TMZ
On Thursday (May 3) Meek Mill addressed the media and local lawmakers at Philadelphia’s National Constitution Center, and some might say we could be witnessing his evolution.
He spoke from a podium with Pennsylvania’s Tom Wolfe and others behind him and eloquently talked about the criminal justice system being flawed. Meek also said he’ll now devote much of his time to helping other people who’ve been wrongfully imprisoned and feels like he was given the perfect platform to do so.
Later on, like Kanye West did earlier this week, Meek admitted to having a drug addiction years ago but was reluctant to admit it or seek help because he was on probation.
“One point in my life I was actually addicted to opiods,” he said. “I think it should be a line drawn where you have a drug problem and you’re scared to tell your probation officer you have a drug problem because you don’t want to be sent to prison for years.”
The rapper then said that he once told a former probation officer about his addiction and instead of sending him back to prison, she put him in a rehab program, which he thanked her for.
In addition, the 30-year-old said he watched what happened to Donte Robinson and Rashon Nelson, the two men who were arrested at Starbucks for merely sitting and waiting for a business associate, and it made him think about his own legal issues.
“I actually watched the Starbucks situation play out through media,” Meek explained. “If that was me in Starbucks, on probation, I actually would have been in technical violation and still would have been able to legally be sentenced to 2-4 years in prison because I came in contact with police.”
Meanwhile, according to the Hollywood Reporter, Meek is teaming with Amazon for a six-part docuseries that will focus, as the streaming company put it, on his “fight for exoneration while exposing flaws in the criminal justice system.”
JAY Z will executive produce the project under his Roc Nation entertainment company, and it’ll be released in 2019. It will apparently examine Meek’s childhood, his jail experience and life after being released.
“I’m still overwhelmed. I come from being in prison seven days ago,” he said during the at the Constitution Center. “It was a traumatic experience. I’m happy to be back and be a part of what I call history, because I know there’s a lot of voiceless men and people I personally know from sitting in prison, who are dependent on me, and I feel like God has given me a great platform to help many others and to make Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and the world a better place.”
You can watch a clip of the rapper’s speech below.
