Meek Mill recently joined Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, as part of his continued efforts with his Reform Alliance nonprofit, according to Rolling Stone. Shapiro had signed SB838, which is a new bill that “limits the length of probation and prevents people from being sent back to jail for minor violations.”
“I thought that it was either I go to jail and I take my son to school and I ended up taking my son to school so I want to thank you guys here today,” Meek Mill shared during his vulnerable speech. “I don’t want to get emotional because it’s a lot. We all grew up in the streets and we tried to be better, but they labeled us as felons and sent us back to jail. I had to fight against that the whole time to gain my respect and be who I am today and I’m proud of that.”
“I don’t even drop tears, but I want to say this because there are a lot of young men who follow me in the streets,” he added. “They don’t really know what I go through to be in these places with government officials and to change my life… I didn’t ask for this position… It’s not for clout, it’s something that I stand and live for.”
Meek Mill gets emotional while joining Gov. Josh Shapiro (D-PA) to celebrate the signing of a probation reform bill:
“We try to be better, but they labeled us 'felons,' sent us back to jail. I had to fight against that the whole time to gain my respect and be who I am today.” pic.twitter.com/8zBYOixsNu
— The Recount (@therecount) December 15, 2023
Meek Mill started the organization in 2019 alongside Jay-Z and Michael Rubin, with the hopes of being able to “transform probation and parole,” by directly getting the laws to change. The rapper had previously been pardoned by the prior governor, Tom Wolf. He had previously served eight months in prison for drug and weapon possession and would go back for violating house arrest in 2017.
Check out the video of Meek Mill enacting change and his full speech above.
