Saturday, September 04, 2010

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P. Diddy Articulates The Case For Minorities
Source: Hip-Hop Elements
Author: Manhunt Staff

Jay-Z, P.Diddy, Fat Joe, Memphis Bleek, Joe Budden and others joined Russell Simmons' Hip-Hop Summit Action Network today to protest the Rockefeller drug laws.

Over 60,000 people crammed Broadway at City Hall closing down traffic to listen to rappers speak their piece about the laws.

P.Diddy by far was one of the more articulate of the speakers that took the stage.

"This has been going on for 30 years now. This is a situation that has taken a lot of peoples lives, mostly the lives of minorities," Diddy said.

"90 percent of the people incarcerated due to this law are blacks and Latinos, young people that made mistakes and didn't get the right type of counseling or drug counseling. It's taken a lot of you monies away we have to reform this law there's hundreds of millions of dollars that could be used to educate yall."

The laws were passed during Governor Nelson Rockefeller tenure in office in 1973 and 1974.

"I got gotta lot of soldiers locked up behind this law," Memphis Bleek said.

Under the sentencing guidelines, first time offenders face 15 years to life for the selling or possession of small amounts of drugs.

"We out here today to show our support. You can't tell me if you get caught with a .22, it's the same as getting caught with an AK (47), they are both guns" Jay-Z said. "We gotta show our power."

Others who attended were former Mayor Andrew Cuomo, former Mayor David Dinkins, Susan Sarandon and Tim Robbins.

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