BMAC JOINS THE RAP ACT PACT

The Black Music Action Coalition (BMAC) joined U.S. Representatives Hank Johnson (D-Ga.) and Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.), the Recording Academy, the Black Music Collective, SAG-AFTRA and First Amendment Advocates at the House Triangle in Washington D.C. this week to demand an artist’s right to free speech via the Restoring Artistic Protection (RAP) Act.

The first of its kind at the federal level, the bill would limit the admissibility as evidence of an artist’s creative or artistic expression against them in court. Prosecutors in more than 500 criminal cases have done just that.

BMAC founder/Chair Willie “Prophet” Stiggers said, “Hip-Hop as a form of art is being critically endangered by this plague taking over our criminal justice system. Rap is undeniably the heart of, not just popular music but American culture and deserves the same First Amendment protection as all other creative expression.”

Songwriters of North America co-founder/board member Dina LaPolt added, “Prohibiting the widespread prosecutorial tactic of using free speech and creative expression against people as evidence of criminal conduct must be stopped. The Restoring Artistic Protection Act is our chance to correct the system and preserve the right to free speech and creative expression for all Americans.”

For more information on BMAC, click here. In related news, as far as we know, Johnny Cash never actually shot a man in Reno just to watch him die.