10,000 Signatures for R. Kelly Petition
I really don’t like R. Kelly. I don’t respect him and I don’t recognize any accomplishment or title anyone gives him. And while I could go into a long, extended rant about why I despise him (and have with my sister-in-law :-)) and have despised him since I learned he liked little girls (back in ‘98), Jelani Cobb has put into words very eloquently exactly what needs to be said:
Perhaps a jury can accept R. Kelly’s absurd defense and find “reasonable doubt” despite the fact that the film was shot in his home and featured a man who was identical to him. Perhaps they doubted that the young woman in the courtroom was, in fact, the same person featured in the ten year old video. But there is no doubt about this: some young Black woman was filmed being degraded and exploited by a much older Black man, some daughter of our community was left unprotected, and somewhere another Black woman is being molested, abused or raped and our callous handling of this case will make it that much more difficult for her to come forward and be believed. And each of us is responsible for it.
For that, regardless of what fence you are on, speaks volumes. I’d be remissed if Jelani Cobb’s idea of creating a petition to show a tangible sign of solidarity within the Black community was paramount. Gina McCauley has been blogging about this cultural apathy towards Black women for the last coupe of years over at What About Our Daughters, and women advocacy groups have been existence since the ’60s.
Both of them, and really the whole Afrospear community, exemplify why the Black blogosphere is very important to our society. The collective amalgamation of opinions, domains, and actionable proposals shows a vibrant and caring community. While our voices are only a fraction of those who care, they are the next frontier in continuing the torch for those who have stood up for injustices in the past.
With that said, I encourage you to sign the petition and get all you know involved. The goals of the petition are simple (as described by Jelani):
- Make a personal pledge to never support R. Kelly again in any form or fashion, unless he publicly apologizes for his behavior and gets help for his long-standing sexual conduct, in his private life and in his music.
- Make a commitment in your own life to never to hit, beat, molest, rape, or exploit Black females in any way and, if you have, to take ownership for your behavior, seek emotional and spiritual help, and, over time, become a voice against all forms of Black female exploitation.
- Challenge other Black males, no matter their age, class or educational background, or status in life, if they engage in behavior and language that is exploitative and or disrespectful to Black females in any way. If you say nothing, you become just as guilty.
- Learn to listen to the voices, concerns, needs, criticisms, and challenges of Black females, because they are our equals, and because in listening we will learn a new and different kind of Black manhood
I can honestly say that keeping these 4 idioms is not overly difficult for me. I never listened to his music (except for that one song with him and NAS back in the day).
Yeah, that’s right. Even ostentatious Fredric fell victim to the Pied Piper. But, I digress.
I was raised by many women and have been surrounded by great role models. I will work on improving my listening efforts and try my best to speak out to others who may be abusive.
So….what are you going to do? Can we get 10,000 signatures? As of this writing, we have 846 (I was 844).
Update: Lol. So, R. Kelly is such the ‘role model’ that he is actually cool with one of his supporters sitting in jail for the last 34 days for yelling ‘Free R. Kelly’ during court. From the Tribe:
Debra Triplett, 48, an Aurora grandmother who has several drug convictions, continues to be held in criminal contempt of court for yelling, “Free R. Kelly!” as the singer’s jury stepped off a courthouse elevator during his trial. Triplett has been unable to post the $5,000 cash bail imposed by Cook County Circuit Judge Vincent Gaughan when he ordered her immediately jailed May 22.
Nice! You put your ass out there for your boy, but he can’t even let you borrow some dough to get out!
For those who want to spread the message, here is a badge for your blog linking to the petition.
thanks for explaining. 
Perception is everything, most Americans don't pay attention to issues or the news. We generally vote on personality in this ...
profbw,
Certainly. And I enjoyed your post very much.
So, readers, I want to note here--and will update it ...
I think my post was very clear that I did not think that Michelle Obama was being "handled" and that ...
well i believe the stats as more of my friends have kids than careers. i have not been able to ...
...I've also spent most of my viewing time w/ C-SPAN's coverage. It's so refreshing to get a more unbiased point ...
Thanks for the link love. That's a good look. Love your blog. Kristasphere. 
Hey congrats brotha! Sounds very similar to my situation...bought my first home at the age of 23...two years later acquired ...
Comment by Latonya on 24 June 2008:
Best of luck. 10,000 signatures, huh? To what power or authority is this formally drawn request going to? Is this a petition or a pledge? Is this really about R. Kelly or addressing the dark cloud of blatant disrespect and thunderstorm of stereotypes that black woman feel and see in corporate media, at home, at work, at retailers, etc, etc…? As a pledge, 2, 3, and 4 should be instilled in our young boys early (I’m talking to you parents), but 1 is irrelevant. He’s not in heavy rotation, (and sure, please don’t purchase a concert ticket or buy his upcoming CDs) but how is not bouncing to Kel’s music (or stepping in the name of love) going to end the private and public exploitation of black women? What’s the solution?
Comment by Fredric on 24 June 2008:
Well, the reason issue 1 ties into issues 2 - 4 is that the publicity and dichotomy the R. Kelly incident has created. The visceral response art (in this case) music creates, along with its creator, isn’t anything new. But a statement, course of action, apology, or even donation from the artist would speak volumes about the issue at hand.
If you take a look at the entirety of Jelani’s post and the pledge itself, it highlights this hope: to hit Mr. Kels in his pockets so that he may take some personal responsibility for what this incident has shown and possibly lead some of his followers towards the light that shines (and has been shining) on this issue.
Comment by tired of this on 25 June 2008:
Listen all of this is all well and good, you have the rights to choose what you want to do & do it if anything.
But if you feel so self righteous that you have to create a petition for people to sign to try to ruin this mans career
I BETTER hear something about the parents being brought up on charges for child endangerment, AND SPARKLE for allowing this alleged child to get into this situation in the first place & for introducing her to R Kelly (Sparkle)
Because just like you feel he is guilty, so are they.
They are probably more so because they were entrusted with the well being of this alleged child. They were her parents & put there to protect & provide for her.
I think you are thinking a whole lot of one sided on this & you feel this is a celebrity so you can put yourself out there to destroy his life further because others have already started the ball rolling.
The question is who the heck you think you are trying to judge someone else for something you “think” they did, yet you have done things in your life too that were wrong. None of you were there with him, or with this alleged girl for that matter to be able to say you know without a doubt this is what happened. I am sure you got some deep dark secrets in your closet as well. Things you did too that you shouldn’t have. I bet you too are guilty of alot of things. Ever lie? That’s wrong. Ever steal? Thats wrong. Ever cheat on your girl or wife? That’s wrong. Ever have sex with someone you wasn’t married to? That’s wrong.
All you know is you saw a tape of him having sex with a female.
You don’t know for a fact how old she was, & you saw something kinky.
Just because you didn’t like what you saw on that tape doesn’t give you any right to try to do damage to a persons life like you are.
AND may I remind you that watching that tape, and possessing that tape on your own makes you guilty of possessing child porn IF it is true that the girl is underage, and that is a felony.
YOU need to think about YOU, and all the ugly, foul things YOU did in life that no one is trying to crucify you for because they don’t know you did it.
Yall got your nerve, there are grown a** men running around all over the major cities, ATL, IL, C, NC, NYC, NJ, CT trying to prey on young girls and actually stalking them (following them in their cars), but I don’t see any of you A holes out there trying to stop them men. If you really wanted to do something for your community and those young girls you would have been out there before this.
But you are not, you are probably one of those men who follow the girls in their cars hoping they will get in the car with you.
AND you can’t tell me it doesn’t happen because I lived it!
I’ve seen it with my own eyes & I was stalked too!
SO before you go off being so self righteous call yourself doing something to protect the young girls out there, why haven’t you BEEN out there doing something?
Why haven’t you petitioned for more police officers to patrol these areas in the major cities?
Why haven’t you written senators, governors, to cry for more police officers?
Why are you acting so hypocritical? You are doing this under the pretense that you want to protect someone but its a blatant lie.
You might be able to fool yourself but you can’t fool me or others.
Like I said I better see or hear about yall doing something about the parents & Sparkle too!
AND I WILL be looking to see what other types of “work” you petition creators have done for the better-ment of society in other issues.
Because you sure sound hypocritical to me!
Now a celebrity gets in trouble & all of a sudden some people suddenly got back & want to portray their selves like knights in shining armour. I don’t think so. What have you done before this?
Comment by rawdawgbuffalo on 1 July 2008:
Nice spot u have here, hope u don’t mind the drive by, do chk me out one day
rawdawgbuffalo and if u like what u read, maybe u will come back, even Blog Roll Me
Comment by Fredric on 1 July 2008:
@rawdawgbuffalo,
Thanks for the shout. We have you syndicated over at rsspect.org. I’ve checked out your blog. Good stuff.
Comment by LookLively on 1 July 2008:
Children first?
Somewhere a more nefarious pedophile is going to take R. Kelly’s acquittal as motivation to keep child crimes in greater frequency or with more ominous results - like death. Somewhere a pedophile who simply yearns will now take the plunge.
Aren’t we are worried about that?
Remember when you were a child? Would you have survived being sexually manipulated and urinated on by someone old enough to be/act like your father? Is there anyone here that would wish this upon themselves? Anyone here that would turn by the hands of time and volunteer to take this girl in the video’s place?
Are we so callous that we would send a signal “that as long as it’s not mine, have your fill?” and then let animals eat through the world’s children?
F*ck R. Kelly’s career. What about the children who will be so emotionally destroyed that they won’t be able to keep one.
Anyone that continues to support him or his music is as much a monster as R. Kelly. Especially if you are Black.