Common - Why I Vote

The segregation and disenfranchisement laws known as "Jim Crow" represented a formal, codified system of racial apartheid that dominated the American South for three quarters of a century beginning in the 1890s. The laws affected almost every aspect of daily life, mandating segregation of schools, parks, libraries, drinking fountains, restrooms, buses, trains, and restaurants.

Vevo's Why I Vote series gives artists the opportunity to share their personal anecdotes to help raise awareness for the upcoming election. Each video discusses topics from police brutality to immigration, LBGTQ rights and many more.

With your help, Rock the Vote can engage, register, and mobilize the largest and most diverse generation in American history.

For as long as hip-hop has existed, it has reflected the politics of its community. The prison system has shaped life in Black America, so rap has had no choice but to engage in the ongoing battle for criminal-justice reform.

A culture of punishment, combined with race- and class-based animus, has led the United States to rely on incarceration more heavily than any other country in the world does. The politicization of criminal justice policy and a lack of evidence-based assessment result in a one-way ratchet in which law and policy grow ever more punitive. 

The case for shutting down New York City’s Rikers Island jail: Kalief Browder killed himself after 33 months in Rikers Island. Now his brother is pushing to shut down the jail.

This series traces the tragic case of Kalief Browder, a Bronx teen who spent three horrific years in jail, despite never being convicted of a crime.

In 2015, Connecticut Governor Dannel P. Malloy signed the "Second Chance Society" bill. The package of initiatives is designed to continue the progress being made in reducing the state's dropping crime rate, which is at a 48-year low, as well as ensuring nonviolent offenders are successfully reintegrated into society and become productive workers in Connecticut's economy.

Lifeline to Success began as a sideline endeavor with six-ex offenders meeting twice a week for a class on re-entry. Today Lifeline enrolls, trains and employs 41 ex-offenders. In addition to working to transform themselves, they are working to solve some of the biggest problems facing Memphis—crime, blight, violence, joblessness and other aspects of what founder DeAndre calls "criminal culture."

The Last Mile prepares incarcerated individuals for successful reentry through business and technology training. 

Fast facts on criminal justice and incarceration in the United States, provided by the NAACP. 

The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness directly challenges the notion that the election of Barack Obama signals a new era of colorblindness. With dazzling candor, legal scholar Michelle Alexander argues that "we have not ended racial caste in America; we have merely redesigned it." By targeting black men through the War on Drugs and decimating communities of color, the U.S. criminal justice system functions as a contemporary system of racial control—relegating millions to a permanent second-class status—even as it formally adheres to the principle of colorblindness. In the words of Benjamin Todd Jealous, president and CEO of the NAACP, this book is a "call to action."

The 13th Amendment to the Constitution declared that "Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction." Formally abolishing slavery in the United States, the 13th Amendment was passed by the Congress on January 31, 1865, and ratified by the states on December 6, 1865.

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Early voting takes place in person before Election Day. You don’t need an excuse to vote early — you can vote early even if you are capable of voting at the polls on Election Day. Find out if Early Voting is offered in your state- And if not, get the needed information for an absentee ballot.

Find your polling place here. Many states offer online services that can help you look up your local voting site. Others list contact information for local election officials, who are trained to help you find your polling place.

Learn where candidates running for office in your community stand on the issues. You can print or email the information to use as a reference when you actually vote.

This generation can choose to sit on the sidelines, or we can join together and fight for a future that works for us: a fair economy with good-paying jobs, racial justice and full equality for all, an end to climate change and a reformed criminal justice system. We choose to fight. We choose to vote. Join Rock the Vote.

Hip Hop Artist, Actor, Activist. Follow Common on Twitter for all of his latest updates, photos, and more.