With the rise of T’Challa and the fall of Fat Albert, a white guy like me gets just a tiny glimpse of the seismic change that’s affecting the Black Community in these post-Obama, Trump-mucked years.
Bill Cosby, who led a black pop-culture revolution in the 1980s, is out. Kanye has excommunicated himself. Now the BC is administering some Wakanda-style justice to the troubling problem of R. Kelly.
If you know anything about R. Kelly, you know that he’s gross and he has more respect for his dogs than his female romantic partners. If you’ve never heard of him, all you need to know is that, with this guy, there is definitely a pee tape.
His list of crimes was articulated by the activist group Time’s Up, comprised of powerful black women such as “Grey’s Anatomy” creator Shonda Rimes and #MeToo founder Tarana Burke, and published in the Guardian. Among the charges: He married an actual girl, pop singer Aaliyah, who was 15 at the time. And he was indicted on 21 counts of child pornography. And yet, the group points out, he continues to sell millions of records, largely to the BC.
Time’s Up condemned Kelly’s label RCA Records, as well as Ticketmaster, Spotify and Apple Music. They also called out the Greensboro Coliseum — by name! — asking them to cancel his upcoming concert on May 11.
The letter, which came out on Monday, was released after R. Kelly was taken off the bill of a “Love Jam” concert in Chicago — his hometown — that transpired over the weekend. Kelly’s explanation, delivered via Instagram, blamed “rumors” for the disinvitation; the most current accusation against him is that he’s formed an abusive sex cult of underaged girls, exposed by Buzzfeed last year, among other reports.
Should the city-owned Greensboro Coliseum cancel this concert, which could be one of the last for the degenerate star and has suddenly become a hot commodity? Could they? Would they?
And does Time’s Up have enough leverage to #MuteRKelly?
I’m just a white guy, but I’d put the odds of a canceled Greensboro concert exactly same as I would the totality of the Black Community abandoning R. Kelly.
This ain’t Wakanda.
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