In an ongoing effort by an organization of African American women, who are looking to shut down various R. Kelly concerts, over a dozen of Black women showed up to do just that on Saturday(1/27/18). The small New York protest was organized by an organization called Black Women’s Blueprint, which aims to put a spotlight on various social issues. Saturday’s concert protest, titled “March for Black Women,” was a collaborative effort with the #MuteRKelly movement- which is spearheaded by two Black women, who have dedicated their time toward ended R. Kelly’s career for good.

Group’s Statement Against R. Kelly & Other Black Celebs

In BWB’s statement to Blavity, they took aim at several Black male celebs, who have been accused of sexual assault:

“This is not new. While R.Kelly’s concert is this weekend, it is not just R.Kelly. Over the past twenty years it has been Mike Tyson, Clarence Thomas, Cee-lo Green, Nate Parker, Bill Cosby, Russell Simmons, all stand accused by Black women and girls now piecing their lives back together after rape, sexual harassment and abuse. Unknown numbers of Black men within our communities, celebrity and non-celebrity, have been reported by their victims.”

In a press release, the Black Women’s Blueprint organization further explained their goal for Saturday’s R. Kelly protest:

“Anti-rape organizations, individual advocates and Black people concerned for victims and survivors must rally not just on Saturday, but everyday to ensure the safety and protection of Black girls in particular.”

Why We Should Be Careful & Thorough

The #MeToo movement and the overall topic of sexual assault by male celebrities and others, is a highly sensitive one. There are many real victims of sexual assault out there and they definitely deserve justice. There are also non-victims who have probably been able to make public claims against some celebs, in search of fortune and/or fame. The question is: Who’s telling the truth and who is not? We are absolutely in support of all of the real victims who have been sexually assaulted and their attackers -regardless of if they’re celebrities or not- deserve to pay for their actions.

Some of the men that the Black Women’s Blueprint named in their above statement, such as Nate Parker, have not been proven guilty of the sex assault allegations against them.

For example, actor/director, Parker was mentioned in BWB’s statement, however, Nate was found ‘not guilty’ on all four counts of sexual assault during his 1999 rape trial, when he was a college football player for Penn State. Nate was acquitted on the charges because according to the court documents, it was discovered that the White female who’d claimed he raped her, ended up giving many conflicted stories about the alleged incident. During trial, the court docs show that she was also exposed as fabricating key elements in her story, by various witnesses who were at the scene during the alleged incident. She had a threesome with Nate and his African American friend, who both said she did so willingly at an apartment. Turns out, the jury could not find any proof of the woman’s rape claims and the trial was said to ultimately have been brought on due to racial bias. READ NATE PARKER’S FULL TRIAL TRANSCRIPTS HERE, HERE, HERE, and HERE.

So the point is, sexual assault is not a term that should be thrown around lightly, because it can wrongfully destroy someone’s life, IF they are NOT guilty. Now, in regards to R. Kelly- that is a topic that is up for debate, due to what the public has either seen, what he has revealed, or how his fans interpret his past and/or current actions. Thoughts ILOSM fam?’