海角大神

For years, decades even, allegations swirled that R&B superstar R. Kelly was abusing young women and girls, with seeming impunity.

They were mostly young Black women. And Black girls.

And that, say accusers and others who have called for him to face accountability, is part of what took the wheels of the criminal justice system so long to turn, finally leading to his conviction Monday in his sex trafficking trial. That it did at all, they say, is also due to the efforts of Black women, unwilling to be forgotten.

Speaking out against sexual assault and violence is fraught for anyone who attempts it. Those who work in the field say the hurdles facing Black women and girls are raised even higher by a society that hypersexualizes them from a young age, stereotyping them as promiscuous, and judging their physiques 鈥� and in a country with a history of racism and sexism that has long denied their autonomy over their own bodies.

鈥淏lack women have been in this country for a long time and ... our bodies were never ours to begin with,鈥� said Kalimah Johnson, executive director of the SASHA Center in Detroit, which provides services to sexual assault survivors.

鈥淣o one allows us to be something worthy of protection,鈥� she said. 鈥淎 human that needs love, and sacredness.鈥� It鈥檚 as if, she said, 鈥渢here鈥檚 nothing sacred about a Black woman鈥檚 body.鈥�

In a 2017 study from the Georgetown Law Center on Poverty and Inequality, adults were asked about their perceptions of Black girls in comparison with white girls of the same age in terms of their needs for nurturing and protection, as well as their knowledge of adult topics like sex.

At all ages, Black girls were perceived as more adult than white girls, needing less protection, and knowing more about sex. The gap was widest between Black and white for girls between the ages of 10 and 14, followed by girls between the ages of 5 and 9.

鈥淲e don鈥檛 value Black girls, and they are dehumanized, and they are also blamed for the sexual violence that they experienced to a greater extent than white girls are,鈥� said Rebecca Epstein, executive director of the center and one of the study鈥檚 authors.

For years, girls suffering at R. Kelly鈥檚 hands were treated as more of a punchline than a travesty, even during a trial on child pornography charges where a video, allegedly of him abusing a girl, was shown. He was acquitted in 2008.

Lisa Van Allen, who testified against Mr. Kelly in 2008, told ABC鈥檚 鈥淕ood Morning America鈥� in an interview broadcast Tuesday that she 鈥渁lmost cried鈥� when she learned of Monday鈥檚 verdict. 鈥淵ou know, this is what I was looking for back in 2008,鈥� Ms. Van Allen said. 鈥淪o I would say that the difference this time around is that there鈥檚 power in numbers. A lot of people came forward.鈥�

Asked if she believed the accusers were initially not believed because they were Black women, Ms. Van Allen said, 鈥淵es I do believe that that鈥檚 the main reason why.鈥�

Music writer Jim DeRogatis couldn鈥檛 understand it. He and a colleague were the first to report on R. Kelly鈥檚 interactions with girls, in December 2000, and Mr. DeRogatis continued writing about it for years after.

Every time something came out, like the video, Mr. DeRogatis thought, that had to be it 鈥� that had to be the thing that would finally make a difference. And every time, it wasn鈥檛.

It brought a realization home to Mr. DeRogatis, a middle-aged white man: the injustice that 鈥渘obody matters less in our society than young Black girls.鈥�

And the girls and women he interviewed knew it, he said. The first thing he heard from the dozens he has interviewed, he said, was, 鈥淲ho鈥檚 going to believe us? We鈥檙e Black girls.鈥�

And so, R. Kelly continued on for years, making hit songs, performing with other artists, even at times calling himself the 鈥淧ied Piper鈥� but professing he didn鈥檛 know the story about the musician who kidnapped a town鈥檚 children.

Those who welcomed Monday鈥檚 conviction, which came after several weeks of disturbing testimony and now carries the possibility that Mr. Kelly will spend decades in prison, said it鈥檚 a testament to the strength and perseverance of Black women, who have been the driving force, especially in recent years, of speaking out against him and demanding attention remain on him.

Tarana Burke, founder of the Me Too movement against sexual abuse, pointed to the #MuteRKelly campaign, a protest started by two Black women in Atlanta in 2017 to put pressure on radio stations to stop playing his music and venues to stop allowing him to perform.

And the most widespread public condemnation followed in the wake of the 2019 docuseries 鈥淪urviving R. Kelly,鈥� executive produced by dream hampton, a Black woman.

Asked about the guilty verdict Tuesday on 鈥淐BS This Morning,鈥� Ms. hampton said, 鈥淵ou know, I want to believe that this means that Black women survivors will be heard, but I don鈥檛 want it to be dependent on a piece of media going viral or being successful.鈥� She said she thinks about 鈥渁ll of the stories of everyday Black girls in neighborhoods like the ones that I grew up in Detroit who don鈥檛 have a predator, who don鈥檛 have an abuser, that was famous or rich.鈥�

Ms. Burke, who was interviewed for 鈥淪urviving R. Kelly,鈥� said, 鈥淚 think it says that you have to believe in the power of your own community, because this would not have happened if not for Black women staying the course. It was Black women who decided, 鈥榃e are not going to let this fall on deaf ears.鈥� It was Black women who decided, 鈥業f nobody else is going to care, we鈥檙e going to care for Black women and girls in our community.鈥欌��

This story was reported by The Associated Press.聽AP writer Gary Hamilton contributed to this report.