Kanye West as President

For a while, Kanye West has been active in the political sphere. So It is quite captivating when the global phenomenon announces about running for president on the fourth of July. In recent years, Kanye West's pressing concerns ranged from criminal justice reform to socioeconomic plans while being the founder of a billion-dollar company. All of these situations seem to have prepared the artist and entrepreneur to be a presidential candidate, possibly.

Back in 2018, the White House invited Kanye West to meet with President Donald J. Trump at the Oval Office. Alongside Kanye West were former NFL player Jim Brown and Larry Hoover's lawyer. While there, Kanye West touched on some pressing topics. One main point was prison reform because of overly harsh sentences, especially towards people of color; whereas, Kanye West brought up Larry Hoover, whom the state prison punished with six consecutive life sentences for an economic crime. As well, the allegation was of a conspiracy from the state prison. The prison is a maximum-security prison with mass murderers, Al-Qaeda operatives, and bombers. Considering the thirteenth Amendment as a trapped door, Kanye West expounded on how it is essential to rehabilitate people coming out of prison and providing the right type of mental health support systems to transition them back into everyday society effectively. Also, fostering a less hostile environment overall would contribute to this goal. Throughout the meeting, Kanye West acknowledged that illegal firearms are a problem. However, the Second Amendment is just constitutional right, and President Donald Trump confirmed that he was against "stop and frisk" laws that police abuse to target people of color and other lower socioeconomic groups of people.[1] Later that year, President Trump signed into law the "First Step Act."[2] In short, this act intends to reform the prison system and provide an equal justice system.

Similar to the meeting at the Oval Office,  in an interview with Big Boy,[3] Kanye West talked about victim mentality and how Black people in America are trapped. Mr. West Explained how most people seem dumbfounded when he does not always align with the democratic party on socioeconomic issues. Most of the time, people expect him to have blind loyalty to the democratic party simply because he is black. Furthermore, these expectations reduce the power of black voters because democratic leaders can always count on black votes without fear of repercussions when they do not deliver on their promises. In comparison to whites who are democrats, republicans, and independents, black people are in some form of slavery because social conditioning does not allow blacks to express themselves or affiliate with other political parties. According to Mr. West, blacks also vote more democrat because of the welfare system, which has not been helping the black community in the long run. In many cases, the welfare system set-up black mothers to bear more children to receive higher welfare, while the justice system has been removing black fathers from their homes instead of educating black families dealing with socioeconomic challenges. To further his points, inner cities and impoverished communities that tend to vote blue to receive welfare benefits have remained poor despite welfare programs.

In the last couple of years, Kanye West's net worth has increased drastically, making him a billionaire. With that point, West has spoken before on how crucial it is to bring more jobs back into the united states and to encourage industry at the core of the united states to strengthen middle America. More precisely, Americans are being cheated out of jobs and a stable living when companies take their factories overseas because the United States lacks the incentives to manufacture in America. Another reason some socioeconomically challenged people turn to crime and end up in the cheapest factory, which is prison.

Overall,  Mr. West does not shy from the controversy and thinking freely. He has been active in the political atmosphere, and now he is ready to take his influence to the next level. If his plans align, we can anticipate him to be robust in the social justice system and strengthening socioeconomic conditions for Americans. Perhaps, he will apply some of his successful business strategies into his policies.

[1] “President Trump Oval Office Meeting with Kanye West and Jim Brown,” C-SPAN,   accessed July 5, 2020, https://www.c-span.org/video/?452879-1/president-trump-             meets-kanye-west-jim-brown-oval-office.

[2] “H.R.5682 - FIRST STEP Act,” Congress.gov, accessed July 5, 2020,   https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/house-bill/5682/text.

[3] “Kanye West on 'Jesus is King', Being Canceled, Finding God + A Lot More,” Youtube,          accessed July 5, 2020, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t568Nd7k_Yk.