Legend joins fellow entertainers Common and Danny Glover in supporting Price because of her courageous record of fighting for real justice
Special to the Vanguard
Oakland, CA – John Legend has weighed in nationally on many areas of justice reform over that last decade, including reproductive health and choice, gun reform, anti-Asian hate and ending mass incarceration. Legend has used his platform to engage voters and empower us to make the changes needed through the ballot box. Today, John Legend officially endorsed Pamela Price for Alameda County DA.
Legend is supporting a slate of DAs across the U.S. because, as he stated in an NPR interview, “the fact that these prosecutors are going into office with the intent, with the goal of making communities safer but also making them healthier and stronger and not overusing incarceration as a tool to do so, makes them more progressive than what we’ve 
had in the past,” Legend said.
John Legend isn’t the first prominent entertainer to weigh in on the race in favor of Pamela Price. The rapper Common recently held a get-out-the-vote rally in Oakland where he voiced his support for Price. And actor/activist Danny Glover has been supporting Pamela since her campaign launch.
Legend’s endorsement is an acknowledgment that Price is the only candidate who has the experience, courage and wisdom to transform Alameda County’s broken criminal justice system. Price opponent has been supporting, protecting and profiting off the broken system for 32 years.
In a recent OpEd for Billboard magazine, Legend penned, “People ask me whether the movement to end mass incarceration or elect progressive prosecutors is going too far. That accusation always strikes me as odd—that a future where all people are treated fairly and guaranteed their basic rights, where people are provided mental health or drug treatment instead of incarceration, is somehow extreme.
”What Legend said is truly radical is maintaining the status quo in a nation that incarcerates more citizens than any other on Earth, while also having “intolerable levels” of gun violence and overdose deaths. “Over the past few decades, we’ve seen the conservative right use the American criminal justice system to enforce draconian policies that hamstring people’s constitutional rights – and their efforts have escalated at a frightening pace in recent years.”
“I am over the moon with excitement at receiving John Legend’s support, his voice is one that resonates with people.” Price stated. “My opponent—Mr. Wiley—is the status quo that Legend refers to in his OpEd. We need fresh ideas and plans—the old way is not working. Just listen to people, they want the broken system to be fixed and greater public safety. Mr Wiley is singing the same old O’Malley song and will play on repeat. It is time to put a new record on, and thanks to Mr. Legend, it might just top the charts.”
