Christopher Lane<\/strong><\/p>\n Blue & White Flash \/ Staff Writer<\/strong><\/p>\n In case you haven\u2019t heard (I\u2019m being facetious), the 3-night Surviving R. Kelly documentary that aired on Lifetime from Jan. 3-5, is finally forcing the black community to deal with the man trapped in the closet.<\/p>\n Robert Kelly,<\/p>\n undoubtedly one of the greatest musical talents of a generation, is now one of the most despised men in America. But his transgressions are not new news so when did it become acceptable to let abuse go unchecked? Most of us grew up listening to this man’s music; some of us were made to listen to it.<\/p>\n For years allegations persisted, trials began and ended, and all while Kels continued to release good music. And women continued to suffer.<\/p>\n As I sat and watched the documentary, I was captivated by the number of names: Kitty Jones, Lizette Martinez, Lisa Van Allen, Asante McGee, Azriel Cleary, Joycelyn Savage, Tracy Sampson, and the voice we will never hear, Aaliyah Haughton.<\/p>\n Each woman told her own version of her pain in a way that left the audience reeling from the palpable pain and passion they described while America\u2019s vitriol toward Kelly grew.<\/p>\n Several women noting that they weren’t allowed to speak or acknowledge other men. Referring to Robert as Daddy during sex, and following his rules regarding contacting their families. Interestingly isolating each girl who told the same story over and over did this.<\/p>\n Every corner of social media echoed the same questions:\u00a0Where were the parents?\u00a0Why did the men and women around him allow this to happen? How could so many people have testified and still he went free?\u00a0What is wrong with at society that continues to allow this to happen?<\/p>\n Referring to an old album, the answer seems to be from Jay-Z. Reasonable Doubt. Something afforded, literally by money.<\/p>\n My parents would never let me go to the home of an adult man, let alone their\u00a0place of business without the explicit understanding that no inappropriate activities should take place. How so many minors managed to go unsupervised in his presence, is something I can only place on the shoulders of parents and trusted individuals.<\/p>\n All the while, Sparkle a.k.a Stephanie Edwards, former entourage members and several others, point out that they, the parents of the girls and others witnessed questionable exchanges.<\/p>\n Be it Sparkle, distancing herself from allegations, her sister and husband who parented the young lady in the infamous “pee tape”, or the Haughtons. Perhaps more shamefully, Joycelyn Savage seemed coerced into her admission by parents, who seem to have a lust for daytime talk shows and Internet fame.<\/p>\n In the case of Aaliyah, and a separate teen, later in 2000, Kelly settled twice, in addition to giving a settlement of $250K to Tracey Sampson, an underage intern then working at Epic records. As of June 2018, his former wife Andrea Kelly claims he was also financially abusing her for the decision to come forward with her allegations against him.<\/p>\n Since the release of the documentary and backlash from the disgusted public, R. Kelly may finally have to face the music (pun intended).<\/p>\n <\/p>\n According to a Variety article,\u00a0Lady Gaga<\/span><\/a><\/span>\u00a0and\u00a0Phoenix have apologized<\/span><\/a>\u00a0<\/span>for working with him. Chance the Rapper and other artists are said to be\u00a0pulling their musical collaborations\u00a0from streaming platforms. More accusers have reportedly stepped forward.\u00a0Sony Music<\/span><\/a>\u00a0<\/span>has also decided to dissolve its working relationship with R. Kelly. Still, solely from the facts on the documentary, every manager, parent and executive needs to be questioned and prosecuted along with R. Kelly to the fullest extent of the law.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Instead of asking why only African-American celebrities are being\u00a0scrutinized, we should continue to set the example. Being sure not to forget about the other living legends that also exploited minors.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Commentary Christopher Lane Blue & White Flash \/ Staff Writer In case you haven\u2019t heard (I\u2019m being facetious), the 3-night Surviving R. Kelly documentary that…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"editor_plus_post_options":"{}","editor_plus_copied_stylings":"{}","_mi_skip_tracking":false},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/jsuflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9396"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/jsuflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/jsuflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/jsuflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/jsuflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9396"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/jsuflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9396\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/jsuflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9396"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/jsuflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9396"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/jsuflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9396"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"http:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/jsuflash\/files\/2019\/01\/Surviving-R.Kelly_.jpeg\")
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\nYet and still I do feel like some of the allegations can be doubted, some of the victims are engaged in disputes and legal battles with each other and everyone has a book and or movie deal.<\/p>\n