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Reverend Al Sharpton to Meet Meek Mill in Prison on Monday

“I think this is about an injustice that is representative of many young men of color that face an abuse of a probation or parole system,” the civil rights activist said of Meek Mill's incarceration.
Photo by Meron Menghistab

Reverend Al Sharpton, the civil rights activist and former advisor to President Barack Obama, has announced that he plans to visit Meek Mill in prison tomorrow, November 27. Sharpton said that he plans to visit Meek Mill in an effort to secure a new hearing for the 30-year-old rapper, and to draw attention to the mass incarceration of young black men in America.

“I think this is about an injustice that is representative of many young men of color that face an abuse of a probation or parole system,” Sharpton said Saturday at the Harlem headquarters of his civil rights group, National Action Network, per the Philadelphia Inquirer.

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“This is not about an artist. This is about a system,” Sharpton said. “I think what’s happening with Meek Mill is something that the National Action Network has always fought, and I hope that me going there is going to raise the pressure on the issue and help begin a drive by us in supporting others and demanding a new hearing for him and a new judge.”

Meek Mill Is Getting Screwed

Meek Mill, whose real name is Robert Rihmeek Williams, was sentenced to between two and four years in prison last month for violating his probation. He formally appealed the ruling last week, after his team alleged that Judge Genece Brinkley, who ruled on Williams's case, was less than impartial. Last week, Meek was transferred from solitary confinement to a correctional facility in Chester, Pennsylvania.

The case has drawn outrage and shows of support from the hip-hop community and beyond. JAY-Z wrote a searing op-ed against probation for the New York Times on Friday that addressed Williams's situation.

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