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Surviving R Kelly is a watershed moment for women of colour
This remarkable docuseries has reached people who may never have thought about the lives of girls in Chicago and Atlanta
It’s been several days since the Surviving R Kelly docuseries began on 3 January, reaching a channel record of 1.9 million viewers – and the hashtag is still trending. Conversations and debates about Lifetime’s intense six-part series are still evolving, as people digest the stories shared by Kelly’s survivors. And on Tuesday, news broke that investigators are looking into allegations in both Chicago and Atlanta as a result of the series.
One could assume that the reason for the series’ success is a combination of good promotion, curiosity, outrage and excitement. But for many women, particularly black and brown women who have experienced sexual violence, I believe the premiere was both a long-awaited public moment of vindication for those Kelly has allegedly hurt (and for those fighting to hold him accountable), and a sign of the ever-growing resistance against him and others who inflict this kind of harm of women and girls in our communities.
Reports citing Nielsen ratings show that out of the millions of viewers, large percentages identify as women. Out of the 18-49 age demographic, 1.1 million people watched and 767,000 were women. Among 25-54s, 1.2 million watched and 837,000 were women. This leads me to believe that the buzz and the shock about the series aren’t as connected to the curiosity of the uninformed or the rage of the disbelieving as one might think.
To me, these numbers reflect the reality that women and girls from marginalised communities, who have always had to fight for and advocate for themselves, have been waiting for this moment or one like it; for the world to see the kind of violence committed against the most vulnerable in our communities in a way that it can’t ignore. If the series – along with recent stories of Jazmine Barnes, Yasmine James and Cyntoia Brown – have reminded us of anything, it’s that black and brown women and girls are still viewed us undeserving of protection. Our humanity is not seen as valuable.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/jan/09/surviving-r-kelly-women-of-colour-docuseries?CMP=twt_gu
It’s been several days since the Surviving R Kelly docuseries began on 3 January, reaching a channel record of 1.9 million viewers – and the hashtag is still trending. Conversations and debates about Lifetime’s intense six-part series are still evolving, as people digest the stories shared by Kelly’s survivors. And on Tuesday, news broke that investigators are looking into allegations in both Chicago and Atlanta as a result of the series.
One could assume that the reason for the series’ success is a combination of good promotion, curiosity, outrage and excitement. But for many women, particularly black and brown women who have experienced sexual violence, I believe the premiere was both a long-awaited public moment of vindication for those Kelly has allegedly hurt (and for those fighting to hold him accountable), and a sign of the ever-growing resistance against him and others who inflict this kind of harm of women and girls in our communities.
Reports citing Nielsen ratings show that out of the millions of viewers, large percentages identify as women. Out of the 18-49 age demographic, 1.1 million people watched and 767,000 were women. Among 25-54s, 1.2 million watched and 837,000 were women. This leads me to believe that the buzz and the shock about the series aren’t as connected to the curiosity of the uninformed or the rage of the disbelieving as one might think.
To me, these numbers reflect the reality that women and girls from marginalised communities, who have always had to fight for and advocate for themselves, have been waiting for this moment or one like it; for the world to see the kind of violence committed against the most vulnerable in our communities in a way that it can’t ignore. If the series – along with recent stories of Jazmine Barnes, Yasmine James and Cyntoia Brown – have reminded us of anything, it’s that black and brown women and girls are still viewed us undeserving of protection. Our humanity is not seen as valuable.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/jan/09/surviving-r-kelly-women-of-colour-docuseries?CMP=twt_gu
