Antwan André Patton, better known by his stage name
Big Boi, is an American rapper, songwriter, record producer and actor, best known for being a member of American hip hop duo Outkast alongside André 3000. He's just signaled his
endorsement of Bernie Sanders for POTUS.
In These Times brings us the news and the reasons for Big Boi's endorsement of Bernie.
“I’m for Bernie Sanders because he’s with prison reform and things like that,” he said. “I’m for anything that’s helping the good of people and helping people get out of poverty and getting people sentenced to these long unjust prison sentences out of jail and the legalization of marijuana, I’m for that.”
The surprise endorsement came after Big Boi was questioned about his earlier admission to the Huffington Post that he was a libertarian, and that he had voted for Libertarian Party candidate Gary Johnson in the 2012 presidential election. At the time, he had couched his stance in similar views, explaining that he was for “anything that benefits the public and not just big banking”; the rapper now eschews the libertarian label and says he’s a “humanitarian.”
Big Boi’s backing of Sanders follows the Senator’s adoption of a wide-ranging racial justice platform, prompted by widely publicized campaign disruptions by the Black Lives Matter movement in August. Among other things, the platform proposes the demilitarization of the police, mandatory body cameras for law enforcement officers, the dismantling of private prisons, and bringing an end to the “War on Drugs.”
Bernie Sanders strong
Racial Justice Platform and history is being noticed by leaders in minority groups who have been negatively impacted by the physical, political, legal and economic violence against PoC.