Pusha T continues his recent social activism by appearing in a new criminal justice reform PSA with FAMM (Families Against Mandatory Minimums) for their #MySentence campaign. In the clip, Pusha narrates the story of Norman Brown, a prisoner who was only 22 when he was given a life sentence even though he was only charged with a nonviolent crack offense from low level drug dealing. Brown had his sentence commuted by President Obama earlier this year after having spent the past two decades incarcerated. His story behind bars, as told by Pusha, is a saddening one that exposes how life locked up affects not only the prisoner but also their families.
Brown “had lost hope in the system” when he filed for clemency in 2010 but not his faith in humanity. While inside, Brown founded a group that provided job skills to inmates while inside and it’s a push he’s continued to be involved in since being released from prison in July. His ability to help other prisoners was a calling that almost wasted away as he spent years behind bars.
“There’s a time when fruit is ripe and at its best,” Pusha says on Brown’s behalf. “But we all know the next stage is the fruit getting rotten. And what happens is if you leave people for too long, they can become rotten. When you let us rot away, society misses out on the gifts we have to give to the community and the world.”
He’s one of thousands who’ve been given another lease on life by Obama. Earlier this week, the President granted clemency to 231 prisoners who were “deserving of a second chance,” the most in single-day history for any president, according to the White House press release. His total of 1,176 commuted sentences, including 395 life sentences, was called an example of “his belief that America is a nation of second chances.”
The PSA is another part of the new chapter Pusha’s writing for himself, one where we find him more politically and socially aware. Much of it can be attributed to his participation in Obama’s My Brother’s Keeper initiative and his activism continued through this past election season with his participation in Hillary Clinton’s campaign. He’s pledged to stay active in the push for change in the criminal justice system and this PSA is another example of him keeping that promise.
