There’s a pre-conceived notion of law and order that says if you do the crime, you do the time. I had broken many laws, but the crime that I was given time for was not mine. No one cared to prove my guilt. I was facing the type of situation niggas talked about, but I never took seriously. My situation was the kind you complain about when you’re in it while those who are outside your position swear you are exaggerating. We’ve been brainwashed to believe in the idea of innocent until proven guilty. That’s probably why I wasn’t afraid of my case going to trial even though I was never offered a plea deal. It took me a while, but I figured out that they didn't need to deal with me. They didn't need my plea; to them, I was already guilty. It was up to me to prove my innocence.
The jury and judge only saw a drug-dealing criminal trying to squeeze his way through the system, an influential black man. They didn't see a man with potential. They witnessed a black man who was climbing above their maximum allowed level for a "successful nigga.” Above all, they saw a "nigga" who was doing it not strictly by tearing down his own people but through the veins and nostrils of theirs. Suddenly, the real crime, real evidence, and real justice weren’t important; "JustUS" was.
