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

3 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

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Oakland Post: Week of June 4 – 10, 2025

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of June 4-10, 2025

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4 days ago

June 7, 2025

Oakland Post

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Remembering George Floyd

BLACKPRESSUSA NEWSWIRE — Minnesota State Attorney General Keith Ellison acknowledges that the Floyd case five years ago involved a situation in which due process was denied, and five years later, the president is currently dismissing “due process. “The Minnesota Atty General also says, “Trump is trying to attack constitutional rule, attacking congressional authority and judicial decision-making.” George Floyd was an African American man killed by police who knocked on his neck and on his back, preventing him from breathing.

Published

1 week ago

June 2, 2025

Oakland Post

Mural showing the portrait of George Floyd in Mauerpark in Berlin. To the left of the portrait the lettering "I can't Breathe" was added, on the right side the three hashtags #GeorgeFloyd, #Icantbreathe and #Sayhisname. The mural was completed by Eme Street Art (facebook name) / Eme Free Thinker (signature) on 29 May 2020. (Wikimedia Commons)

By April Ryan
BlackPressUSA Newswire

“The president’s been very clear he has no intentions of pardoning Derek Chauvin, and it’s not a request that we’re looking at,” confirms a senior staffer at the Trump White House. That White House response results from public hope, including from a close Trump ally, Georgia Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene. The timing of Greene’s hopes coincides with the Justice Department’s recent decision to end oversight of local police accused of abuse. It also falls on the fifth anniversary of the police-involved death of George Floyd on May 25th. The death sparked national and worldwide outrage and became a transitional moment politically and culturally, although the outcry for laws on police accountability failed.

The death forced then-Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden to focus on deadly police force and accountability. His efforts while president to pass the George Floyd Justice in policing act failed. The death of George Floyd also put a spotlight on the Black community, forcing then-candidate Biden to choose a Black woman running mate. Kamala Harris ultimately became vice president of the United States alongside Joe Biden. Minnesota State Attorney General Keith Ellison prosecuted the cases against the officers involved in the death of Floyd. He remembers,” Trump was in office when George Floyd was killed, and I would blame Trump for creating a negative environment for police-community relations. Remember, it was him who said when the looting starts, the shooting starts, it was him who got rid of all the consent decrees that were in place by the Obama administration.”

In 2025, Police-involved civilian deaths are up by “about 100 to about 11 hundred,” according to Ellison. Ellison acknowledges that the Floyd case five years ago involved a situation in which due process was denied, and five years later, the president is currently dismissing “due process. “The Minnesota Atty General also says, “Trump is trying to attack constitutional rule, attacking congressional authority and judicial decision-making.” George Floyd was an African-American man killed by police who knocked on his neck and on his back, preventing him from breathing. During those minutes on the ground, Floyd cried out for his late mother several times. Police subdued Floyd for an alleged counterfeit $20 bill.