine a light on those issues."
Speaking to NBC's Lester Holt, Meek Mill said he was ready to take on that mantel of responsibility.
"I don’t feel free. I ain’t feel free since I caught this case at the age of 19. I’m 30 now," the rapper said. "Being as though I’m in this position, I got a lot of responsibility. I’ve got a lot of important people depending on me, and not talking about the people, the public officials, I’m talking about the men that’s depending on me that are going through the same thing I’m going through."
He added that he wanted the momentum of public pressure for justice and prison reform to extend to others who don't have influential supporters like Jay-Z and the co-owner of the 76ers.
"Let's now retire #FreeMeekMill and make it #JusticeReform," he said.
LINK: Rapper Meek Mill Has Been Freed From Prison
from BuzzFeed - USNews https://ift.tt/2HxE8Xy
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