Photo : Getty
Whether in office or not, one thing that won’t change is Jeezy’s dedication to his local community. Last July he participated in a town hall meeting in Atlanta hosted by Rickey Smiley alongside other artists like Tyrese, David Banner, and Lyfe to discuss the increasing number of police shootings across the country. The meeting was labeled “Real Strategy For Change,” but Jeezy admitted the town hall came up short on outlining any real strategies for reducing police brutality.
“I’d always given people things, but sometimes you gotta give the gift that keeps on giving.”
“I was more so stressing we really need to come together and figure this out so we can go vote so that we won’t let the wrong person get in office and be back in this situation again, but at the time people were thinking about the situation at hand.
“It was people in there voicing their opinions and younger kids that had some really good views about it and saying some important things. But me, personally, being a person of the people, I left and I wasn’t happy because I felt like we didn’t get any type of conclusion out of it. Just a lot of frustration and anger and yelling.“
Still, he pointed out, “I was excited to even just be from Atlanta and see people having a town hall meeting.”
Nowadays, Jeezy’s holding different kinds of meetings to make a difference. Though his non-profit foundation Street Dreams is known for giving back all throughout the year, be it bookbag drives at the end of summer, meals at Thanksgiving, or gifts at Christmas, this time the rap veteran is getting hands-on, mentoring aspiring artists and giving them first-hand knowledge of the industry they wouldn’t get otherwise.
The program is an extension of Jeezy’s ongoing relationship with Avión Tequila and the brainchild of the rapper and the tequila brand founder Ken Austin who decided to host a nationwide competition for kids to win a chance to “sit down and have a couple conversations” about kickstarting their careers. And that’s exactly where we found Jeezy on a Wednesday afternoon before a show at the Marquee later that night, sharing the details of the mentoring program with as much enthusiasm as he has performing on stage.
“I thought the idea was dope ‘cuz nobody ever did that for me, and at the same time that’s something I’d never done on the philanthropy tip. I’d always given people things, but sometimes you gotta give the gift that keeps on giving. That’s the knowledge of the game that comes with this game.”
See photos of Jeezy at Marquee in NYC below and on the following pages.
Photo : Getty
