R. Kelly and the Myth of The Pied Piper

I never for one second ever doubted R. Kelly was guilty of sex crimes against young black girls and women. It’s sad it went on this long and America wantonly ignored all the cries and signs these girls and their families needed help.

R. Kelly, the talented musician known as the Pied Piper was officially convicted of all his crimes on September 27, 2021, facing life in prison. I read his autobiography, “The Soulacoaster: The Diary of Me” (2013) some years ago and it’s eye-opening. In the pit of my stomach, with every word, it further confirmed and exposed deep, dark, horrors we would come to hear through witness testimony and accounts from the documentaries and the bold pursuit of justice from these young girls and their families.

I was an R. Kelly fan, growing up with his music when he hit the music scene in the early 90s. His beats and lyrics, hypnotic, sexual, sensual seemed to pull you into a trance. I was in disbelief about the rumor he had wed R&B songstress, Aaliyah. For one, Aaliyah had a ‘good girl’ image and seemed to be heavily protected with her parents in control of her music career. I didn’t put it past R. Kelly to want someone like Aaliyah. His music was enough proof to me that he would sex anyone, anytime, anyplace and anywhere.

Not too long after that rumor, another rumor popped up about him peeing on a 14 year-old-girl and there was a video to prove it. In any ‘hood’ in any city in America, you either knew someone who had seen actual footage or you were invited to watch it for yourself. I declined every time I was asked but the curiosity got the better of me and I agreed to a showing of it. Mainly because those who saw it seemed to be entertained by it all — that is what is most disturbing. While we Black folks like to point at White America as the culprit, we can’t deny how complicit we are to keeping skeletons in closets for generations when it comes to rape, incest and sexual abuse in our families, so R. Kelly reminded you of that uncle, cousin, granddad, “friend of the family” you knew to stay clear of — or else.

The video, grainy, provided some shelter of disbelief for me. I imagined that it wasn’t R. Kelly at all and the girl was older than 14 — she had to be — in my mind. That was the way I could protect my Self and my sanity. But I couldn’t deny that I saw a man who looked like R. Kelly standing over a young girl peeing on her. I cringed and I felt unsafe — especially around men. I had reason too, I’ve been violated as a young woman and fled attempts at sexual violation. I have never reported one incident to any police, let alone any adult. But I have had ‘true confession’ sessions with my “Day 1's” and eventually, my mother.

This is the reality for Black women — most women — no matter her race, religion, class or creed. Women are targeted for nearly everything that makes them feminine. Her age, beauty, intelligence, weight, height, wealth, poverty, relationship status, voice and vote. But, for Black women, it’s unlawful and disheartening the levels of dismissiveness we encounter. We are invisible, on a global level.

In Kell’s autobiography, he goes into detail to explain the fable of the Pied Piper and this informative breakdown for me, exposed him for being the alleged abuser of women no one wanted to acknowledge.

The moral of the fable is the Pied Piper is someone who, by charm, entices people to follow him or her to disappointment or misfortune. My mouth agape, I was doubly shocked this New York Times bestseller, where all ‘mainstream America’ and Black America could read for themselves, his true confession, even breaking down the myth of the moniker, Pied Piper could still be walking freely as a public danger, specifically to Black women.

America, land of the “free”, home of the brave and respite for all those who carry the same mind on racial inequities and dismissiveness of minorities is how this Pied Piper was able to harm hundreds of victims for so long and adopt such an egotistical arrogance about his right to do whatever, whenever, however to whomever.

Thank God for Karma, R. Kelly is facing his crimes and his victims can feel assured the spell of the Pied Piper has lost its power.

Image sourced from Twitter.