Faced with receiving stiff sentence to the hokey-pokey or turning his life around, T.I. chose well
March 27th, 2009 by Rodney Carmichael in Music news
(SEE PHOTO GALLERY OF TODAY’S SENTENCING PRESS CONFERENCE)
A funny thing happened to Clifford “T.I.” Harris in the year leading up to the sentence hearing, held earlier today, on his federal firearms conviction: the 27-year-old Atlanta rapper turned his life around — and, apparently, a lot more lives in the process.
T.I. declared it so. His team of defense attorneys agreed. Even former Ambassador Andrew Young and Bishop Eddie Long said they recognized the change in him when they addressed the court on the defendant’s behalf.
But perhaps it was best acknowledged by U.S. District Judge Charles A. Pannell, Jr. when he told T.I., “I congratulate you on the work you’ve done so far. If you had failed I would’ve sent you to prison [and] I would’ve probably held Mr. Nahmias out the window of the 23rd floor.”
Everyone in the courtroom laughed at that, including David E. Nahmias, the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia. Without his belief that society could be better served by sticking T.I. with 1,500 hours of community service rather than the four to six years of fed time warranted by the crime, the mood in that courtroom — located on the 23rd floor of the Richard B. Russell Federal Building — would’ve been quite different today.
Of course, as you’ve probably heard, T.I. isn’t getting off scot-free. He will serve one year and one day in prison, in addition to the 305 days he has already served of a 365-day house arrest sentence. He doesn’t have a scheduled date or a specific prison to report to as of yet, but the judge has requested that it be in or near the state of Georgia for his family’s sake. Also, his sentence is not to begin before May 19, 2009.
That’s just a little caveat included to make sure Harris gets to spend Mother’s Day with his mom. Rappers love their moms just as much as anyone else, you know.
Not everyone would get such special consideration, however. Surely his celebrity had a lot to do with it. But it was also his willingness to make a very public about-face — to go from advocating violence, drug peddling and a by-any-means-necessary ethos on record to offering himself up as an example of what not to do by challenging both his fans and himself to change for the better. That’s certainly not something a rapper of T.I.’s caliber is inclined to do, not even with fed time staring him in the face. (Disagree? There are plenty of rappers with extensive rap sheets to prove otherwise.)
And even then, one might expect to see such a rapper go through the motions simply for the sake of getting a reduced sentence. But if T.I. is acting (which he has become quite accomplished at via roles in such films as ATL and American Gangster), he’s got a lot of people fooled.
And not just the U.S. attorney or the judge; but his fans, too. None of the 1,030 hours of community service T.I. has already served account for the eight episodes of the MTV reality show, “T.I.’s Road to Redemption” which featured him intervening in the lives of young people headed down one-way roads to jail or death. Beyond the eight people he impacted directly through the show, millions more watched every week as he faced off with wayward, disillusioned young adults, cut through the bullshit, and showed them windows of opportunity they’d been too blind to see. (Several attended today’s hearing in a show of support.)
It turns out T.I. was only giving them a dose of the mentoring he’d been given by former Ambassador Young.
“Most kids don’t listen to their parents, but all kids listen to their grandparents,” Young stated before the judge, summing up a recently formed relationship with T.I. that led Young to take him to a rehabilitative hospital in New York where they talked to “guys in their 50s and 60s who’d been shot in their back when they were 17.”
Young also made the most compelling statement of the day in defense of the judge and his willingness to back the controversial sentence, when he compared his action on the bench to that taken by attorneys during the Civil Rights era.
“The Civil Rights movement was in many ways a [struggle] against white violence in America and we get a lot of credit for having won that battle, but that was a battle won by judges,” he said before switching focus to the violence perpetrated by blacks that has since overcome African American communities. “Black violence comes from the same roots in frustration, poverty and hopelessness that white violence comes from.”
By serving T.I. with an experimental sentence that’s enabled him to reach at-risk youth, Young argued, the judge helped stem violence in the same fashion that controversial court rulings ushered us toward a new South half a century ago. It was a lofty appeal that highlighted Young’s smooth ambassadorial skills, without a doubt.
T.I.’s spoke, no less eloquently, in defense of the actions that caused him to illegally purchase a small arsenal of machine guns in the months leading up to his October 2007 arrest, despite being a formerly convicted felon who had no right to do so. “I am a man of integrity. I am a man of morals and principles. I know its hard to imagine that looking at my criminal history,” he said. “Although it was wrong, it was done in my mind out of my own ignorance and understanding to do something that was right.
“After your best friend has died in your arms, your judgment is jaded,” he said referring to his friend and personal assistant Philant Johnson, who was murdered in 2006 after a Cincinnati nightclub altercation led to shots being fired at the vehicle accompanying T.I. and his entourage. The irony of his situation was not lost on him, either, as he stated, “The people I sought to protect I will now not have the ability to for a year and a day.”
Later, outside the courtroom, most of T.I.’s supporters seemed relieved and happy with the expected outcome, including Jason Geter and Hannah Kang of T.I.’s Grand Hustle label, friend and artist Alfamega, personal banker Rasheed Muhammad, Atlantic records representatives, long-time girlfriend Tameka “Tiny” Cottle (whom he publicly referred to as his fiancé), and a host of family and fans.
One peculiar supporter named Nafeesa Phillips, who claimed to be T.I.’s wife “in God’s eyes,” seemed particularly disappointed in the outcome, claiming that he hadn’t done anything wrong. “Anybody that loved him would be on fire,” she said before proclaiming her belief that the sentence would be dropped without T.I. having to serve any time.
Meanwhile, T.I. stood in the lobby of the federal building holding a press conference before a host of outstretched arms holding pens and notepads, tape recorders, still cameras and tv cameras. When asked why he believes so many people have flocked to his aid, the young, charismatic man who seems to always have an articulate answer at the ready admitted he was clueless. “I don’t know why they’ve come to my aid so much. I don’t know… . Andy Young said that he felt that I could help do the work that he’s been trying to do for so long, and if they trust me with that responsibility I just want to make them proud.”
After T.I. addressed the media in a press conference, he was followed by U.S. Attorney Nahmias, who defended the sentence against accusations of special celebrity treatment: “We didn’t do anything in this case for Mr. Harris, we did it because we believed that this case would benefit the community. And we think that it has,” he said. “The side effect is that it appears he’s turned his life around.”
Whatever becomes of T.I. between now and the time he returns from his sentence, which is likely to last no more than 10 months if he behaves well according to Nahmias, the rapper’s work will be waiting on him.
“Oh, you ain’t got to worry about that,” he responded with assuredness when asked about the state of his musical future.
Some things not even T.I. feels the need to change.
(Photo by Joeff Davis. See a gallery of today’s press conference.)
March 29th, 2009 at 10:54 pm
I must admit that Rapper, T.I. has become a unlikely hero, ala Peter Pan.
First of all, I don’t think the general media is aware that his reconstruction began by giving back to the streets when he was already in the streets…though, most folks credit his contributions to young folks as court ordered only.
T.I. has proven his heart has always been in the right place, as he’s done things to survive.
As Clifford “T.I.” Harris agrees to survive his own consequences; he’s become a major recording artist for Grand Hustle Records.
Additionally, T.I. has become a mentor to other artists, and he’s always been a positive role model to common folks alike.
T.I.’s confidence shaped southern rap music as his fashion influenced a cool southern city style.
Most of all, his writing ability dug deeper into the conscience as he told stories about his reality.
Though I don’t know him, I’m sure he felt very proud to know he accomplished many dreams and understands committments and responsibilities to his family.
T.I.’s situation is not one to be judged because it’s unfair to blame someone who harms himself when protecting his family.
I send my support and prayers that T.I. gains more than he can remember ever having in his lifetime.
Keep holding your head up high, T.I., by doing so, you force us to look up to see you….up is always better than down.
Derrick “DC, Our Biggest Fan” Chatman, WIBB Radio Legend