On R. Kelly: Al-Jazeera English and CBC Radio

James Hamilton, a producer from Al-Jazeera English, contacted me about doing an interview to contextualize the aftermath of the Surviving R. Kelly documentary. Interestingly, I’d written a short essay on the documentary and the ways that black women have to save ourselves. James interviewed me for about 20 minutes. However, only a few seconds made it into the final story, which was largely about the responses to the documentary in Kelly’s hometown of Chicago.

I’ve written on R. Kelly and the complexities of sexual violence—especially the ways that race, gender, class, age, and ability shape the narratives around sexual abuse—are regular conversations in my courses (particularly Feminist Philosophy). But it is a completely different skill set to learn how to distill complex ideas into 2, 5, or 10 minute clips. This is what I am doing this morning on CBC radio (Canada’s NPR). I’m discussing the fallout from the documentary on nine of their morning shows this morning. Will post links if some become available.