By Elina Lingappaa
SAN FRANCISCO, CA – The actor in “The Last Black Man in San Francisco,” Jamal Trulove, spoke out in support of District Attorney Chesa Boudin as he faces a conservative-organized recall effort.
Trulove, who gained recent recognition in 2019 for his major role as Kofi in The Last Black Man in San Francisco, published his support of Boudin as a letter in the San Francisco Bay View National Black Newspaper.
“San Franciscans are at a crossroads, where we must decide whether criminal justice and police reform moves forward or rolls back,” he wrote.
Boudin’s accomplishments are extensive and underappreciated, Trulove claims, especially given the circumstances during the pandemic.
Trulove explicitly points out the DA’s achievements around victims’ rights, decreasing youth in the carceral system, advocacy for wage workers and restitution funds, and the elimination of cash bail.
All of these advances symbolize enormous progress in Trulove’s eyes, and he insists it is time for San Francisco to embrace criminal justice reform and progressive prosecution.
Boudin’s platform also holds personal significance to Trulove, who has experienced the shortcomings of the justice system first hand.
Trulove spent over six years in prison after being falsely accused of a murder in 2007. Although he was acquitted in 2015 and received a settlement in 2019, his passion to address the justice system remains.
“As someone who was framed by the police for murder and wrongfully convicted, losing years of my life, I knew firsthand how badly we needed change in this city,” he said.
Trulove’s background stands in direct contrast to those leading the recall effort, and he believes Boudin’s term has “angered those who preferred the status quo. They know they cannot win an actual election, and so have tried to regain power by pouring money into a recall fueled by lies.”
Trulove’s assertion about the recall effort has been echoed by many, including Boudin himself.
Trulove is one in a series of public figures to come forward against what many see as an undermining of the democratic process in order to replace progressive officials with more conservative ones.
“The recall effort is led by those who only care about returning to a system where they call the shots and the only voices that matter are those of the wealthy and powerful,” Trulove wrote passionately.
The recall effort is one of many nationwide opposing progressive electeds.
