Justice delayed is justice denied

An aspiring Chicago poet and community activist walked out of a Cook County courthouse Wednesday to hugs and cheers from dozens of supporters after prosecutors in a surprise move dropped charges against him for allegedly punching a police officer during protests over the death of Laquan McDonald. -- Chicago Tribune

"Aspiring", my ass. Malcolm X. London is an accomplished poet and playwright -- called the Gil-Scott Heron of this generation by Cornel West. He's a member of the Young Adult Council of the prestigious Steppenwolf Theater, and has appeared on PBS for the first ever televised TED Talk with John Legend & Bill Gates & has shared stages with actor Matt Damon & rapper Lupe Fiasco as a part of the The People Speak, Live! cast. He also appears on Season 2 of TVOne’s Verses & Flow.

Poet/Activist Malcolm London with supporters. 

In 2011, Malcolm London won the Louder Than A Bomb youth poetry slam in his native Chicago, scooping the top award as both individual performer & with a team. The poet, performer & activist recently wrote & directed a spoken word infused play responding to the Zimmerman verdict called Two Years Later at the Goodman Theatre with an ensemble of five youth poets. Malcolm’s work has been featured on national outlets including CBS, NPR, Huffington Post, The Root, and the CHICAGO TRIBUNE.

And the list goes on.

Justice Delayed... While it took 13 months to for the administration to release the video and charge killer-cop Van Dyke with McDonald's murder, they had poet/activist Malcolm London yanked off the street, in jail and booked on trumped-up felony charges in the blink of an eye. But within 24 hours, States Atty. Anita Alvarez ordered all charges dropped, in the "best interests" of the city. And by "best-interests", she meant her own and those of the mayor and Supt. Garry McCarthy's. Her problem -- tons of community support for Malcolm; plus there was reportedly video of his arrest with cops using illegal "escort holds" and "emergency handcuffing" (Sun-Times).

Judge Peggy Chiampas who told Malcolm, he was "free to go", wasted no time in busting "Chicago Tonight" producer Chloe Riley and chastising her for "creating a media circus." By circus, she meant -- Riley took a few pictures of Malcolm walking down the courthouse hall with supporters, following his release from jail (THE HORROR!). Chiampas, apparently bitter of being forced to cut Malcolm loose, then threatened Riley with jail time unless she destroyed her pics. She complied.

The wheels of justice spin fast when necessary.