Van Jones' WE RISE Tour made a pit stop in Atlanta on Wednesday, Aug. 2 as part of its 14-city tour. Patrons packed Atlanta's Tabernacle to hear social commentary from T.I and Van Jones, who discussed local and national issues pertinent to the community. Powered by #LoveArmy and Roc Nation, the net ticket proceeds went to Van Jones' non-profit, Dream Corps.
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| T.I. in conversation with Van Jones |
Rapper and actor T.I. and Van Jones discussed a hot topic in the social justice community: prison sentence discrepancies. T.I., who has been incarcerated in the past, shared his experiences behind bars and the issues on the minds of inmates, such as life after their sentence. T.I. laid out the case that the introduction of crack into the Black and Latino communities can be seen as entrapment. He tied this to the 13th Amendment's exclusion of slavery, except in the case of incarceration, and how this cycle is now common knowledge, being chronicled in the new FX drama
Snowfall.
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| Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed and Mayor Jessica Jackson, National Director of #cut50 |
Mayor Kasim Reed and Mayor Jessica Jackson talked about some amazing changes that are happening in Atlanta. One of which is the fact that many of Atlanta's once closed community centers have been reopened. This gives the city's children an outlet after school, detouring them from committing crimes. According to Reid, children picked up for committing truancy will now be brought to one of these centers and not the police station. He also outlined the city's much talked about public transportation expansion.
Overall, the theme of the evening centered around what the community can do to impact the numerous issues up for debate centered around mass incarceration. Van Jones encouraged the audience to text #CUT50 TO 97483 to get involved. You can also visit
Cut50.org for more information.
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