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Meek Mill Makes First Public Statements Since Being Incarcerated

Posted byBy Kiersten Willis | Published on: CommentsComments (0)

The “Wins and Loses” MC has been locked up in a Philadelphia prison since November for violating probation on a decade-old case. Since then, his lawyers have been fighting for his release. But as Meek continues to wait for justice, he’s speaking out about the way young Black men have been trapped in the prison system.

“I appreciate all the love and all the support from the people from Philadelphia, all over the world,” he said via phone Tuesday, March 13 during the Tidal-hosted “Reform: Bringing Injustice To Light” panel. “The people that have been showing support. I think it’s about time Pennsylvania had this type of light shined on the system because I’m actually caught up in the system, not just me myself. Me and a bunch of other young men and older men and you know, it’s kind of hard to get out of.”

As Meek addressed fans at Pennsylvania’s Irvine Auditorium, his mother held a poster of her son on stage. The MC, who was phoned by his attorney Joe Tacopina, mentioned his gun and drug case that led him to go to jail at 18.

“A few mistakes put me below zero from where I even started,” Meek says as his lawyer stands on stage alongside Rev. Al Sharpton, who has visited the MC in jail. “They’re taking me from so high and bring me back down and put me in a state penitentiary. They doing the average Black man worse.”

In addition to speaking at the event, Meek told Rolling Stone Wednesday, March 14 about the judge presiding over his case, Genece Brinkley, who convicted him on his case 10 years ago.

“Straight out the gate, she hated me, talking to me like I’m some kind of rapist,” Meek said. “She would follow me around and pop up at my house, looking for some way to do me dirty.”

“There’s brothers locked down that did nothing to be here but piss off people like Brinkley,” Meek added later in the article.

And echoing remarks made at the Tidal panel, he said he wants to “speak on this system and what it does to Black people – on both f—— sides of the fence.

Blaming his poor treatment from the Black judge and officer Reginald Graham, who reportedly roughed up Meek during his arrest at 18, on “straight self-hate,” the rapper plans to talk about how he’s been pulled down by the system upon his release.

“Trust me, I’m gonna say something about that,” he said. “And then, I’m gonna move to Atlanta.”

Mill has a post-conviction hearing set for April 16.

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