The protests in Ferguson are still going strong, and another murder of a young black man in neighboring St. Louis threatens to make the situation more explosive. Young Jeezy joins the litany of rappers to come out and make statements on the issue, joining artists such as Lupe Fiasco, J. Cole, T.I., and Nelly. Young Jeezy spoke his mind on Houston radio station 97.9, where he also talked about how celebrities could use their power to make a difference in the tragic situation.
“I don’t know if I’m really supposed to say this or not but I got a call from Farrakhan yesterday about the whole incident, we talked for almost an hour,” Jeezy said. “That was my whole thing, like to him, I always knew how to take a role of leadership I just never had a cause. I don’t really think it’s just about money, everybody wanna be successful but when you’re still successful—you look at Oprah, you look at Tyler Perry, and these people—we associate success with money. So when you’re successful it’s cool to be about your money, but when things happen you gotta step up and be a leader. You gotta step up and handle your business. If you got a million followers or two million followers, these are two million people that’s gon’ listen, that’s gon’ tell two million other people what’s going on. And the whole thing [with Mike Brown], I spoke with his mother and everything. Even the whole thing with that, I was there. I was doing a show and I’m from that so I just didn’t feel comfortable touching that town without going to touch the people. All those things going on, I don’t wanna come through there and just give money and leave…I wasn’t there—but at the end of the day there should be no reason for any law enforcement to shoot any unarmed person”
Jeezy went on to say that he thought that President Obama should address the situation by coming to the town of Ferguson and speaking to the people. At this point, it’s hard to argue with Jeezy. President Obama could definitely bring some calm to the tragedy, and it’s likely that the people of Ferguson will continue to protest until they get the justice that they were looking for.