Op-Ed Assignment
ENG 21001
Yosmerilyn Rodriguez
March 11, 2019
R. Kelly: What Will It Take For Us To Look The Other Way?
Although Robert Kelly has seemed immune to the allegations of sexual abuse of minors and women for decades now, Kelly faced a unique kind of fire after Lifetime’s documentary series, “Surviving R. Kelly,” dropped in January. The docu-series chronicled allegations made against Kelly over the years, provided interviews with the women making the allegations, and dove into Kelly’s infamous 2002 child pornography case. According to a New York Times article, Kelly was released from a Chicago jail on February 25th2019 after a woman who described herself as a friend of Kelly’s posted $100,000 to secure his release. Kelly had surrendered himself to face 10 accounts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse three days prior. R. Kelly’s invaluable and treasured contributions to music, along with the fact that he’s been abusing underage black females and women, are the reasons why he’s been let off the hook for so long.
The history of allegations against Kelly dates back to the early nineties and are mainly centered around the pursuit of underage females, all of which were black females. According to an article on Insider, Kelly married 15-year-old singer Aaliyah in 1994 at a secret ceremony that her parents weren’t aware of, when he was 27-years-old. More allegations pile on and ultimately lead up to the infamous 2002 child pornography case that Kelly was acquitted for. Kelly made a 27-minute sex tape with a 14-year old female. He performed sexual acts on her and urinated on her. The tape was deemed non-conclusive—but in 2002, fans of Kelly, fans of Hip-Hop, really everyone,had access to bootleg copies of the sex tape on the streets. Yes. Kelly committed the crime and we saw him do it with our very own eyes. We have known who Kelly was since the early nineties, but nothing has come of that knowledge. During the six years it took for the 2002 case to go to trail, Kelly released his incredibly successful Trapped In The Closet album, which was nominated for an award by the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People). Kelly had made legendary, legendary music. All is forgiven and forgotten.
In The Undefeated Soraya Nadia McDonald tells a story of when she was a freshman at Howard University, during when the “R. Kelly sex tape” was available for consumption online. At the time, McDonald had a conversation with a 19-year-old male and his friends who told her that the female in the sex tape didn’t lookfourteen, nor did she act it. It’s clear to me from McDonald’s conversation with the male that his perspective was and is wide spread. Rather than asking themselves why this 14-year-old girl would have such sexual knowledge and from who, the men deemed the innocent 14-year-old girl a “slut.” They thought that because the female’s body was “mature” that she was also mentally mature, which doesn’t correlate. Black women and women of color, like myself, have voluptuous and full bodies that begin to grow once puberty hits—but this does not mean mental maturity. The men in this story, as well as the general public’s feelings, are that Black women are all knowing and never innocent, no matter the age. We don’t care about Black women enough and that is why Kelly’s abuse has gone widely unnoticed for so long.
When Kelly was released from jail on February 25th, he greeted by the sound of his fans. “Free Kells!” shouted fans outside of the Chicago jail as he was released, according to The Washington Post.“I Believe I Can Fly” blared from a car nearby and a fan repeatedly shouted, “I love you!” as Kelly left the McDonald’s he ate at afterward. For Kelly’s die-hard fans, Kelly’s reputation has been wrongfully dragged through the mud. Many don’t believe that the sexual misconduct allegations over the decades are true. These fans have attributed to Kelly’s freedom and lack of indictment that over the decades. But in 2019, especially after the Lifetime docu-series—people are awake, and they won’t continue to stand for the continual abuse of black girls and women. Kelly’s invaluable and treasured contributions to music, along with the fact that he’s been abusing underage black females and women, are the reasons why he’s been let off the hook for so long… until now. Kelly is now facing multiple legal cases and it won’t be long before he is finally indicted. All of what’s happened over the decades with Kelly has led be to wonder: just what will it take for us to look the other way?
WORKS CITED
Harris, Elizabeth A., and Robert Chiarito. “R. Kelly Released From Jail After Making Bail on Sexual Abuse Charges.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 25 Feb. 2019, www.nytimes.com/2019/02/25/arts/music/r-kelly-plea-not-guilty.html?action=click&module=Latest&pgtype=Homepage.
Rosenberg, Eli. “R. Kelly Faces 10 Counts of Sexual Abuse Charges. For These Super Fans, It Doesn’t Matter.” The Washington Post, WP Company, 27 Feb. 2019, www.washingtonpost.com/arts-entertainment/2019/02/27/r-kelly-faces-counts-sexual-abuse-charges-these-super-fans-it-doesnt-matter/?utm_term=.26d92f92ed3b.
Savage, Mark. “R Kelly: The History of Allegations against Him.” BBC News, BBC, 25 Feb. 2019, www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-40635526.
Soraya Mcdonald, Nadia. “R. Kelly Story Makes Us Realize That No One Cares about Black Women.” The Undefeated, The Undefeated, 19 July 2017, theundefeated.com/features/r-kelly-cult-accusations-no-one-cares-about-black-women/.
Streitfeld, David. “R. Kelly Is Acquitted in Child Pornography Case.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 14 June 2008, www.nytimes.com/2008/06/14/arts/music/14kell.html.
