When we lost Oj we lost juice. The tragedy of OJ Simpson. My take on the OJ Simpson story. A local perspective of an African American Male from the same community. I been thinking about the OJ case lately. It told the story of two Americas. The America we think we are, and the America we really are. That case was a real modern day witch hunt. However I dont want to go over the case, but something else comes to mind. This man made out of the ghetto the top of the world. He was a sports legend, that transformed into a man of influence. Unlike most athletes he set himself in motion to have a success well after his playing career was over. In fact OJ became known for moor than just a sports legend unfortunately for his murder trial as well. Before the murder trial, he was a successful businessman. He could walk amongst elite as well as common people. He had the type of personality that could flow between worlds sort of like his running style on the field. This was the type of man that could influence things. Now when it comes to the Black community he has always had two aspects to him. He was the consummate hero to us like every else. He was an action figure of a man. When I first saw him as a child he looked like a Black super hero. I met him twice at family reunions . As a young boy I was star struck. He could see that and said in a very cool in a voice similar to my father Hows it goin. He seemed to have twinkle in his eye. Another aspect is a sell out or uncle tom. He had divorced his Black wife and married a blonde haired White woman, who was later unfortunately murdered. This happened in 94 about 2 years after I met them. That lead to OJs eventual demise. OJ moved in an affluent white community called Brent wood. It could of been no moor farther away from the Black community. He took care of Nicoles family better than his own. They would abandon him when he was fighting for his life on trial. He may have given to the Potrero hill from time to time but he was of no influence. My purpose though is to look at the total man, the pro and cons. Even if he was an Uncle Tom from what Ive experienced and heard he was a very nice man. I was watching his video when he goes into detail about his take on the trial. You could see that he was a very nice man, very intelligent, this was oozing off of him in the interview. You could he was this man of influence. As I watched the interviews I thought it is truly tragic what happened to him, regardless of how you feel about his politics. I believe he is innocent of those crimes. I wont go into the case but there is no way he would of been able kill them in 5 minutes like that. However I think the case was racially charged with an Othello type narrative. That was a subliminal kind of race card itself. Many Black men have been lynched for being wrongly accused of raping white women. This narrative has played out through history. The theory is that Black men are just oozing to get at white women foaming at the mouth. I had a problem with the whole premise of the case . OJ is from my community actually. He is from Potrero Hill which is in District 10. Thats the same district I grew up in. He is literally a native sun, he is one of us. One of the success stories that is disconnected from us even before his demise. I wasnt really aware he was from the city until I was a teen. I didnt realize the impact of having a polarizing fiure from the community until now. I thought to myself ,what if this man of influence would of stayed in the Bay Area and applied his skills over here, or even came back to do so. San Francisco is underrated some what for its affluence and we live right by Silicon valley. All of the business that went on over here OJ could of definitely got involved with . He had the business mind he had. What if he would of came back to be a power house, this man of influence. He is someone that could connect tech world with the community he came from. Often times our brilliant minds from the community leave and serve no influence other than buying things like uniforms or back packs. OJ could of been a Giant in the Bay area. If we pay attention his story is still relevant to District 10. Instead of planting seeds here in the Bay Area where he is from he went for the bright lights of Holly wood. Think about it, The Bay area is where the dot com and tech boom happened. There were business incentives to remain here or come back as well as L.A. After the trial, he would never again be that man of Influence that life was over. I still wonder how much moor he could of contributed to the influence of the community if he applied himself that way. Now irony is that after all that success his fate is still similar to many young men who never made it out of their community has he sits in a Nevada prison. Today we have a number of Native suns from the ghettos of San Francisco playing in the NFL. Stevie Johnson of note, who recently came back home to play for the 49ers a legendary franchise in the NFL. How many of these new OJs are connected to their communities? Do they realize the influence they could have in a city like San Francisco especially in their communities? Are they as swift as the Juice was in being able to financially leverage themselves past their careers and be in position of influence? Like OJ will the fame be their demise. Often the community is there for the fall, but it can be their for the rise and protect them from that fall, peace.
Posted on: Mon, 08 Sep 2014 13:11:20 +0000