Commentary

COMMENTARY: Justice for Jussie Smollett? What About the Rest of Us?

Smollett stuck to his own story and had a few character witnesses. But the jury determined the truth. Jussie Smollett lied to us all. The attack was the charade, not the trial. The attack was done as a play for our sympathy. If you weren’t a fan of Smollett on “Empire,” maybe you checked it out. That appears to have been the goal. Smollett became an overnight sensation and people saw him as a traumatized survivor.

Published

2 years ago

December 22, 2021

Oakland Post

From here on, Jussie Smollet has spoiled that trust for all people of color who speak the truth about race crimes. The hill we climb for justice is steeper than ever. (Photo: Wikimedia Commons / Sister Circle Live)

By Emil Guillermo

And so now the verdict is in. Jussie Smollett was found guilty of five of six felony counts of disorderly conduct, connected to the night Smollett claimed he was mugged by two masked men in Chicago.

The breaking news of the “attack” two years ago only breaks our hearts today. Because the perps were friends and associates of Smollett who testified under oath that it was all planned and staged.

Smollett stuck to his own story and had a few character witnesses. But the jury determined the truth. Jussie Smollett lied to us all.

The attack was the charade, not the trial. The attack was done as a play for our sympathy.

If you weren’t a fan of Smollett on “Empire,” maybe you checked it out. That appears to have been the goal. Smollett became an overnight sensation and people saw him as a traumatized survivor.

Some commentators have suggested Jussie be placed on probation, given no prior record. But not so fast.

There is somewhere under $175,000 the city of Chicago wants back to pay police overtime for investigating the matter. That’s real, and a civil matter. But criminally, he should face some time. Should the system go light on a person who willingly concocted a story of hate? And refuses to be held accountable?

Some commentators mention the ‘dog’ woman in New York’s Central Park, Amy Cooper, who falsely claimed a bird-watching Black man was harassing her. She got community service, but compassion was shown after she admitted her guilt.

Jussie continued to tell his story on the stand. And his defense even says, they will appeal because of the one not-guilty count. But a juror told the media this week they were giving Jussie a break on the sixth count — that of filing a false report on an aggravated battery (the attackers were masked). Since the attackers were always masked, a juror told a reporter that with further deliberation “I think we probably would have found him guilty.”

Hate crimes are real. We don’t get justice for the real race crimes against our communities.

We shouldn’t waste an opportunity for justice on a fake one.

The real harm is that Jussie has now unleashed doubt on all our claims, credibility be damned.

Suni Lee, the Asian American Hmong Olympic champ, a few weeks ago claimed that she was accosted by a passerby in a car who yelled out a racial epithet.

As I recounted the story on my web show “Emil Amok’s Takeout” on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube, a viewer put in the chat how he doubted the story. He said it was just like Jussie Smollett. After all, wasn’t she appearing on “Dancing with the Stars,” a show that takes public votes?

I didn’t even think about that. But afterward, I questioned — was there a police report? No. What about her girlfriends who were with her. Did anyone corroborate the story? No.

But the story made its way to all the major outlets, NBC, CNN, New York Times, etc., because there was trust in the Olympic champion.

How about for you or me?

From here on, Jussie Smollet has spoiled that trust for all people of color who speak the truth about race crimes. The hill we climb for justice is steeper than ever.

It’s not like it wasn’t hard enough already.

Emil Guillermo is an award-winning journalist and commentator. A former host of NPR’s “All Things Considered,” see his work at www.amok.com

Oakland Post

Posts by Oakland Post

Up Next

OP-ED: Ring in the New Year with Health Care Savings

Don't Miss

COVID Clinic Re-Opens Site in Downtown Oakland

Oakland Post

Click to comment

Activism

Oakland Post: Week of April 24 – 30, 2024

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of April 24 – 30, 2024

Published

6 hours ago

April 26, 2024

Oakland Post

To enlarge your view of this issue, use the slider, magnifying glass icon or full page icon in the lower right corner of the browser window.

Oakland Post

Posts by Oakland Post

Activism

Oakland Post: Week of April 17 – 23, 2024

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of April 17 – 23, 2024

Published

1 week ago

April 19, 2024

Oakland Post

To enlarge your view of this issue, use the slider, magnifying glass icon or full page icon in the lower right corner of the browser window.

Oakland Post

Posts by Oakland Post

Commentary

Opinion: Surviving the Earthquake, an Eclipse and “Emil Amok.”

Last Friday, a 4.8 magnitude earthquake shook New York City, reported as the “biggest earthquake with an epicenter in the NYC area since 1884” when a 5.2 quake hit. A bit bigger. The last quake similar to Friday’s was a 4.9 in 1783.Alexander Hamilton felt it — 241 years ago. That’s why New Yorkers were freaking out on Friday. They were in the room where it happens.

Published

1 week ago

April 17, 2024

Oakland Post

In New York City, the eclipse was about 90 percent visible. Good enough for me. Though a full solar eclipse is a celestial rarity, blockages of any sort aren’t generally celebrated. My one-man play is about growing up with the eclipsed history of American Filipinos and how I struggle to unblock all that.

By Emil Guillermo

I’m a Northern Californian in New York City for the next few weeks, doing my one-man show, “Emil Amok, Lost NPR Host, Wiley Filipino, Vegan Transdad.”

I must like performing in the wake of Mother Nature.

Alexander Hamilton felt it — 241 years ago.

That’s why New Yorkers were freaking out on Friday. They were in the room where it happens.

And it just doesn’t happen that often.

Beyonce singing country music happens more frequently.

When I felt New York shake last week, it reminded me of a time in a San Francisco TV newsroom when editors fretted about a lack of news an hour before showtime.

Then the office carpeting moved for a good ten seconds, and the news gods gave us our lead story.

On Friday when it happened in NYC, I noticed the lines in the carpeting in my room wiggling. But I thought it was from a raucous hotel worker vacuuming nearby.

I didn’t even think earthquake. In New York?

I just went about my business as if nothing had happened. After living near fault lines all my life, I was taking things for granted.

Considering the age of structures in New York, I should have been even more concerned about falling objects inside (shelves, stuff on walls) and outside buildings (signs, scaffolding), fire hazards from possible gas leaks, and then I should have looked for others on my floor and in the hotel lobby to confirm or aid or tell stories.

Of course, as a Californian who has lived through and covered quakes in the 4 to 6 magnitude range, I tried to calm down any traumatized New Yorker I encountered by taking full responsibility for bringing in the quake from the Bay Area.

I reassured them things would be all right, and then let them know that 4.8s are nothing.

And then I invited them to my consoling post-Earthquake performance of “Emil Amok, Lost NPR Host…”

It was the night of the eclipse.

ECLIPSING THE ECLIPSE

For example, did you know the first Filipinos actually arrived to what is now California in 1587? That’s 33 years before the Pilgrims arrived in America on the other coast, but few know the Filipino history which has been totally eclipsed.

I was in Battery Park sitting on a bench and there was a sense of community as people all came to look up. A young woman sitting next to me had a filter for a cell phone camera. We began talking and she let me use it. That filter enabled me to take a picture of the main event with my iPhone.

For helping me see, I invited her and her boyfriend to come see my show.

Coincidentally, she was from Plymouth, Massachusetts, near the rock that says the year the Pilgrims landed in 1620.

In my show she learned the truth. The Pilgrims were second.

History unblocked. But it took a solar eclipse.

Next one in 2044? We have a lot more unblocking to do.

If you’re in New York come see my show, Sat. April 13th, 5:20 pm Eastern; Fri. April 19, 8:10 pm Eastern; and Sun. April 21st 5:20 pm Eastern.

You can also livestream the show. Get tickets at www.amok.com/tickets

About the Author

Emil Guillermo is a journalist and commentator. He does a mini-talk show on YouTube.com/@emilamok1. He wishes all his readers a Happy Easter!