Common talks to inmates at a prison in Lancaster, California; Photo: Sade C. Joseph via Calmatters.org
Rapper and social activist Common doesn’t only rap about current, hot-button issues, he does something about it. We’re seeing this now as he lobbies for two pieces of legislation to bring justice to juveniles, reports KQED.
Ever since he started, he’s not been ashamed to clearly state where he stands. On his second album, Resurrection, which many consider his best album, the song “I Used to Love H.E.R.” discusses the crumbling of Afrocentric hip-hop culture.
In “Retrospect For Life,” he shows his support for the pro-life movement:
Knowin’ you the best part of life do i have the right to take yours
So when he met with inmates at the state prison in Lancaster, Ca., it was no surprise.
It’s part of a larger mission the Los Angeles-based rapper is on — to change the state’s often criticized criminal justice system. He’s visiting prisons across California, performing for and conversing with the prisoners.
This mission came from his work on the soundtrack for the 2014 movie Selma, which is about Martin Luther King Jr.’s work during the Civil Rights Movement, specifically the march he led to bring the right to vote to African-Americans. He worked with John Legend on a song called “Glory.”
“It really pushed me to a new level in wanting to do more,” Common told Trevor Noah on the The Daily Show last year. “I want to do that work.”
Common will be heading to Sacramento to lobby for the aforementioned bills. The first bill, Senate Bill 394, would allow juvenile prisoners a chance at parole after 25 years, even if they got life without possibility of parole. The second bill, Senate Bill 395, qould require juvenile inmates to speak with an attorney before waiving their Miranda rights or before answering questions from the police.
It seems this mission is now common for Common — and it’s an honorable mission at that.