The wonderful Jill Scott did an interview with The Breakfast Club. The only issue I have with her point about the troubles of famous black men is the inclusion of Michael Jackson on the list.
Watch her interview for specific information, but she made the point that once black entertainers — specifically black men — transcend the role of what a black entertainer is supposed to be, they become marked for destruction. Further, in her view, these men are failed by their own vices whether those vices are women, drugs, domestic violence, etc.
However, out of all the men she named, only one actually went to trial, had their entire life put out for the world to see, and was found Not Guilty by an all-white (no black person) jury in a conservative/libertarian county in California.
Jill got me in a reflective mood right now but I can’t say what I just said without explaining why I feel that way. I DO NOT want to re-litigate the 2005 Michael Jackson trial right now, but I remember reading the official courtroom transcripts of the trial (which cost a grip) for a journalism project. I was fckin flabbergasted.
Jill Scott Video
(Starts at around 8:21)
I mean, a bunch of sh!t we thought was true… turned out not to be true. Much of the information which was supposed to be bombshells turned into dust once their validity had to be challenged in a court of law.
And I’m talking about big things like the fact of there being girls, too, sleeping over Jackson’s house. Some of those girls — now women — even testified in court! Some slept over with their parents. Some spent the night when Jackson wasn’t there. Of course we were told he only had “young boys” around him and he only slept in bed with them. That turned out not to be true.
The accuser in the 2005 case initially said he was molested at Neverland (CA) during a time period where Jackson was in Florida. Oops. Then the dates of his accusations changed.
At trial, the kid who was at the heart of the 2005 trial actually testified he’d never slept in the same bed with Michael Jackson. **face palm**
In short, we were snowed by a family who could only get a pay day from Jackson if they actually went through the criminal courts first. What better way to make sure you’re guaranteed a big settlement at the end of the day than by gaining a conviction in criminal court?
The 1993 accuser refused to cooperate with prosecutors and that’s why he wasn’t called to testify by them at the 2005 trial.
In addition, the prosecutors were just naming kids (now grown men) who they say were molested. So Jackson’s lawyers actually called those people to the stand to testify and they basically said ‘get the fck outta here with that bullsh!t’. In other words, clearing his name under oath in a court of law. I mean, there was just thing after thing after thing revealed in court…especially under cross-examination by Jackson’s attorneys.
Jackson turned over his house to various families while he was away because Neverland wasn’t just his house, but a place where groups of people would meet for conventions, field trips, holidays, negotiations and everything. We didn’t know any of that sh!t before the trial.
That trial was a fckin travesty. A fckin travesty. More people need to know that. And the media was hyping the hell out of the molester-narrative so they could continue to make millions off the caricature they created.
But people won’t ever admit their idea of Michael Jackson could be all wrong, because to admit it means they’ll have to wrestle with the idea they treated him like sh!t for nothing. He wasn’t “normal” (who is), but he certainly doesn’t belong amongst the men Jill Scott named.
Phil Spector was found guilty. Bill Cosby has never been prosecuted and admitted in a deposition he bought drugs for women. Kevin Clash was never prosecuted. Chris Brown actually admitted to beating Rihanna. Michael Jackson walked his a$$ through the fire, always maintained his innocence and was actually found not guilty by an all white jury.
It just ain’t the same.