Mark Wahlberg
The “The Gambler” Interview
with Kam Williams

Two-Time Oscar-Nominee Talks about His Latest Film

Mark Wahlberg earned Academy Award nominations for his standout work in both the The Fighter and The Departed. Mark’s breakout role in Boogie Nights established him as one of Hollywood’s most sought-after talents, and he has since played diverse characters for such visionary filmmakers as David O. Russell, Tim Burton and Paul Thomas Anderson.

His remarkable acting career began with Renaissance Man, directed by Penny Marshall, and The Basketball Diaries, with Leonardo DiCaprio, followed by a star turn opposite Reese Witherspoon in the thriller Fear. He later headlined Three Kings and The Perfect Storm, with George Clooney, and The Italian Job, with Charlize Theron.

Mark then starred in the football biopic Invincible, with Greg Kinnear, and Shooter, based on the best-selling novel, “Point of Impact.” He reunited with The Yards director James Gray and co-star Joaquin Phoenix for We Own the Night, which he also produced. Most recently, he collaborated with Pain & Gain director Michael Bay for Transformers: Age Of Extinction. His additional credits include 2 Guns, with Denzel Washington, Peter Berg’s Lone Survivor, The Lovely Bones, The Other Guys, Contraband and Ted.

An accomplished film and television producer, Mark produced The Gambler, Lone Survivor, Broken City, Contraband, The Fighter (for which he was nominated for an Oscar for Best Picture) and We Own the Night. For television, he executive produced HBO’s “Entourage” through its impressive eight-season run. In addition, he executive produced HBO’s “Boardwalk Empire,” “How to Make It in America” and “In Treatment,” as well as A&E’s “Wahlburgers.”

A committed philanthropist, he founded The Mark Wahlberg Youth Foundation in 2001 to benefit inner-city children and teens. Here, he talks about his latest film, The Gambler, a remake of the 1974 classic starring James Caan.

Kam Williams: Hi Mark, thanks for the interview. I’m honored to have this opportunity.

Mark Wahlberg: Oh, my pleasure, Kam. Thank you.

KW: I told my readers I’d be interviewing you, so I’ll be mixing my questions in with theirs. “Realtor to the Stars” Jimmy Bayan says: He asks: Was there something about this script which appealed to your East Coast sensibilities that drew you to this project?

MW: Well, when you think about the person responsible for creating the character and the dialogue, Bill Monahan, who’s a Boston guy, obviously, his words roll off my tongue quite nicely. Previously, I’ve worked with him on The Departed, he recently wrote American Desperado for us, and I just acted in a movie he directed called Mojave. So, yes, Jimmy, that goes without saying.  

KW: James Cryan was wondering whether your Boston background was of help in making The Departed?

MW: Absolutely! Absolutely! That thing was so in my wheelhouse. I told Marty [director Martin Scorcese] “Watch out, because I’m going after everybody in this one.” Although that’s who the character was. It allowed me to have a real “take no prisoners” attitude.

KW: Documentary filmmaker Kevin Williams says: Thank you for being such a good example of how to build a career on your own terms and for making such inspirational films like Invincible and Lone Survivor. Now that you are moving towards producing bigger projects for yourself and other filmmakers, how do you define success and how do you decide what to produce?

MW: You’d be surprised. My taste continues to grow and expand. I define success as being in a position where I can do a picture like The Gambler after making Transformers and other movies that have enjoyed tremendous commercial success. That allowed me to go to a studio and say, “Wow, now take a chance on me with this smaller movie that is not the typical type of film that studios want to greenlight.” It’s a small character piece about a man who’s not the most likable guy in the world that I find fascinating. And hopefully, people will find it interesting enough that the movie will be a success and allow me to keep making more films like it. So, success for me is just having a job and having the studio feel confident that I can go out there and make a movie that people will enjoy.

KW: Andrew DeAngelo, who was born and raised in Dorchester, asks: How similar is the show Entourage to your actual rise as a movie star? Were any of your real-life experiences incorporated into the show?

MW: Some of the experiences, definitely, Andrew. The only problem was we couldn’t find four guys from Boston. We originally wanted the characters to all be from Boston, which would have given them a more urban and gritty feel. But the hardest part of the casting was finding a guy who was believable as a movie star who wasn’t already a movie star. So, we then made the compromise of having these guys come from New York. 

KW: When’s the screen version coming out?

MW:  June. I’m very excited about it. The movie’s done. And it’s off the charts!

KW: Kate Newell asks: When are you finally going to hosting Saturday Night Live?

MW: I’ve been asked to host a few times, but I’ve never done it.

KW: Kate also asks: Who do you think does the best impression of you?

MW: Andy Samberg is the only person I’ve ever seen do an impression of me, and I didn’t think it was that accurate. I’d like to see somebody else impersonate me, especially if they can do a good job.

KW: David Roth asks: Who would win in a fight between Jim Bennett and Axel Freed, the gambler played by James Caan in 1974?

MW: [Chuckles] Axel Freed, because Jim Bennett does not fight. He will push every button, and infuriate people to the point where they want to beat the crap out of him, but he won’t be bothered by that. He will not fight. 

KW: I really enjoyed the film. I loved the gritty dialogue-driven script, the earthy soundtrack, and what a supporting cast! You got great performances from Brie Larson, Jessica Lange, John Goodman, and Michael Kenneth Williams.

MW:  Again, I have to credit Bill Monahan for creating these characters and writing the dialogue that attracted that level of talent. Don’t forget the great George Kennedy who had another scene in the movie that, unfortunately, didn’t make the final cut. We found ourselves in that difficult situation where the movie we wanted to make was three hours, but we had to hand in a film that was about two hours-long. Where do you compromise? How do you make a movie that is going to both best service the story and the main character? It was just one of those things.

KW: I thought it was a very powerful way to start the film with that deathbed scene where your character’s grandfather [played by George Kennedy] asks you, “What are you going to do when I leave you with nothing?”  

MW:  It’s funny, because that scene was originally supposed to take place in the middle of the movie. But then, we thought that maybe it would be good to open the movie with that scene, because Jim’s dad wasn’t a part of his life, and his granddad was the only person that he was connected to.  

KW: Yeah, I think it worked really well. Sangeetha Subramanian asks: What's your favorite food to eat on set?

MW: If I’m not training then, gosh, anything: donuts… Kentucky Fried Chicken 20-piece hot wings… corned beef hash and eggs… But because I’m training right now, I’m eating very healthily: almond milk… Ezekiel bread… chicken… fish… I’m on a strict diet right now, so I’m not having any fun eating. Normally, our caterer makes these wonderful chocolate chip cookies for lunch. It was my one treat of the day, after getting beat up on the mountain while shooting Lone Survivor. I’d eat a couple cookies and then take a 15-minute nap on the top of the mountain.

KW: What movie are you in training for?

MW: Will Ferrell and I are teaming up again on a film called Daddy’s Home. In the movie I play a Special-Ops soldier who has just discovered that Will Ferrell’s character is married to my ex-wife and is my children’s stepfather. So, I have to come home and try to win them back and take him out.

KW: I thought you guys were great together in The Other Guys. Wasn’t that film where The Rock and somebody else died in the opening scene?

MW: Samuel L. Jackson.

KW: Yeah, that film was hilarious. Harriet Pakula-Teweles says: If—because for over two decades you have been trying to right the wrongs while being a model for youth—you are able to obtain a pardon from the Massachusetts Parole Board, how might your potential pardon be a possible inspiration to others who have committed wrongs in their youth?

MW: Hopefully, it will show them that it isn’t too late to turn their lives around. People are always speculating about what the reason was for my requesting a pardon. The important thing is that ever since I realized all the wrongs that I had done, I have been trying to correct them for the past 27 years. I just focus on my work with inner-city kids, and in my community, and on my philanthropic work. If I am awarded a pardon for my philanthropic work, great; if not, I will continue to be involved in the community and to work just as hard, if not harder, to prevent kids from going down the same road and making the same mistakes. But hopefully, we’re still living in the land of second chances. Even my going back to school was to inspire young people that it’s never too late to get your education. That’s all I can do, and try to be the best father and husband that I can be.

KW: I’m sure you’ll get the pardon. You’ve earned it. Good luck! The Ling-Ju Yen question: What is your earliest childhood memory?

MW: Gosh! It’s of being alone with my dad. He drove a truck for a living. But he had a few free hours in the middle of the day, between the morning shift and the late afternoon shift. Because I was the youngest of nine, I could have him all to myself when they were at school. We’d watch movies at home, or go to the movies, and he introduced me to the guys who still inspire me today. The first movie I can remember ever seeing was Hard Times with Charles Bronson and James Coburn. My dad also introduced me to the likes of Jimmy Cagney… John Garfield… Robert Ryan… Steve McQueen… James Caan… Those are my fondest memories.

KW: When you look in the mirror, what do you see?

MW: I see a guy getting old. I try to not look in the mirror too much.

KW: If you could have one wish instantly granted, what would that be for?

MW: Peace and harmony in the world.

KW: The Sanaa Lathan question: What excites you?

MW: Working with talented people and challenging myself as an actor.

KW: The Viola Davis question: What’s the biggest difference between who you are at home as opposed to the person we see on the red carpet?

MW: Not much. Dad’s just gotta put on a suit and go out there and take some pictures. I do understand that going out and promoting the movie is a big responsibility, and part of the reason they give me the job in the first place. I also like to get out there to promote a positive message about the importance of family and faith and of doing the right thing.

KW: The Judyth Piazza question: What key quality do you believe all successful people share? 

MW: That “never give up” attitude, not taking “no” for an answer, and working twice as hard as the next guy. Doing it the good, old-fashioned way. Real hard work pays off.

KW: What exercise regimen do you follow to stay in such great shape?

MW: It changes. I’m only doing whatever the next role calls for. To give you an idea, I’m at the halfway point of shooting this movie. I woke up at 3 AM today, and had egg whites and Ezekiel bread with almond butter 5 minutes later. At 3:15, I was reading my prayer book and saying my prayers. At 3:30, I was in the gym for an hour, doing jump rope, and all types of high-impact functional movement exercises: kettle bells, dumbbells, step up planks, battle rope, rip cord trainer, etcetera. I came back up here and had a shake. Then I went to the basketball court and played 2-on-2 for an hour. Came back here and had a roasted chicken, tuna salad and a big sweet potato. That was all before 6 AM. Then, I went to do the Today Show and Michael & Kelly. Then I came back here, had two turkey burgers and an avocado. Then I did 90 minutes of phone interviews before having a filet mignon with sautéed spinach. Then I went to a meeting at 1:30, came back here and had another roasted chicken with steamed carrots. And when we finish, I’m going to read my script and start learning my lines for the scenes we’ll be shooting tomorrow. At 6 PM, I’ll take a shower, and wait to get a call from my wife letting me know that she and the kids landed safely. At 7:15, I’ll go to sleep, and wake up at 3 AM again tomorrow.

KW: That’s amazing! I remember speaking with Anthony Mackie, for Pain & Gain, and he credited you with helping him sculpt his physique for that film.

MW: There’s nothing better than meeting somebody with a great soul, and a great spirit and a good heart. I took him to the gym the first day we met in Miami. Then we had a nice meal and a big shake. And he and I have remained close. He just called me the other day to ask me how I was doing, since we’re shooting in his hometown, New Orleans. So, I hope to see him and get together with him. He’s a good guy who’s going to have a great career. I told him that he’ll be able to do whatever he wants for as long as he wants, as long as he’s patient. And you have to always be ready. It’s a marathon, not a sprint.

KW: The Tavis Smiley question: How do you want to be remembered?

MW: As a great servant of God who tried to give back as much as possible, and as a great father and husband.

KW: Lastly, what’s in your wallet?

MW: Picture books of all my kids when they were young, a lucky pendant, a few receipts, a couple of credit cards, a spiritual relic and a couple other mementos, and a two-dollar bill I got from a dear friend.  

KW: Thanks again for the time, Mark, and best of luck with The Gambler.

MW: Thank you, Kam. Bye.

To see a trailer for The Gambler, visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NiiaoUnkMvQ

The Gambler
Film Review by Kam Williams

By day, Jim Bennett (Mark Wahlberg) is an English Literature professor whose questionable teaching method involves berating his blasé students by suggesting that none of them will ever amount to anything. He reserves all his praise for the only person in the class exhibiting any promise as a writer, the brilliant and beautiful, but modest, Amy Phillips (Brie Larson).

Amy also works part-time at a gambling casino that her teacher just happens to frequent, since Jim is a high-roller sorely in need of Gambler’s Anonymous. After all, the odds are stacked way in favor of the house where, the longer you play, the more you lose.

But Professor Bennett must have flunked statistics, since he foolishly pushes his luck at Black Jack and Roulette and proceeds to fritter away more than he could ever afford. Consequently, he eventually finds himself in hock to the tune of a quarter-million dollars to Mr. Lee (Alvin Ing), the exploitative casino owner who’d gladly extended a long line of credit to the hopelessly compulsive gambler.

Given seven days to pay off the I.O.U. before having his proverbial kneecaps broken by Lee’s goons, the desperate debtor approaches everyone from his mom (Jessica Lange) to a ghetto loan shark (Michael Kenneth Williams) to a well-heeled mobster (John Goodman) for an emergency loan. Trouble is, rather than clearing his tab with the cash he collects, Jim’s so controlled by his habit that he heads right back to the casino tables.

Thus unfolds The Gambler, a riveting remake loosely based on the 1974 classic starring James Caan. Trim and impassioned, Mark Wahlberg handles the title role in this witty, gritty overhaul of the original relying upon a well-crafted screenplay by Oscar-winner William Monahan (for The Departed).

The cautionary tale basically chronicles the gradual glide into depravity of an unrepentant loser in denial. During that frightening tailspin, Jim is enabled by several of his students, including flattered love interest Amy, basketball All-American Lamar (Anthony Kelley) and promising tennis prodigy Dexter (Emory Cohen). The only question is whether the pathetic prof will be able to pull out of the spiral before crashing and burning.

This searing character study unfolds against a variety of visually-captivating L.A. locales ranging from the seamy to the posh, and is underscored by an appropriately-gritty soundtrack. Director Rupert Wyatt’s (Rise of the Planet of the Apes) job was ostensibly made that much easier by the A-list supporting cast featuring Oscar-winners George Kennedy (for Cool Hand Luke) and Jessica Lange (for Tootsie and Blue Sky), as well as veteran thespians John Goodman, Leland Orser and Michael Kenneth Williams.

If only the self-destructive protagonist were a sympathetic soul instead of a real lout you’d rather root against than for.

Very Good (3 stars)

Rated R for sexuality, nudity, and pervasive profanity    

Running time: 101 minutes

Distributor: Paramount Pictures

To see a trailer for The Gambler, visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NiiaoUnkMvQ

The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies

Film Review by Kam Williams

Tolkien Franchise Finale Features Bilbo and Pals in Epic Showdown

The Battle of the Five Armies is the third and closing chapter in The Hobbit series based on the classic fantasy novel of the same name by J.R.R. Tolkien. The film also represents the finale in the sextet of Tolkien adaptations directed by Peter Jackson also including The Lord of the Rings trilogy. 

Picking up from where the cliffhanger of the last episode left off, this action-oriented installment opens with protagonist Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman) and his dwarf pals fretting over having unwittingly awakened Smaug (Benedict Cumberbatch). For, the ferocious, fire-breathing dragon has left his mountain lair and begun venting his wrath upon the helpless citizens of Lake-town.          

Fortunately, a savior eventually arrives in the person of Bard the Bowman (Luke Evans) an intrepid archer who takes aim at the seemingly-invincible Smaug’s Achilles’ heel. However, piercing the tiny bare patch of skin on the dragon’s vulnerable belly doesn’t settle the question of who gets the gold and priceless baubles still sitting inside the now unprotected Lonely Mountain.

As word spreads of the demon’s demise, greed gets the better of assorted individuals who proceed to descend upon the area to stake a claim on the vast treasure. Only the arrival of a horde of evil orcs doing the bidding of the avaricious Dark Lord, Sauron the Necromancer (also Benedict Cumberbatch), inspires the contentious masses to end their hostilities and join forces against a common enemy.

Clocking in at a mercilessly-brief 144 minutes, The Battle of the Five Armies is not only the shortest, but the most entertaining of Jackson’s Tolkien screen adaptations. Between an engrossing plotline and virtual non-stop combat, the picture proves to be just the perfect way to bring down the curtain on a storied fantasy franchise.

Excellent (4 stars)

Rated PG-13 for intense violence and frightening images

Running time: 144 minutes

Distributor: Warner Brothers Pictures

To see a trailer for The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies, visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iVAgTiBrrDA  

Ben Crump
The “Black Lives Matter” Interview
with Kam Williams

Through his legal prowess and advocacy in the Trayvon Martin case, the Martin Lee Anderson Boot Camp case, and the Robbie Tolan Supreme Court Case, attorney Benjamin Crump has already secured a significant legacy founded in Constitutional law. His considerable acumen as both a litigator and an advocate has ensured that those most frequently marginalized are protected by the nation’s contract with its constituency. His landmark civil rights legal battles will be taught in textbooks and referenced by both this and future generations interested in understanding the scope of our fundamental Constitutional protections.

Attorney Crump has been recognized as one of the National Trial Lawyers’ Top 100 Lawyers, Ebony Magazine’s Power 100 Most Influential African Americans, and bestowed the NAACP Thurgood Marshall Award and the SCLC Martin Luther King Servant Leader Award. In spite of his immense professional responsibilities, he still finds time to serve his local community.

Ben readily shares his professional and personal talents with local, statewide and national causes and charities. He was appointed the inaugural Board Chairman of Florida’s Big Bend Fair Housing Center, Inc., a Federal Grant organization dedicated to the eradication of housing discrimination. He also served as Chairman of the Legal Services of North Florida, and donated $1,000,000 to the organization’s Capital Campaign to ensure that poor people would continue to have quality legal representation as well as access to the courts.

Attorney Crump believes in fighting to preserve the advances in justice and equality that minorities achieved during the Civil Rights era. To that end, he has served as Vice President of the National Bar Association and General Counsel to the Tallahassee Chapter of the NAACP.

In addition, he’s been elected as the Chairman of the Tallahassee Boys Choir, and he is a past President of the National Florida State University Black Alumni Association. And he’s a Life Member of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc., the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, and the NAACP.

Ben and his law partner Daryl Parks share their firm’s largesse with the community that has embraced them--most notably--they have endowed scholarships at Florida A&M University, Livingston College, Florida State University, and Bethune Cookman University for minority law students.

Here, he reacts to the “Black Lives Matter!” movement sweeping the nation in the wake of the failure of grand juries to indict police officers in the deaths of Michael Brown and Eric Garner.

Kam Williams: Hi Ben, thanks for the interview. I’m honored to have this opportunity, brother.

Ben Crump: Thank you, Kam. I’m glad we’ve finally connected.

KW: I have a million questions for you from readers. Children’s book author Irene Smalls says: You have agreed to represent the family of Tamir Rice, the 12 year-old shot by a cop in Cleveland, despite the failure of the grand juries even to indict in the Michael Brown and Eric Garner cases. What fuels your continuing passion and search for justice, in the face of a criminal justice system that seems broken to many of us?

BC: I was just talking to some folks who said, “Ben, you take these cases, and you make a big issue of holding police officers and the killers of our children accountable in the criminal courts, and of making them to go to jail, when you know the history is that police offers don’t get put in jail when they kill little black and brown boys. You win these multimillion dollar victories in the civil courts, but because the officers don’t go to jail, people think you lost the case. Why do you keep insisting on trying to have the police officers put behind bars?” The way I answered them was, “I just can’t bring myself to sell out as if it’s just about money. I know we’re going to win the civil suit in all these cases. But that’s not full justice. Why is everybody else entitled to full justice except our people and our children? Full justice means you discourage the police from ever doing this again because people will know that if you kill our children, you’ll have to do the perp walk and go to jail. It shouldn’t be that if you kill a black person, there’s a good chance you won’t, but if you kill a white person, everybody knows you’re going to prison. We say: our lives are just as valuable. So, the one thing I always know, Kam, is we can’t sell our community out. I don’t worry about whether everybody understands that. Sure, it would be easier to do like most lawyers and only talk about how much money I got for my clients in the civil courts, but to me, that’s not victory.

KW: Irene also asks: Do we need to increase the activism in the black community around voting, literacy, etcetera?

BC: Yes.

KW: Editor Lisa Loving says: Many people in black communities across this country feel that the legal system simply doesn’t work for them. In fact, we see that racial profiling takes place at every point—on the streets where officers patrol, in the jailhouse, in the courtroom, even in the parole system. On top of that, many people with an arrest record are legally barred from voting. Mr. Crump, what do you tell people when they say they feel like the system is weighted against them?

BC: What I tell them is that it’s still the best system in the world, and that we have to fight to make America be America for all of us. We have to fight to make the words in the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence mean something. If they just apply the Constitution, that means we are getting due process under the law and in legal proceedings. It’s not right that we have to fight to make it fair, but we the people have the power to do so. That’s what I love about what’s going on in Ferguson and after the Eric Garner case, and about what I’m sure will now happen with the Tamir Rice case.

KW: Editor/Legist Patricia Turnier asks: Why isn’t the 14th Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause applied uniformly? Is there a systemic flaw?
BC: I think there is a flaw in the system. The flaw in the system is that we continue to exonerate the police for killing little black and brown people while holding them accountable in other communities. I once wrote a paper titled, “Police Don’t Shoot White Men in the Back.” You just never heard about police accidentally shooting a white man who’s retreating. What that says is that a flaw in the system allows police officers to be immune for killing colored people. If you think about the grand jury system, that’s exactly what happens. You have local prosecutors who have a symbiotic relationship with the local police officers, and they have no relationship with and many times no regard for the black person dead on the ground. If we keep doing things the same way and expect a different result, that’s the definition of insanity. So, we need special prosecutors with no relationship to the police departments, if we really want to have independent investigations and trials.   

KW: David Roth asks: Do you think the race of the police officer is relevant in these types of cases?

BC: Yes. You do see instances where black officers kill Caucasians. They go to jail. And where Caucasian officers kill Caucasians and go to jail. Race matters and the statistics bear that out.

KW: Attorney Bernadette Beekman asks: What do you think can bring peace to the nation in the wake of the failure of the Michael Brown and Eric Garner grand juries to indict?

BC: Swift action by the Federal Department of Justice. Other than that, the people are really feeling that the system isn’t fair and that folks in their community can’t get equal justice.

KW: Do you think the Department of Justice is really interested in pursuing civil rights cases in the Michael Brown and Eric Garner cases? Or do they just say that each time a cop gets off in order to calm people down and to give them a false sense of hope that justice will eventually be served? 

BC: I want to believe that Attorney General Holder and the Justice Department are going to do everything in their power to follow through on their words and give some sense of justice to these families.

KW: Will the Department of Justice bring a civil rights case against George Zimmerman?

BC: I honestly don’t know.

KW: Patricia asks: What advice do you have for young African-American attorneys fresh out of law school?

BC: To be true to thyself, and to remember what Charles Hamilton Houston said: “Strive to be an engineer for social change and justice.” Otherwise, you’re just a parasite on society. Fame, notoriety and material things will come, but first, make it your job to represent your client in a zealous manner and to do good in the world.

KW: How would you assess the state of race relations in America? Are things getting better or worse?

BC: Well, with Ferguson decision and then the Eric Garner decision within seven days after that, I think things are tenuous, at best. This could be a defining point for the entire United States of America, because we all need to be better than we’ve been previously.

KW: John Hartmann asks: Have you been surprised by the die-ins and other mass demonstrations we’ve seen lately in cities all over the country?

BC: I think we have tough times because some of the frustration from Trayvon flowed over to Michael Brown. Now the Michael Brown frustration is flowing over to Eric Garner, and I think the Eric Garner frustration is going to flow over to Tamir Rice. People are still trying to come to grips with these decisions that don’t seem rational and are certainly not reflective of equal justice.

KW: Lisa also asks: What happened to the old legal maxim that a prosecutor could indict a ham sandwich? Do you think people are outraged because the grand jury is shrouded in secrecy?

BC: Ferguson was all about transparency, because there was such a sense of community mistrust of the court and the government leaders. The worst thing you could do there was have a grand jury proceeding that was going to be secret. And cut off from the rest of the world. It just made no sense. But that’s what they did, and the result is that you come out not knowing what really happened in that room. Words on paper can’t convey the tone and whether a persuasive case was presented to get an indictment. Consequently, when people saw the result, they believed what we were saying from the very beginning, namely, that the system isn’t fair when you use a local prosecutor.

KW: I admire that your spirit hasn’t been broken by the legal system’s color coded dispensation of criminal justice.

BC: It is heartbreaking, but you just have to keep fighting the fight, and remember that the moral arc of the universe bends towards justice. Part of what keeps me going is when I see the enthusiasm of the young people. I was recently in Chicago working on the matter of Howard Morgan who was shot 28 times by four white police officers on his way home in one of the worst injustices I ever heard of. These students I met with at the University of Chicago Law School had so much passion, saying, “We’re going to make this world better than what it is today.” And they had so much faith that I could deliver, that it inspired me to go fight harder to reverse this miscarriage of justice that had occurred right before their eyes. After witnessing me making my argument in the courtroom, they said, “We want to do that one day. We want to get the law degree so that we have the power and authority to argue on behalf of the least of ye, and to make them see our humanity, and make them see us not as 3/5ths of a man, but as men with all the inalienable rights of any other American.”

KW: Alan Dershowitz in his book, “The Best Defense,” said that one of the things they never teach you in law school is that a policeman’s word is gospel in the courtroom. How do we fight that unwritten law?

BC: With the proposed Mike Brown legislation for video body cameras, because our lies aren’t lying to us.

KW: Do you think all the attacks on people of color by police are symptomatic of a racist society or of a class society where people of color have no value or voice?

BC: I think it’s a little of both. I think they devalue our lives. We have to turn the slogan “Black lives matter!” into a reality because our lives do matter.

KW: Film director Rel Dowdell asks: How are you holding up? It must be hard flying from city to city to city. We need you, brother.

BC: Thanks for asking that, Rel. This is my first time home in nine days. I’m so happy to be home, I don’t know what to do.

KW: How can I, as a lawyer/journalist, help the cause?

BC: First of all, I’m glad you’re a member of the bar, because we need our best and our brightest to be on the front lines fighting for us. You can help by staging clinics where you just teach people what the law is. Most of our people want to fight, but they don’t know how to fight. We need to teach them how to fight constructively.

KW: Well, thanks again for the time, Ben, I really appreciate it. Now go gets some rest. Like Rel says, we need you.

BC: Will do, brother, and I look forward to meeting you in person at the march in D.C. on Saturday. God bless.

Ben Crump

The “Black Lives Matter” Interview

with Kam Williams

From Trayvon Martin to Michael Brown to Tamir Rice

Through his legal prowess and advocacy in the Trayvon Martin case, the Martin Lee Anderson Boot Camp case, and the Robbie Tolan Supreme Court Case, attorney Benjamin Crump has already secured a significant legacy founded in Constitutional law. His considerable acumen as both a litigator and an advocate has ensured that those most frequently marginalized are protected by the nation’s contract with its constituency. His landmark civil rights legal battles will be taught in textbooks and referenced by both this and future generations interested in understanding the scope of our fundamental Constitutional protections.

Attorney Crump has been recognized as one of the National Trial Lawyers’ Top 100 Lawyers, Ebony Magazine’s Power 100 Most Influential African Americans, and bestowed the NAACP Thurgood Marshall Award and the SCLC Martin Luther King Servant Leader Award. In spite of his immense professional responsibilities, he still finds time to serve his local community.

Ben readily shares his professional and personal talents with local, statewide and national causes and charities. He was appointed the inaugural Board Chairman of Florida’s Big Bend Fair Housing Center, Inc., a Federal Grant organization dedicated to the eradication of housing discrimination. He also served as Chairman of the Legal Services of North Florida, and donated $1,000,000 to the organization’s Capital Campaign to ensure that poor people would continue to have quality legal representation as well as access to the courts.

Attorney Crump believes in fighting to preserve the advances in justice and equality that minorities achieved during the Civil Rights era. To that end, he has served as Vice President of the National Bar Association and General Counsel to the Tallahassee Chapter of the NAACP.

In addition, he’s been elected as the Chairman of the Tallahassee Boys Choir, and he is a past President of the National Florida State University Black Alumni Association. And he’s a Life Member of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc., the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, and the NAACP.

Ben and his law partner Daryl Parks share their firm’s largesse with the community that has embraced them--most notably--they have endowed scholarships at Florida A&M University, Livingston College, Florida State University, and Bethune Cookman University for minority law students.

            Here, he reacts to the “Black Lives Matter!” movement sweeping the nation in the wake of the failure of grand juries to indict police officers in the deaths of Michael Brown and Eric Garner.

Kam Williams: Hi Ben, thanks for the interview. I’m honored to have this opportunity, brother.

Ben Crump: Thank you, Kam. I’m glad we’ve finally connected.

KW: I have a million questions for you from readers. Children’s book author Irene Smalls says: You have agreed to represent the family of Tamir Rice, the 12 year-old shot by a cop in Cleveland, despite the failure of the grand juries even to indict in the Michael Brown and Eric Garner cases. What fuels your continuing passion and search for justice, in the face of a criminal justice system that seems broken to many of us?

BC: I was just talking to some folks who said, “Ben, you take these cases, and you make a big issue of holding police officers and the killers of our children accountable in the criminal courts, and of making them to go to jail, when you know the history is that police offers don’t get put in jail when they kill little black and brown boys. You win these multimillion dollar victories in the civil courts, but because the officers don’t go to jail, people think you lost the case. Why do you keep insisting on trying to have the police officers put behind bars?” The way I answered them was, “I just can’t bring myself to sell out as if it’s just about money. I know we’re going to win the civil suit in all these cases. But that’s not full justice. Why is everybody else entitled to full justice except our people and our children? Full justice means you discourage the police from ever doing this again because people will know that if you kill our children, you’ll have to do the perp walk and go to jail. It shouldn’t be that if you kill a black person, there’s a good chance you won’t, but if you kill a white person, everybody knows you’re going to prison. We say: our lives are just as valuable. So, the one thing I always know, Kam, is we can’t sell our community out. I don’t worry about whether everybody understands that. Sure, it would be easier to do like most lawyers and only talk about how much money I got for my clients in the civil courts, but to me, that’s not victory.

KW: Irene also asks: Do we need to increase the activism in the black community around voting, literacy, etcetera?

BC: Yes.

KW: Editor Lisa Loving says: Many people in black communities across this country feel that the legal system simply doesn’t work for them. In fact, we see that racial profiling takes place at every point—on the streets where officers patrol, in the jailhouse, in the courtroom, even in the parole system. On top of that, many people with an arrest record are legally barred from voting. Mr. Crump, what do you tell people when they say they feel like the system is weighted against them?

BC: What I tell them is that it’s still the best system in the world, and that we have to fight to make America be America for all of us. We have to fight to make the words in the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence mean something. If they just apply the Constitution, that means we are getting due process under the law and in legal proceedings. It’s not right that we have to fight to make it fair, but we the people have the power to do so. That’s what I love about what’s going on in Ferguson and after the Eric Garner case, and about what I’m sure will now happen with the Tamir Rice case.

KW: Editor/Legist Patricia Turnier asks: Why isn’t the 14th Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause applied uniformly? Is there a systemic flaw?
BC: I think there is a flaw in the system. The flaw in the system is that we continue to exonerate the police for killing little black and brown people while holding them accountable in other communities. I once wrote a paper titled, “Police Don’t Shoot White Men in the Back.” You just never heard about police accidentally shooting a white man who’s retreating. What that says is that a flaw in the system allows police officers to be immune for killing colored people. If you think about the grand jury system, that’s exactly what happens. You have local prosecutors who have a symbiotic relationship with the local police officers, and they have no relationship with and many times no regard for the black person dead on the ground. If we keep doing things the same way and expect a different result, that’s the definition of insanity. So, we need special prosecutors with no relationship to the police departments, if we really want to have independent investigations and trials.   

KW: David Roth asks: Do you think the race of the police officer is relevant in these types of cases?

BC: Yes. You do see instances where black officers kill Caucasians. They go to jail. And where Caucasian officers kill Caucasians and go to jail. Race matters and the statistics bear that out.

KW: Attorney Bernadette Beekman asks: What do you think can bring peace to the nation in the wake of the failure of the Michael Brown and Eric Garner grand juries to indict?

BC: Swift action by the Federal Department of Justice. Other than that, the people are really feeling that the system isn’t fair and that folks in their community can’t get equal justice.

KW: Do you think the Department of Justice is really interested in pursuing civil rights cases in the Michael Brown and Eric Garner cases? Or do they just say that each time a cop gets off in order to calm people down and to give them a false sense of hope that justice will eventually be served? 

BC: I want to believe that Attorney General Holder and the Justice Department are going to do everything in their power to follow through on their words and give some sense of justice to these families.

KW: Will the Department of Justice bring a civil rights case against George Zimmerman?

BC: I honestly don’t know.

KW: Patricia asks: What advice do you have for young African-American attorneys fresh out of law school?

BC: To be true to thyself, and to remember what Charles Hamilton Houston said: “Strive to be an engineer for social change and justice.” Otherwise, you’re just a parasite on society. Fame, notoriety and material things will come, but first, make it your job to represent your client in a zealous manner and to do good in the world.

KW: How would you assess the state of race relations in America? Are things getting better or worse?

BC: Well, with Ferguson decision and then the Eric Garner decision within seven days after that, I think things are tenuous, at best. This could be a defining point for the entire United States of America, because we all need to be better than we’ve been previously.

KW: John Hartmann asks: Have you been surprised by the die-ins and other mass demonstrations we’ve seen lately in cities all over the country?

BC: I think we have tough times because some of the frustration from Trayvon flowed over to Michael Brown. Now the Michael Brown frustration is flowing over to Eric Garner, and I think the Eric Garner frustration is going to flow over to Tamir Rice. People are still trying to come to grips with these decisions that don’t seem rational and are certainly not reflective of equal justice.

KW: Lisa also asks: What happened to the old legal maxim that a prosecutor could indict a ham sandwich? Do you think people are outraged because the grand jury is shrouded in secrecy?

BC: Ferguson was all about transparency, because there was such a sense of community mistrust of the court and the government leaders. The worst thing you could do there was have a grand jury proceeding that was going to be secret. And cut off from the rest of the world. It just made no sense. But that’s what they did, and the result is that you come out not knowing what really happened in that room. Words on paper can’t convey the tone and whether a persuasive case was presented to get an indictment. Consequently, when people saw the result, they believed what we were saying from the very beginning, namely, that the system isn’t fair when you use a local prosecutor.

KW: I admire that your spirit hasn’t been broken by the legal system’s color coded dispensation of criminal justice.

BC: It is heartbreaking, but you just have to keep fighting the fight, and remember that the moral arc of the universe bends towards justice. Part of what keeps me going is when I see the enthusiasm of the young people. I was recently in Chicago working on the matter of Howard Morgan who was shot 28 times by four white police officers on his way home in one of the worst injustices I ever heard of. These students I met with at the University of Chicago Law School had so much passion, saying, “We’re going to make this world better than what it is today.” And they had so much faith that I could deliver, that it inspired me to go fight harder to reverse this miscarriage of justice that had occurred right before their eyes. After witnessing me making my argument in the courtroom, they said, “We want to do that one day. We want to get the law degree so that we have the power and authority to argue on behalf of the least of ye, and to make them see our humanity, and make them see us not as 3/5ths of a man, but as men with all the inalienable rights of any other American.”

KW: Alan Dershowitz in his book, “The Best Defense,” said that one of the things they never teach you in law school is that a policeman’s word is gospel in the courtroom. How do we fight that unwritten law?

BC: With the proposed Mike Brown legislation for video body cameras, because our lies aren’t lying to us.

KW: Do you think all the attacks on people of color by police are symptomatic of a racist society or of a class society where people of color have no value or voice?

BC: I think it’s a little of both. I think they devalue our lives. We have to turn the slogan “Black lives matter!” into a reality because our lives do matter.

KW: Film director Rel Dowdell asks: How are you holding up? It must be hard flying from city to city to city. We need you, brother.

BC: Thanks for asking that, Rel. This is my first time home in nine days. I’m so happy to be home, I don’t know what to do.

KW: How can I, as a lawyer/journalist, help the cause?

BC: First of all, I’m glad you’re a member of the bar, because we need our best and our brightest to be on the front lines fighting for us. You can help by staging clinics where you just teach people what the law is. Most of our people want to fight, but they don’t know how to fight. We need to teach them how to fight constructively.

KW: Well, thanks again for the time, Ben, I really appreciate it. Now go gets some rest. Like Rel says, we need you.

BC: Will do, brother, and I look forward to meeting you in person at the march in D.C. on Saturday. God bless.