John Legend with #FREEAMERICA

Watch my video with Color Of Change

In America, you’re better off being guilty and rich than innocent and poor. Bail is the punishment you get whether or not you are guilty of a crime. For too long, money bail has been a tool for extracting wealth from our communities and funneling it into the pockets of large corporations around the world. That’s why I’m coming together with Color Of Change to expose the bail bond industry for what it is, and to launch a campaign to put an end to it.

Watch my video with Color Of Change exposing the bail industry, and share it to help spread the word.

Cash bail is inherently wrong and traps innocent people in jail. If people cannot pay bail, which is often, intentionally, set to be unaffordable for Black people, they remain stuck in jail. There is no alternative. And as a result, too many are either forced into plea deals or into predatory loans with bail bond companies–financially entrapping them with hidden fees and contracts. The scale of the $2 BILLION bail industry makes ending it feel both more challenging and urgent than ever, but we can’t give up.

When Color Of Change partners and supporters come together, we win! Due to the efforts of Color Of Change, Essie Justice Group and others, Google and Facebook recently announced that they were cutting their ties with the bail bond industry for good. The two largest online advertising titans are no longer allowing bail bond agencies to advertise their predatory services. This is huge. But now we have to take it a step further and go after the engine that keeps the money bail machine running. We need your help as we embark on our most ambitious campaign yet–taking on the large banking and insurance corporations at the root of the entire money bail complex.

The more people who know about the corrupt bail industry, the better our chances of defeating it. Help us win by sharing this video with as many people as you can.

For a free America,

John Legend