"If it dosen't fit you must acquit"
Johnnie Cochran Speaks In Toronto
written for konekshuns.com by Marva Jackson
On Wednesday, December 13, 1995, the African Canadian Legal Clinic (ACLC)
and LIP Entertainment present leading authority on criminal justice in the
US, Mr. Johnnie Cochran, Jr., at the Metro Toronto Cnvention Centre in Toronto,
Ontario, Canada. Cochran will be the first speaker in the ACLC's Equity
and Justice Speaker Series.
Although Canada doesn't have the same population and identical experience
of African- Americans, we do have to contend with our own brand of racism.
The proportion of Black men and women in Canadian prisons is oddly high.
Many white Canadians still do believe racist suggestions that Black people
contribute to more criminal activities than others. Yes, Stats Canada reports
and recent increases in hate crimes against African-Canadians indicate that
the myths are alive and well here as anywhere. Therefore, Johnnie Cochran's
talk in Toronto remains timely and especially important for many young people
and their families.
Looking at his history, there is definitely more to Cochran than meets the
eye. Although Cochran has recently become iconicized in the media, his success
has deeper roots than his work with celebrity clients. At the forefront
of his field, Cochran has been a successful criminal lawyer since the earliest
years of his career. Most recently he is representing the case of Geronimo
Pratt, a Black Panther leader who is currently serving a life sentence for
murder. Pratt and his supporters have staunchly claimed that the Black Panther
was another victim in the COINTELPRO war against African-Americans and that
he was allegedly framed by the FBI for a California murder he did not commit.
Fifty-six years old, born in Shreveport, Louisiana, Cochran began his career
in 1963 as a Deputy City Attorney for the City of Los Angeles in the Criminal
Division. Three years later Cochran started his own practice with partners
Atkins and Evans. He gained standing as the third ranking lawyer in America's
largest law office as Assistant District Attorney, 1978 to 1980. In 1981,
he began a new practice, Johnnie Cochran, Jr. Inc., specializing in personal
injury litigation, entertainment law, public financing, and criminal defence.
In 1982, he won the largest jury verdict in the history of L. A. in a police
abuse case, negotiating a record settlement in the state of California,
and receiving the highest jury award in the history of the City of Los Angeles
in a police misconduct case. Cochran earned a reputation as an outstanding
trial lawyer and was named "Criminal Trial Lawyer of the Year"
in 1987. In March 1993, Cochran was inducted into the American College of
Trial Lawyers.
As I consider the implications of Cochran's visit to my home town, I remember
another famous African American. Paul Robeson, a chosen All-American athlete,
was at the top of his class during his school years. A significant member
of the 'Talented Tenth' Robeson tried hard to make his living in his chosen
profession which was law. Unfortunately due to the unjust society in which
he lived, Robeson left the legal profession to become an actor. The rest
is history as he went on to become an internationally recognized success
in early films and on stage. Too few of us have opportunities to learn the
history of people like Paul Robeson. His life story smacks of the struggle
to thrive in the face of a racism that we continue to live with today. Johnnie
Cochran has seemingly faced similar struggles as an African-American lawyer
in contemporary society and won. That is the message behind the 'not guilty'
verdict of the O. J. Simpson trial which seems to be most meaningful for
many people of African heritage.
Unlike Robeson, Cochran has been able to realize his dream to become a lawyer.
The recent media status given him through his work with people like Michael
Jackson and primarily O. J. Simpson has meant that Johnnie Cochran has been
with us on television day-in and day-out for over a year now. Some people
have reportedly eaten breakfasts, lunches, dinners and even snacks while
religiously watching news reports about Johnnie Cochran and others involved
in the OJ Simpson trial. As I listened to the many debates about the signficance
of Johnnie Cochran after the jury found OJ Simpson not guilty due to reasonable
doubt, most memorable for me are the faces of youth who have been avid spectators
thruoghout the televised event, especially Black female and male youth.
Johnnie Cochran has become an important symbol of possibilities for many
youth who may not have felt there has been much of a future for them.
As we enter a new century, looking back on the past hundred years we must
ask ourselves, "how far do we think we have really come?" and
"how are we going to get to where we want to go?". As we experience
the atermath of the OJ Simpson trial, we see the creation of new pop culture
'icons' in media elevation and exploitation of the images of the accused,
the victims, the respective lawyers, and their families. While the 'racial
divide' has been a siginficant social legacy since the inception of the
society in which we now live, the public and media response to the OJ Simpson
trial has highlighted the deeply ingrained nature of racism, the on-going
inequity of a legal system that seems to work more for the 'haves' than
the 'have-nots' and of the general insidious prejudice that permeates cultural
experience. Real opportunities for addressing legal injustice against Black
men and women to fighting against the assault of women and children seem
to have become fodder for new political opportunists. In the current social
and political climate, we see class and gender struggles in Black community
that have created new defining of ideas about who we are as communities.
Johnnie Cochran has beome an important player in that struggle for re-definition
and direction.
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