As long as there has been freedom for black people post-slavery, there has been a criminal-justice system that has been committed to caging them again. From the convict-lease system, even slave catchers before the emancipation, there’s always been a system designed to watch black bodies, to catch black bodies, to exploit black bodies by incarcerating black bodies. —Marc Lamont Hill
We caught up with Marc Lamont Hill, Freeway and other Philly natives during Meek Mill’s hearing Monday, to chat about the importance of supporting not only Meek but all black men and women who are caught up in the criminal-justice system. Watch above.
DISCUSSION
I see lots of people trying to get some much needed changes done, and for some reason I’m thinking of Kim Kardashian in my mind. She exists to increase her own level of fame, as far as I can tell. Not a particularly useful person, but on the other hand, she was able to go talk to trump & get one person released from jail... maybe she could really study up on mass incarceration and the inequality of the justice system. Walk in to the white house ‘Hey Donny! Lookin’ good, baby!’ fluff him a little bit (you can take that however you want) and translate a complex issue into a real simple version, give him some talking points, fluff him some more..
“By the way, I love your new haircut - did the white house barber do that?”
‘Oh thanks for noticing it, looks good, doesn’t it! Even Melania didn’t notice!’
“So, like, anyway, the justice system needs to be saved by a real hero, maybe even a stable genius, because it’s very hard to fix. Can you be a hero, Donny, I know it’s hard, but could you do it for _me_? I would totally love you forever! And all my black friends would tell their black friends that you actually are a really good guy! Like, I could even post an instagram photo with you and me and a black guy in it! Oh, and Colin Kaepernick and all those other people who kneel would stand at football games! You would show them that they were unpatriotic not to trust that a smart powerful guy who could fix something all the other presidents were too weak and stupid to fix! Like, that would be, totally, no-bell piece prize stuff!”
A week later, Trumps new issue is prison and justice system reform.
It’s a fucked up idea, but, all this crazyness going on with the trump administration, might work. I wouldn’t mind using Kim Kardashian as a tool to affect actual change.
Just gotta brainwash her into doing the right thing, and make sure she’s got the right attitude, flattery, and simple concepts to bring to the president.