Of O.J Simpson’s 30-year drive and an upcoming opera

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WHAT’S UP!

In June 1994, someone killed Nicole Brown and her friend Ron Goldman. Brown was the ex-wife of former football player Orenthal James ‘O.J.’ Simpson, an African-American man who had excelled in football and later became a very popular actor. White America was convinced that O.J was the one who did it, and the police henceforth formally charged him with the murder.

But before they could arrest him, O.J took off in his car, and the ‘chase’ was one of the most televised ever. It was not much of a chase, because O.J. was driving slowly, but the whole of America followed it live on TV. O.J eventually gave himself up and was arrested.

Hence followed what some refer to as the ‘trial of the century’. What was so different about this trial from the around two thousand murder trials that take place in the US every year? The defendant was a black man, a successful black man, who had dared marry a beautiful and popular white girl. And then he had divorced her.

This was 1994 America, reportedly a long way from the times of Jim Crow, when marriages between races were forbidden. The laws might have changed, but the sentiments not by much, and O.J. was just about a decade removed from being lynched for daring to touch a white woman.

So the collective white America called for his conviction and was appalled that he was found not guilty by a jury of his peers. The prosecution mostly relied as evidence on a bloody glove that had been found on O.J.’s property and claimed that it belonged to him. The defence insisted that the glove had been planted, and it did not belong to the defendant, anyway. Ultimately, O.J. was asked to try on the glove, in full view of the watching world. And the glove did not fit. The prosecution’s case collapsed after that, and O.J. was declared innocent.

But white America never forgave him, and a subsequent civil trial found him liable for murder and ordered him to pay $35m to the families of the victims. Essentially, the mostly white jury did not have to find him guilty, but only if in their collective view he could have done it. And that is what they decided.

“They couldn’t lock him up, so they decided to make him broke,’ was a popular sentiment amongst African Americans after that civil trial.

But they did eventually lock him up. In 2007 O.J was arrested and charged with armed robbery when he broke into a shop to reclaim memorabilia he claimed had been stolen from him. He was found guilty on all charges and sentenced to 33 years. It should be noted that Simpson did not have a gun on him, but the man who did was only sentenced to probation. None of the men who were with O.J that night, some of them convicted felons, served any time in prison. O.J., all of 61 years old, was still being punished for a murder he did not commit.

He was released after serving nine years of his sentence, and lived quietly until his death two weeks ago. But even in death, the white press still referred to him as a murderer. Those folks do not forgive, or forget.

Waiting for the phantom of the opera

For some reason, I do not remember an opera being performed in Uganda. Google insists the Kampala Music School did put up an opera, Mozart’s Marriage of Figaro, at the National Theatre in 2003. I definitely missed it. But next week I’m not missing what will be my first opera, the Phantom of the Opera.

I’m so eager for it that on Tuesday I attended a rehearsal of what should ’ve been Act I. Unfortunately, it rained (they were outdoors at Ndere Centre) and didn’t get very far into it.

But last Saturday, I was there when they rehearsed the songs, accompanied by a piano. Those close to me know my love for the piano; and that afternoon after a 21km hike, with a cool breeze flowing through the amphitheatre, and those amazing voices, it was almost magical. So I really can’t wait for the real thing.

Based on the 1910 French novel of the same name by Gaston Leroux, Phantom of the Opera tells the tragic story of a beautiful soprano who becomes the obsession of a mysterious, masked musical genius living underneath the Paris Opéra House. The music was composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber, who is famous for many musicals including Evita, which famously starred Madonna in the leading role.

The people behind it are the ones that brought us Shylock a few years ago, to much acclaim. Then followed it with My Fair Lady last year, which was an even greater hit. They used to be mainly folks from King’s College, Budo, but it seems differences arose with the old Budonians Club, which is no longer involved directly.

But no worries, it is still the same team dedicated to quality and bringing us new experiences every year. So, get ready for it.

Twitter: @KalungiKabuye