While Meek Mill’s request to perform during the first presidential debate between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump didn’t happen, his desire to tune into the political event did.
Just hours ahead of the historic presidential debate, in the rapper’s hometown of Philadelphia at the city’s National Constitution Center, the “Dreams and Nightmares” emcee took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to ask what the process for getting tickets to attend the debate was.
Shortly after his question, he updated his followers on social media: “They said I could come, lol. ”
Meek Mill, born Robert Rihmeek Williams, is no stranger to politics. Following his 2018 release from prison, just 10 years after he was arrested and sentenced to eight months in prison when caught carrying a gun while shopping at a local grocery store, the Philly native became a stark advocate for criminal justice reform. He has also been very vocal about the system’s effect on him for most of his life.
He is also the co-founder of REFORM Alliance, alongside a world-class group of philanthropists and activists, including fellow rapper and businessman Shawn “JAY-Z” Carter, billionaire Michael Rubin, and New England Patriots CEO Robert Kraft. The nonprofit organization aims to “transform probation and parole by changing laws, systems, and culture to create real pathways to work and wellbeing.”
In 2023, Meek Mill played a key role in a string of probation reform bills that Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro signed into effect. When the legislation passed, Meek Mill was in attendance and spoke of his experience with probation, noting how he was prohibited from picking his son up from school in the neighboring state of New Jersey due to parole regulations.
“We try to be better, but they labeled us ‘felons,’ sent us back to jail,” he said in an emotional speech following the legislation being signed into law. “I had to fight against that the whole time to gain my respect and be who I am today.”
Shortly after signing with JAY-Z’s Roc Nation, at age 19, Meek Mill was arrested by officers from Philadelphia’s narcotics unit after an officer claimed to have witnessed him selling drugs the day before. The “Going Bad” rapper has always denied the claim. Later, an officer on the scene claimed that Mill pointed a gun at him, and he was ultimately charged with 19 counts, including assault, gun charges, and drug possession.
While prosecutors recommended a sentence of five to 10 years behind bars, presiding Judge Genece Brinkley issued a lighter sentence of 11 to 23 months. His sentencing would soon spark the #FreeMeekMill movement across social media and within the music industry, often cited by rappers in their rhymes, including his boss, JAY-Z.
In less than six months, Judge Brinkley ordered Meek Mill’s release from prison and placed him on eight years of probation. This move speaks to the criminal justice reform that he fervently pursues for people in similar situations today.
“The problem with the sentence wasn’t the jail sentence that was imposed. It was the enormous amount of probation that was placed on top of it,” defense attorney Brian McMonagle contended at the time.
In 2023, shortly before Gov. Josh Shapiro took office, former Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf granted Meek Mill a full pardon, permanently removing the conviction from his record.
In addition to his work as a criminal justice reform advocate, Meek Mill can check off tuning into the first presidential debate between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump off of his evolving list of political chess moves.
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