By A Negro And A Keyboard

“But you bought the bottle of beer, definitely, at 12:15…”

As I watched former NBA-er Jayson Williams on television giving his tearful and seemingly remorseful plea to the courtroom, prior to sentencing for his conviction in the death of limousine driver Costas “Gus” Christofi, I couldn’t help but hear in my mind the voice of actor Bill Duke’s character in Menace II Society, during that infamous scene when Caine fearfully mixes up the time that he and O-Dawg were in the liquor store prior to the robbery and murder of the owner:

“Now, see, You know you done f**ked up, don’t you?”

Yes, a new clichéd story has joined the likes of The Boy who Cried Wolf and Little Red Riding Hood: Boy from the hood makes good and leaves the hood, boy from the hood can’t stay the f**k out of hood affairs, boy from the hood tries to act tough (when he’s not) and becomes entangled in a series of legal woes that culminate in one major charge (usually guns), boy from the hood is enthralled in a lengthy and overly-publicized trial, boy from the hood makes a plea deal for a short stint in jail and goes into custody sobbing.

While the likes of Michael Vick, T.I., Plaxico Burress and Lil’ Wayne have been most recent in our memory banks, yesterday’s sentencing of Williams to 5 years (with parole after 18 months) is yet another one of these moronic stories where another black celebrity has fallen into what author Richard Majors refers to as, “Cool Pose“, in his book by the same name, which asserts the idea that as a black man growing up in America, particularly from a poor area, one must constantly maintain a “pose” of toughness in his behavior, speech, dress and overall demeanor, in order to be perceived as being strong and respectable by his peers. Unfortunately, this concept plays out all-too-commonly in our urbanly-influenced Hip-Hop Generation, which has come to dominate almost every facet of American life, even paving the way for a black President to actually become societal chic.

Jayson Williams’ life is a perfect case-study of how this can play out in an extreme case. Reared on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, he became a basketball standout, playing in high school for national powerhouse Christ The King, then received a scholarship to play college ball at St. John’s University, where he unlike most basketball standouts, completed a bachelor’s degree (Not exactly the resume of a superthug at that point). Jayson’s on-court prowess allowed him to achieve the childhood dream of many young men; a first-round selection in the 1990 NBA Draft. He was able to go on and have a very successful career, enjoying stints with the Philadelphia 76ers and New Jersey Nets, becoming an All-Star during the 1997-98 season and eventually inking a 7-year, $86 million dollar deal.

While things had gone well on the court, as is typical with many athletes, Williams began to develop a penchant for playing with guns. In 1994, he was accused of firing guns in the parking lot of the Meadowlands, home of the Nets. A few years later, as documented in a co-written biography of his life, Williams almost shot New York Jets wide receiver Wayne Chrebet while firing a gun at a skeet-shooting range.

Then, of course came that horrific Valentine’s Night in 2002, during which Williams fatally wounded Christofi while playing with a shotgun as he was giving a tour of his majestic 30,000 square-foot home.

To this day, I honestly do not understand what this man’s obsession with guns was all about.  Was he often punked because people thought he was soft? Could this obsession even be phallic in nature (I surely hope not…)? If you had money like that, then why not kill two birds with one stone (no pun intended) and just hire the dude from The Transporter to be both your driver and your bodyguard?

After the shooting of Christofi, Williams was initially tried criminally that spring, resulting in acquittal of the major charges brought against him, a hung jury on the charge of reckless manslaughter, and conviction on 4 counts of trying to cover up the incident. Williams would later settle a civil lawsuit with Christofi’s family for $2.75 Million, which appears to be a “bargain” given his net worth at the time. A retrial was decided upon in 2006 by the court on the charge of reckless manslaughter, which was then delayed constantly over the years on many technicalities, culminating in yesterday’s plea deal.

Unfortunately Williams’ problems didn’t cease during the time between the first trial and yesterday’s conclusion. In addition to reports of depression, domestic violence, suicidal assertions and his wife’s wishes for a divorce, Williams was reportedly tasered by police in a New York City hotel room in April 2009 after a night of drinking and popping pills and taken to a hospital for treatment. The next month, he was arrested in North Carolina for allegedly assaulting a bar patron. Most recently, in January of this year, Williams caught a DWI charge after a car accident in Manhattan.

I would be remiss if I didn’t state that I truly believe that Williams’ apology was sincere, because we all make major mistakes in life and are all sorry after we get caught up. However, in looking at his exploits prior to the tragedy of Christofi’s death, it is clear that Williams had an affinity for trying to play “Mr. Get Bad” as Craig once said in Friday After Next; striking his “cool pose” in the form of firearms and financial affluence.

Now, if this man was straight out the gutter into a mansion, I might have a bit more sympathy, however, as I stated earlier, this man does have a college degree from a major university, and I am sure that somewhere between morning practice, Television 101 and taking down groupies at night, this man had to go to at least one or two sociology classes that discussed the difference between right and wrong. There will be no “I came from nothing” reprieve for this brother.

I do sincerely hope that this experience will allow him to become the man that he spoke about becoming yesterday from this point forward, similar to my hopes for Vick, Plaxico, T.I. and even Lil Wayne’s ignorant ass.

However, what I pray for even more than the transformation of these men, is that their stories will in at least some way, influence other youngsters coming up from nothing to for once see through the bulls**t that can so often be labeled “black celebrity”.  Regardless, I am sadly assured that we will have yet a few more falls from grace for us to publicly witness, and I am also sure that Bill Duke’s voice will visit my thoughts once again.

“You know you done f**ked up, right?”

Recklessly Yours,

A Negro and A Keyboard

Follow Us on Twitter @ http://twitter.com/planetill

Join Us on the Planet Ill Facebook Group for more discussion

Check out Planet Ill’s page on Essence.com

Follow us on Networked Blogs