One by one, cities throughout the nation are honoring rapper Meek Mill for his recent efforts to fight the country’s broken criminal justice system. The latest city is Atlanta, which gifted the Philly native with his own day and the city’s highest honor.
On Monday, City Council President Felicia A. Moore and Councilman Cleta Winslow presented Meek with a proclamation declaring March 25, 2019, Meek Mill Day in Atlanta, Georgia. In addition, the city wanted to highlight Meek’s work in the political field by honoring him with the city’s highest honor, the Phoenix Award.
Atlanta describes their Phoenix Awards as “a small number of awards are issued to individuals who have made significant contributions to the local community, and are celebrating a major milestone.” The city confirmed that the rapper is considered an “honorary citizen.”
On top of Meek’s recent social justice moves, he’s also partnered with Jay-Z’s Roc Nation, Philadelphia businessman Michael Rubin, and others to launch the REFORM Alliance, an organization that works towards changing unjust, dated and immoral laws within the American criminal justice system. In doing so, Meek travels nationwide and shares his own experience with the legal system to “dramatically reduce the number of people who are unjustly under the control of the criminal justice system.”
So far Meek has been honored by Houston, Connecticut, Atlanta, and Philadelphia.
