Music mogul Master P is leading a Cannabis Freedom Day March on May 20 to protest marijuana-related convictions. The march and initiative seeks to raise awareness about legislation reform and the release of people who have been convicted of selling marijuana.
“We need to increase awareness, help educate our culture and help prepare the imprisoned for freedom,” he said, according to a report by theGrio.
Master P, whose real name is Percy Miller, was inspired to lead this charge after the death of Fate Vincent Winslow who was sentenced to life in prison in 2008 for selling $20 worth of marijuana to an undercover police officer. Winslow served 12 years in the Louisiana State Penitentiary and was released in December 2020 after receiving legal assistance from the Innocence Project New Orleans. On May 4 of this year, Winslow was fatally shot while sitting in his car.
Miller hopes that Winslow’s story will help bolster conversations about how Black Americans are disproportionately imprisoned for marijuana despite it being legalized in 34 states.
“I want to bring awareness, you know, helping prisoners when they get out,” Miller said in a recent interview with AllHipHop.com. “We are doing this for people in these states that’s still incarcerated for marijuana.”
May 20, he hopes, will serve as another holiday to celebrate those who’ve been released from prison after facing marijuana sales-related convictions and serve as a day to call for changes in the laws that perpetuate mass incarceration across the US.
“We have to make sure that this injustice doesn’t happen to more people,” Miller said. “Anyone who is incarcerated for a small amount of cannabis and is fighting this injustice still, we want to help them gain their freedom back.”
Miller also told the outlet he has plans to release a documentary in 2022 covering his efforts with the 5/20 movement.
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