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After winning an Academy Award alongside Common this past February, John Legend used the platform to give a speech to raise awareness about the issues behind mass incarceration.

Following up to his words on the issue, the award-winning singer has just announced the launch of a new campaign called FREE AMERICA, with the purpose of looking to end the ongoing issue in the criminal justice system.

According to the Associate Press, Legend is set to visit and perform at a correctional facility in Austin, Texas this coming Thursday, where he will take part in a press conference with state legislators to discuss the state’s criminal justice system.

During an interview, he said of the subject and new campaign:

“We have a serious problem with incarceration in this country,” Legend said in an interview. “It’s destroying families, it’s destroying communities and we’re the most incarcerated country in the world, and when you look deeper and look at the reasons we got to this place, we as a society made some choices politically and legislatively, culturally to deal with poverty, deal with mental illness in a certain way and that way usually involves using incarceration.”

He also recently stated:

“I’m just trying to create some more awareness to this issue and trying to make some real change legislatively,” he said. “And we’re not the only ones. There are senators that are looking at this, like Rand Paul and Cory Booker, there are other nonprofits that are looking at this, and I just wanted to add my voice to that.”

Later this month, John Legend is set to also co-host a criminal justice event in Washington, D.C. with Politico, and will be visiting a California state prison.

For more information on FREE AMERICA, head over to the official website.

SOURCE: Associate Press, FREE AMERICA | PHOTO CREDIT: Getty

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