#I'mMeekToo
A trending topic that recently caught my attention is Meek Mill's fight for freedom. Meek's story really hit home for me because it deals with the same issues that I've faced, since I too got trapped in the web of America's broken justice system.
For those of you who may not know, Meek Mill is one of the "illest" rappers in the game. However, in 2008, before his rise to fame, Robert Rihmeek Williams, a.k.a. Meek Mill, was convicted on drug and gun charges.
Meek Mill was ultimately sentenced to spend 5 months in jail and was put on probation. Yet, due to minor slip ups--and a judge who has clearly been abusing her authority--Meek was arrested for violating his probation and resentenced to spend 2 to 4 years in prison. His initial 5 month sentence has snowballed into 10 years of Correctional Supervision. It took an outcry of support from celebrities and politicians to get him released; as of now, he is out on bond awaiting a higher court's ruling on his case.
Oh, and I forget to mention that the original arresting officer in Meek's case was exposed for being a dirty cop, with a history of framing young Black men!
Therefore, I decided to feature Meek Mill's story on "The Build," and of course I brought along my freedom fighters from the roster of Incarcerated Voices 101, to give the public insight from men who truly live and breathe this issue.
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DOUG LITTLE: Gentlemen, the topic is Meek Mill. If you haven't seen him on the news lately, I know you've read the Final Call article. Let's get it!
DEMETRIUS BRASHER (MDOC 234214): As a true hip-hop head and a fan of Meek Mill, I'm glad we're attacking this issue.
CARLTON PHILLIPS (MDOC 246334): Here's a man, a Black man, who on the surface appears to have it all--money, fame, talent--but yet, he doesn't feel free? Riddle me that!
KEVIN CAMPBELL (MDOC 203419): I didn't know much about Meek Mill until I saw him on TV discussing his case. He talked about how he had caught a drug case at an early age and was on probation, and during his probation, he had been violated and resentenced to serve a 2 to 4, for what seemed like harmless missteps.
DOUG LITTLE: It was drug AND gun case. The arresting officer, Reginald Graham, claimed that Meek pointed a gun at him.
CHARLES JACKSON BEY (MDOC 600271): Officer Graham testified under oath that he saw Meek Mill pull a gun from his waist band and point it at the cops. Innocent people are dying for far less by law enforcement. We know damn well Meek would have been shot down, had he actually done that.
JOHN ORTIZ-KEHOE (MDOC 256263): Meek's case highlights a reality that a majority of Americans don't like to own up to: that dirty cops do exist, they lie under oath, they plant false evidence, and the good cops around them usually keep quiet about it.
DOUG LITTLE: However, an honest cop DID come forward--Jerold Gibson--and he signed an affidavit stating that Officer Graham lied under oath.
JOHN ORTIZ-KEHOE (MDOC 256263): You're right. And we need more Jerold Gibson's, who are willing to come clean when THEY KNOW there's dirty cops on the force with them.
TOBY DAVIS (MDOC 234179): Officer Graham was so that the prosecutor tried to keep him off the witness stand!
DEON GLENN (MDOC 430064): And the courts still refused to throw out Meek's conviction or issue a new trial. Nevertheless, they can easily find a way to "not find" enough evidence to indict their own kind.
DOUG LITTLE: You know there's some real corruption going on when the prosecutor tries to keep the arresting officer off of the witness stand because of questions of credibility. Usually, the prosecutor can't wait to put their "upstanding" police officer on the stand so that the judge can ride with their testimony and "cook" the defendant.
DEON GLENN (MDOC 430064): I bet my $47 state pay that Officer Graham won't go to prison for the crimes he committed.
JOHN ORTIZ-KEHOE (MDOC 256263): Of course he won't; he'll be protected by his union.
RICHARD DYER BEY (MDOC 186882): Why hasn't the Court of Appeals or the State Supreme Court overturned or thrown out Meek Mill's conviction?
JOSE BURGOS: Because too many other cases hang in the balance. If the courts recognize that a dirty cop--Officer Graham--was lying on the stand to get Meek convicted, then every case that Officer Graham was involved in, will deserve to be overturned too.
CONNELL HOWARD (MDOC 234626): I don't know why. We see it all of the time--when a judge will rule in favor of a guy in one case, but against another guy with that same issue. There's no real consistency. These judges play a dirty game.
CHARLES JACKSON BEY (MDOC 600271): Meek's judge, Judge Genece Brinkley, acts like she doesn't have to answer to anybody.
CONNELL HOWARD (MDOC 234626): She'll have to answer to the voters--if they pay attention.
DOUG LITTLE: I'm glad you mentioned her because she seems to have a personal grudge against Meek Mill.
RICHARD DYER BEY (MDOC 186882): You would think, the Judge being a mother and a Black woman, she would understand Meek Mill's actions were actions of youth.
DEMETRIUS BRASHER (MDOC 234214): Instead, she ignored the recommendations of both the prosecutor and his probation officer, and sent Meek to prison for poppin' a wheelie and breaking up a fight.
KEVIN CAMPBELL (MDOC 203419): It's an abuse of power.
CHARLSE JACKSON BEY (MDOC 600271): This is clearly shown when she refused bail and the Supreme Court reversed her decision stating that her Court was "waging a war against" Meek Mill.
ERNEST HALL EL (MDOC 1966363): Often, judges disregard the law because they police themselves, which is similar to a fraternity brother being responsible for passing judgement against one of his own fraternity brothers. Most judges fear being ostracized by their peer group for making rulings favorable to the accused. Because they protect each other, judges don't fear making erroneous decisions.
CHARLES JACKSON BEY (MDOC 600271): Judge Brinkley is just as guilty as a criminal caught red handed, when she thinks she is above the law by abusing her discretion.
RICHARD DYER BEY (MDOC 186882): This is a young man we are talking about--a young Black man--who, no matter how you may view his career, is trying to make something of his life, constructively, positively and honestly.
CONNELL HOWARD (MDOC 234626): Yeah, but Meek Mill isn't the first good Black man to receive a cruel and unfair sentence.
CARLTON PHILLIPS (MDOC 246334): Not at all. This song and dance is all too familiar for many young Black men when it comes to dealing with the judicial system.
DEMETRIUS BRASHER (MDOC 234214): It's the same story with crooked cops who lie on the stand, district attorneys who are only concerned with winning and judges who abuse their power--primarily with Black men.
DEON GLENN (MDOC 430064): With all of this blatant social injustice that our race faces, it's hard for us to remain calm and optimistic about our fate.
CARLTON PHILLIPS (MDOC 246334): And unfortunately, we don't have the resources and connections to the Jay-Z's, Rick Ross' and Michael Rubin's of the world.
DOUG LITTLE: You're right, but Meek's case shows you, that even when you do have money and connections, the system can still be manipulated by a few bad people in key roles of authority.
KEVIN CAMPBELL (MDOC 203419): Meek's story is not unique. Just look at our circumstances--we're in Michigan, a state that was known for its manufacturing and production, and when those jobs were lost or sent elsewhere, the prison boom took place. The MDOC became the largest employer in the state. There are more than 40 prisons in Michigan, all filled to capacity. If they even elude to closing one, the community around that prison comes together and protests in the street. But they'll close a school and lay off teachers without resistance.
RANDAL LEFEVRE (MDOC 289197): Not only in Michigan, because the prison epidemic mushroomed like a radioactive bomb throughout America. It took from 1776 to1990, for the U.S. to maintain an incarceration rate of 1 Million, but it only took 10 short years (from 1990 to 2000) to increase to 2 Million. It's inconceivable to even assume that this wasn't orchestrated through deliberate design.
CHARLES JACKSON BEY (MDOC 600271): The epidemic of Mass Incarceration IS by design.
DEMETRIUS BRASHER (MDOC 234214): What is it that encourages the criminal justice system to deal with US so harshly?
CARLTON PHILLIPS (MDOC 246334): To understand that and to solve the problem, we must get to the source or the root of the problem.
RANDAL LEFEVRE (MDOC 289197): So what you're saying, is that in order for us to understand the events of today, we must have a firm grip on the events of yesterday, pre-1776, when Blacks were enslaved?
CARLTON PHILLIPS (MDOC 246334): Exactly.
RANDAL LEFEVRE (MDOC 289197): That's when we furnished free labor, so there wasn't any need to incarcerate us.
CARLTON PHILLIPS (MDOC 246334): Yes!
RANDAL LEFEVRE (MDOC 289197): However, that changed when slavery was abolished in 1863, via the Emancipation Proclamation.
CARLTON PHILLIPS (MDOC 246334): So they ratified the 13th Amendment, and made slavery perfectly legal--as long as it was punishment for a crime. And in 1871, the court ruled in Ruffin v. Commonwealth, that any man or women in the penitentiary is a "slave of the state."
DEMETRIUS BRASHER (MDOC 234214): Of course--because slavery is about economics, power, control and genocide.
JOHN ORTIZ-KEHOE (MDOC 256263): And so is the Prison Industrial Complex.
CARLTON PHILLIPS (MDOC 246334): Yes. Slavery and prisons--it's about understanding the connections.
DEMETRIUS BRASHER (MDOC 234214): Due to the Emancipation Proclamation, America lost its free labor source.
DOUG LITTLE: Yeah, they went from not having to pay their work force, to spending like 90% more on their operating expenses for labor.
DEMETRIUS BRASHER (MDOC 234214): Right. So Black Codes were formed and Vagrancy Laws were enacted, with the intent of establishing another system of forced labor. Yet, no open-minded person can read them without being convinced that they meant nothing less than slavery.
RICHARD DYER BEY (MDOC 186882): Also understand that slavery and Jim Crowism were a socializing and conditioning process that stripped Blacks of their sense of humanity and self-sufficiency. They were systematically rewarded for displaying behaviors that conformed to white standards.
RANDAL LEFEVRE (MDOC 289197): The same rights that Blacks lost through Jim Crow Laws (immediately after Emancipation), are the same rights lost to anyone convicted of a crime.
CHARLES JACKSON BEY (MDOC 600271): As the saying goes, "History always repeats itself."
DEMETRIUS BRASHER (MDOC 234214): Prisons are the plantations of today, and the "lock 'em up and throw away the key" mentality of politicians is disproportionately effecting Black men. Even after we're released from prison, we're still affected by this modern day slavery because our criminal record prohibits us from obtaining gainful employment, adequate health care, affordable housing and a meaningful education--which contributes to the high rate of recidivism and recycling of our people back into jails and prisons.
DOUG LITTLE: The lack of educational and vocational programs in prison keeps people trapped in that cycle.
KEVIN CAMPBELL (MDOC 203419): A plan for rehabilitation is nonexistent in Michigan prisons. They're used as warehouses, and an overwhelming majority of prisoners are routinely held past their Mandatory Minimums, at the expense of the taxpayer.
JOHN ORTIZ-KEHOE (MDOC 256263): For a lot of people who work for the system, keeping inmates ignorant and incarcerated means job security. They never want to let you go.
DOUG LITTLE: So even though Meek had money, once the system had its hooks in him, they weren't going to let him off.
RANDAL LEFEVRE (MDOC 289197): It's happening everywhere but take a closer look at Philadelphia. 1 in every 34 adults in Philadelphia are supervised under parole or probation. That's 36% higher than the National Average.
JOSE BURGOS: Pennsylvania was also number one in the world to sentence children under the age of 18 to spend the rest of their lives in prison. Over 300 of them coming from right there in Philadelphia--arrested by the very same types of police that framed Meek, and sentenced by the same types of judges.
TOBY DAVIS (MDOC 234179): The injustice against Meek Mill is merely one out of thousands of cases across America, and most of them will sadly never be heard of or remedied by the system because judges and prosecutors are often times less than likely to admit that they've made a mistake.
ERNEST HALL EL (MDOC 1966363): Most citizens in this country view judges as righteous people who are dedicated to issuing just and impartial rulings. The public has given them broad latitude to oversee the entire judicial process. That broad latitude has evolved into "absolute power." Most citizens don't visit courtrooms, which are the breeding grounds of injustice. Instead of having firsthand knowledge of the atrocities perpetrated against defendants, society relies on blind faith that judges will "justly" issue rulings.
JOHN ORTIZ-KEHOE (MDOC 256263): People don't realize that judges and prosecutors are nothing more than lawyers who won an election. All the public has to do is think of any lawyer that they've had the misfortune of dealing with. That same lawyer could easily end up being a judge or a prosecutor.
TOBY DAVIS (MDOC 234179): And all the power lies in the hands of the district attorney. The DA has the sole discretion to either under charge you, over charge you or even drop the charges altogether. They also have complete control over the evidence against you.
DEMETRIUS BRASHER (MDOC 234214): This is what the whole criminal justice system is about. The police get us off the street. The prosecutors file stringent, or trumped up charges against us, and the judges’ sentence us to a life of hard labor/slavery, by sending us to prison.
DOUG LITTLE: There needs to be independent monitoring of judges and prosecutors by outside agencies that look into allegations of abuse.
TOBY DAVIS (MDOC 234179): DA's aren't held to any penalty or accountability behind their wrongful actions, which only emboldens them to play the game dirty by--believe it or not--planting false evidence or suppressing potentially exculpatory evidence that could help you.
RANDAL LEFEVRE (MDOC 289197): We have to utilize our power to put officials into office, and also to dethrone officials if they refuse to execute justice and hold dirty cops accountable.
RICHARD DYER BEY (MDOC 186882): This is probably the only instance in which Blacks can exercise true group power--the voting bloc. The injustice, murder by the police and mass incarceration--this all begins at the local level.
DOUG LITTLE: We have to take a stand and use our rights and voices to fight injustice. The way to fight is by standing together! Let the people in power know that, if they don't do anything to stop the abuse of authority, we'll rally to vote them all out of office!
JOHN ORTIZ-KEHOE (MDOC 256263): Hold them personally accountable too. When they commit a crime and get away with it, troll them and publicly shame them. They are usually shielded from ridicule by remaining virtually anonymous and by hiding in their sympathetic communities. If any of us are even suspected of a crime, our name and picture are splashed across the front page of a newspaper or repeatedly mentioned on the news.
JOSE BURGOS: Prison reform has finally gotten the attention of a lot of people but it won't do a thing unless those of you who say you care start doing something. Either we stand and fight this thing together, or we watch it consume another generation of our people.
KEVIN CAMPBELL (MDOC 203419): I pray that Meek Mill understands the opportunity that is now in front of him and uses it to speak for the masses off young men and women that are caught in the same web that he found himself in.
DOUG LITTLE: Meek, you've got what it takes to shine a spotlight on the Injustice System. I'm here with my movement, Incarcerated Voices 101, to help you by any means. This is my life calling, just like Rap was for you. Prison reform and education is a must. We have to build up the minds of incarcerated men and women. Most of them will be coming home. The system doesn't care if they go back. We have to do it ourselves! Salute.
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Now that you've heard from the men of Incarcerated Voices , I ask you the viewer, "What does the unjustifiable treatment of Meek Mill--a successful young Black man--tell you about the state of our criminal justice system?"
BUILD WITH US by sharing your thoughts on this topic.
