by Michaela angela Davis (Essence.com)
I remember being mad about “Mad At Miles,” Pearl Cleage’s brave and brilliant account of Miles Davis’s brutalities towards women. I wish it was simple, that I was simply mad at Miles for whooping Cicely Tyson’s behind, our Cicely our queen, no I was mad at the conflict and the confusion it caused me. You see, I had to contend with “Kind of Blue” and “Sketches of Spain.” Miles made music of the Gods, not to mention he was the hippest, sharpest dressed, defiant, hypnotically striking, dangerously sexy man to ever put his mouth to metal. Miles was a giant, a Black mans hero, a genius and a monster.
Now, I am mad again. Mad at Chris Brown. Chris Brown, the bright smiling young Black boy who when he danced, you dare not turn away. Happy Chris, who shined through all the sludge of thug glamour. Chris has that star thing and a sick work ethic. Chris Brown heir apparent to Michael Jackson, who couldn’t perform at his memorial because the swollen, black and blue, face of Rihanna was still too bloody fresh in our minds. Our new pop prince beat down the princess and all the kings horses and all the kings men didn’t come to put anything back together again.
Again, there is the conflict, no easy condemnation. Chris Brown is a broken Black boy. A boy who watched his mama get beat, a brilliant boy catapulted on stage. A boy whose got numerous adults on his payroll who could decide to spend 5K a day on a stylist but not $250 per hour for therapist? So many people are satisfied with his public apologies, especially young girls (many thought Rihanna must have done something to deserve it– sigh). Chris says he’s taking anger management courses. Does Chris need to manage his anger or does he need to heal from it? Chris needs intense professional help, he needs healthy accountable adults that are committed to his well being and not his balance sheet. Rihanna deserves so much healing too and our young girls deserve a prince to sing to. So I guess that’s why Chris is charting and garnering magazine covers so swiftly after his fall (and would his rise be so swift if Rihanna was say, Taylor Swift?). Truth be told the ‘I Can Transform Ya” video is fire and his latest single “Crawl” is pretty much pop-perfection. Chris Brown is this generation’s great entertainer and he beats up women.
And then there is R. Kelly. He also makes me mad. I remember when the brilliance of R.Kelly hit me, cause I didn’t get it at first (too distracted by the visuals I guess). But I started listening to his music, his hooks, R.Kelly can sure write some songs. He spans all genres and generations, “Step in the Name of Love” gets even your cranky old auntie sliding at the family cookout and “I Believe I Can Fly” is a pre-schooler’s anthem, not to mention the countless hits he gave to the hip-hop generation. His repertoire is ridiculous and his crimes towards women, reprehensible. R.Kelly’s transgressions suggest that not only does he prey on young girls, but he enjoys humiliating them. Seems like all those folks buying tickets to his concerts are satisfied with the acquittal and have long forgotten the disgusting and degrading images of that girl being urinated on, or maybe it’s just not that cut and dry. R. Kelly is truly gifted and he is a pedophile.
All of this is maddening because it brings up more questions and paradoxes then resolutions and concrete positions. I turned to Facebook to get a quick consensus and while some very clear opinions where expressed, many questions were posed. Do celebrities live in an alternate universe that makes them immune to justice? Does creative genius forgive all sins? Should someone’s art be judged separately from their character? Is society too tolerant of abuse against women and children? What about a second chance? Should celebrities that abuse women be financially rewarded? Is it only conscious over 25 years old who are outraged? Does our tolerance reflect our values? Have we been historically, thoroughly taught that the lives of Black girls and women are not worthy of protection, that sexual abuse and violence should be expected and absorbed into our collective DNA, that we are built to take it?
So what’s a couple punches between a dope beat?
“If we rejected art based on the artists’ imperfections, transgressions and sins there would be a great many artists whose work we would not enjoy” was the comment of one of my wiser friends Florence Tate. “James Brown was a woman beater we’re still enjoying his music right?” another commented. True that. But isn’t also true that we have to evolve? Isn’t it true we have to challenge and dismantle not just forgive our sins? Isn’t it true we must have the community self-esteem to ask the hard questions? Like asides from Kevin Powell and Byron Hurt, where are the healthy Black men, especially the celebrities, who are outraged at these abuses? Why don’t they encourage their brothers to get some real help, step of the stage for a time to heal and reflect? Who is publicly consistently wrapping their arms around our women and girls proving they are beautiful and worthy of protection? When do we stop being either, compliant or silent? Can we love the music of Chris Brown, R. Kelly and others while simultaneously loathe their abuses?
What is your answer? What do you question?
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Tara says
This is so deep I need a minute to gather my thoughts! 🙂
I will say this though, about the Rihanna and Chris Brown situation. I know there are a lot of people who say, “Look, he said he was sorry, let’s move on.” I don’t think it’s that cut and dry. To those same people I ask, “Would you want your daughter/sister/best friend to date him right now?” The answer is probably no, despite what they were insisting a few moments ago.
I think a lot of motivation and creativity comes out of traumatic situations. Take D.L. Hughley. Despite whether or not you think he’s funny, he’s a well-known, successful comedian. Most comedians have the most pain-riddled backgrounds you can imagine. D.L. Hughley said he used to be told EVERY SINGLE DAY that he was dumb and would never amount to anything. Tyler Perry endured mental and physical abuse on the regular and now he has his own film studio. Look at Oprah. Maya Angelou.
Okay, I have to go now but I’ll be back… 🙂
.-= Tara´s last blog ..YML Gives Back: Meet Rebecca =-.
Anna says
I am not a CB or Rih fan so they did not lose or gain one. We Americans do think that saying “I am sorry” is all she wrote. It’s not that cut and dry. I agree that anger management is not the quick fix to the prolem, he does need to lie down on someones couch to get to the root of his anger, not share his anger with others in a room filled with ppl with the same problem. There was something that triggerd what he did and as much as words do hurt, most don’t haul off and beat someone that we claim to love. I wish them the best in their careers but for Christmas I wish they would quit talking about it because I feel neither is telling the whole story. I like R Kelly but when the allegations surfaced I did stop listening to his music and my local radio stations stopped playing his music. After he was aquitted local radio stations resumed as if nothing happend. He couldn’t get a guilty verdict if the young woman in the video said it wasn’t her and would not testify. I think men degrade women because we let them. Not just “we” women but all those buying his music. All the young women lining up to be the next “video girl”. R Kelly is a perve and he did not go to jail this time but just wait., someone will set him up. Look at Tiger, I don’t believe all his so called mistresses but that doesn’t mean that what he did ,did not happen. Women allow men to degrade us for the “Almighty Dollar” and a sense of “status/belonging”. How many music videos do we see that only have light skin women? I still listen to James “I Feel Good” Brown’s music and never thought about it until this post. We have men who love black women gyrating in their videos for “sales”. I really don’t think that men are trying to degrade us, too many are willing to degrade themselves., so why not make that dollar and give alittle to the girl willling to do the video. The only man most women should blame is their father for not being there to give them the self esteem they needed to make better choices. A man is a man is a man. No man wants to see/know his little girl is working a pole , a John or being abused. I know many celebs love Essence and the exposure that they give them (to we readers and fans) I wish that those making videos would remember that they have female kin. Would you want them to go through DV or be known as a video chick?
Jason says
Who would want to purchase an album created by a little boy who hits women? Shame is all i can say, his music has never been very good anyway.
People should try looking up good male artists like Tinchy stryder, Guvna B and Victizzle.
Donielle Michele says
Very thought provoking article……hmmmmm. Well we could write a never ending book about what’s wrong with society, celebrities and heck, people in general. I would say first, take time and research the criminal past of every artist you listen to. I’m not talking about just the R & B or Rap artists either. Stretch your research to include Gospel artists too. I bet your list of possible remaining artists to listen to will be quite thin. We’ll start there and see what we all come up with. I, myself recently stopped listening to Jay Z based on certain things I learned about him.
Christina says
@Tara, I would not want my daughter/niece/little girl I go to church with dating him, but I guess my conflict actually comes in whether or not people deserve second chances and should be allowed to make a living. I never bought CB’s music and I’m one of few in my generation that does not herald R. Kelly as a musical genius. And I do question whether or not the justice system treated them the same as they would have treated John Smith from Harlem. But the fact remains that once the courts have handled the situation, don’t these men and all other artist who sin (and we all do) deserve a chance to make a living WHILE they heal, get help, ignore the situation, etc. So, going back to my hypothetical daughter, if she were abused by some dude, I’d want him to stay the h-ll away from her, but I would like to think that I wouldn’t be so unforgiving that I would wish that he couldn’t do what was necessary to survive and have a life (AWAY from my girl).
Harriet says
I think I’m probably one of the few people who base 99% of her musical choices off lyrical content and lifestyle. Yes, I agree people need to make a living, but I’m not going to be one to support certain mindsets.
Although I appreciate CB’s work ethic and performing prowess, I never purchased any of his body of work. The sound is a little too boppy and young for me. R. Kelly came out when I was in high school, so I purchased his “Honey Love” and “12 Play” albums. But when I got to college, and he started hollering all that foolishness about “You Remind me of my Jeep,” I promptly took my money elsewhere. I never bought another album of his. NEVER. Strange how everything came full circle, and he stood accused of pedophilia. I’ll give him respect and props for his musical talent, but I’m not spending my money on it.
It’s not like my little $8-15 dollars is going to make a difference on his bottom line, but I don’t want my money to be tied to his lifestyle or his music. Like it or not, we spend money on what we care about, and I’m not down for giving one red dime to either of these “gentlemen.”