R. Kelly continues to get support in the music industry, now Black women are marching to stop it.
“March for Black Women,” organized by Black Women’s Blueprint, hit the streets Saturday before the R&B singer’s New York City concert to make it clear that Kelly’s abusive behavior will no longer be tolerated.
Incorporating the #MuteRKelly movement and sparked by the conversation around #MeToo, Black Women’s Blueprint aims to protect Black women, who regularly get left out of conversations around sexual abuse.
“This is not new,” organizers said in a statement to Blavity. “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.”
R. Kelly has faced numerous accusations of sexual abuse, including an explosive BuzzFeed article that detailed an abusive sex cult run by the singer. One accuser even alleges that the singer paid her to keep quiet about their relationship because she was underage at the time.
Black Women’s Blueprint hopes to put an end to the support abusers receive within their industry.
“Anti-rape organizations, individual advocates and Black people concerned for victims and survivors must rally not just on Saturday, but every day to ensure the safety and protection of Black girls in particular.”
