Jay-Z has been using his voice and resources to draw more attention to social justice and the fallacies of the American criminal just system. Now he’s urging you to join him.
Just one week after bailing out a handful of fathers for Father’s Day, Jay-Z is encouraging anyone with an earshot to do their part in evoking change to help us “move forward as a society.”
In a letter written for The Hollywood Reporter, Jay talked about the inspiration to produce the The Kalief Browder Story which chronicled the sad story of how Browder was arrested for a crime he did not commit and held in Riker’s Island jail for years without a trial and finally just let go with no real rehabilitation taking place. The conversation that followed led to an announcement that the jail would be shut down in the near future. Now, Jay has his sights set on producing another eye-opening docu-series in the form of Rest in Power: The Trayvon Martin Story. He hopes that this project can lead to a conversation that helps “keep our kids safe.”
Even though Jay is operating at a very high level, he insists that everyone do their parts locally and in smaller ways to build momentum towards change.
“But social justice isn’t a political issue,” he writes. “It’s a human issue. It’s a story of empathy. When we are able to identify that we are all not perfect and have compassion for someone else, we can move forward as a society.”
He adds, “Look around at what’s happening in your town and your city right now. Think small, and you can do much bigger things.”
Read the entire letter here.
Photo: WENN.com
