Young Jeezy has been known to be a socially conscious rapper. In “2008” he payed homage to Prez Barack Obama’s victory in the presidential election with the song “My President is Black.” Years before that, he was spitting about unarmed black men dying. So he was best fit to speak with Don Lemon about the #BlackLivesMatter protest that went down at the Minneapolis airport.
I think that if it only took 20 people to get the attention of CNN and the rest of the world, I think they’re on to a great start. I support the black lives matter movement. I think the mall could’ve handled it a lot differently because now you got this and it’s going to continue to grow as it should because now we got to raise awareness, and it’s the holidays and they’re still pushing this movement. You have to respect that.
The mall Jeezy was referring to was the Mall of America. The organizers originally planned to protest at the mall but when they got there, they met with police who had loud horns. The Mall of America made this statement:
Mall of America has a longstanding policy banning political demonstrations and protests on our private property. That policy is in place to protect the safety of all Mall of America guests, employees and tenants. The organizers of today’s protest were well aware of that policy. We respect the rights of free speech and peaceful assembly. However, the courts have affirmed our right as private property owners to prohibit demonstrations on our property.
Nevertheless, the activists got their point across and Jeezy backed it up. He also premiered the video for his song “Sweet Life” off Church in the Streets featuring Janelle Monae.
Press play to listen to the conversation with Young Jeezy and Don Lemon about gun control, the presidential race, police brutality, and more.
