Earlier this month, Yo Gotti teamed up with Roc Nation’s philanthropic arm Team Roc to file a lawsuit on behalf of mistreated inmates in Mississippi prisons. The lawsuit was announced after Gotti detailed the state’s prison system issues in a letter to former Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant and will now be followed by a rally, set to take place this Friday (Jan. 24).
“Join Team Roc and our partners [Until Freedom,] [REFORM Alliance] [and Color of Change] Friday, January 24th to rally for #msprisionreformnow,” an Instagram post from Team Roc read. “[Mississippi] location will be announced soon. Let your voice be heard as we hold the #MDOC and the state of #Mississippi accountable for their treatment of prisoners at #ParchmanPrison and all other facilities.”
The post also refers supporters to a petition via Color of Change. The petition calls for the state’s Gov. Tate Reeves and other elected officials to move the prisoners from Parchman prison to a suitable facility, investigate the murders of incarcerated men, launch a formal process to reduce Mississippi incarceration and shut down Parchman Prison for good. The petition also notes that the inmates must be given access to nutritious food and water, sanitary living conditions, mattresses, blankets and necessary medical attention.
Gotti previously called attention to the inhumane treatment of inmates at Mississippi state prisons, particularly Parchman Prison. According to Color of Change, photos taken inside the prison’s walls have revealed leaking sewage, molded walls, prisoners sleeping on the floor due to insufficient beds, undrinkable water, rodents and insect infestation, dysfunctional toilets and prisoners being stabbed to death, with “dead and bloodied bodies filling cells.”
According to CBS News, seven inmates have died at the prison since December.
Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves, who took office Jan. 14, addressed the most recent deaths on Twitter.
“There is much more to be done here,” he wrote about the state’s prisons. “We have asked them to provide as much information to the public as possible as quickly as possible. Transparency is the first step.”
Yo Gotti previously spoke with CBS about the crisis.
“We just can’t have people sleeping on the floors, not getting food, not getting water,” he said. “It’s supposed to be a rehabilitation program, not where people lose their lives.”