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Charlamagne and the Pervasiveness of Rape Culture

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What else can I say about Lenard tha God? I want to write something important and critical about misogyny and rape culture and Black men and media gatekeepers, but what difference does it make? Nothing changes. No matter how hard we yell, nothing changes and the people who have a little bit of a voice that people maybe, might listen to, they use their powers for evil instead of good, and then I’m disappointed again, and the cycle continues…I’m tired.

Usually, this cycle starts with a Black man and this week’s Black man is Charlamagne tha God formerly known as Lenard Larry McKelvey. Here are the facts, and I call them facts because Lenard, of sound mind, in the same voice he uses every morning on the Breakfast Club, same goofy giggle and all, admits on several recordings that he does not mind, not one bit, having sex with a woman who cannot and did not consent.

Early in the month, a young woman and her mother shared her story of being allegedly (said with all the sarcasm) raped by Lenard McKelvey. The young woman explains that in 2001, she and her friend attended a party hosted by the then 22-year old Lenard tha God. At this party, she and her friend were given an alcoholic beverage. She explains that she and her friend began to feel sick. The story goes on, you can read her account here and get links to court documents. According to the young woman, she did not testify in court because her mother refused to let her testify. I’m not a mother and I cannot say what I would have done in that situation, but also, I understand. Rape cases, especially where the assailant is “intimately known” by the victim rarely, if ever, make it to a courtroom, and once there, rarely, if ever, is the assailant found guilty. So, I can understand wanting to spare your child from that heartbreak.

Just so you know…nobody’s “coming up” from being raped, let’s dead that. Click To Tweet

Side note – There’s been lots of talk about the evils of capitalism lately, but this is also what capitalism does – if a woman decides to sue her assailant in civil court where she is much more likely to receive some level of compensation for her trauma, she’s disparaged for trying to “come up” on someone’s brother. I’ve been thinking about this for days, and I promise I can run through all the Black male celebrities accused of some level of sexual misconduct yet, I can’t think of one of their victims’ names. Ain’t that some shit? Even in this blog post, the one I’m writing right now, it’s about Lenard tha God, not her, so you know…nobody’s “coming up” from being raped, let’s dead that.

Anyway, that was the event that triggered the re-emergence of Lenard tha God’s history of having sex with women unable to consent.

Some years ago, Lenard tha God gets interviewed by DJ Akademiks, and during the interview, he tells his version of how he almost caught a rape charge in his early 20s. Needless to say, his version of events is much different from the victims and the court documents. His version paints him as some chivalrous young lad who was just trying to do right by all the other upstanding gentleman he was hanging with at the time. Lenard tha God says, out of his own mouth, that he voluntarily walked into a police station and volunteered to accept full responsibility for the charges of rape against a minor (that he claims he did not know; she says they were friends) at the party he merely hosted but was barely old enough to buy alcohol for. Sit with that for a minute. Do you know any Black person willingly walking into police stations to accept charges for (according to Lenard) nonexistent crimes? Then, this fool said his cousins were playing a prank, that’s why he went to the police station in the first place. My cousins play a lot of games, but not that kind. What about y’all? Your cousins, your kin, they setting you up to go to the police in South Carolina and turn yourself in for a rape charge? You know how you can tell when people are lying, they get to adding all kinds of details that don’t make any sense, none at all. Wooo chile…

Then the clips from his own show, the podcast he hosts with the little racist white boy, Brilliant Idiots. More evidence that he gave us…with his own words…back in 2015, y’all.

There is a clip from the “Rape Culture” episode of Brilliant Idiots published in 2015 where Lenard that God admits to drugging a young woman, knowing she was “wasted” (his words) and incoherent (his sentiments), and letting his friend(s) look at the girl naked while she was unable to consent. Now the little racist white boy did call it rape as he listened intently to Lenard sharing every detail of the experience. Finally, with much exasperation, Lenard said it wasn’t rape because he and this woman (who up until this time had not had sexual intercourse with him) had “every intention” of having sex?

Even though he and this woman had never actually had sex, he presumed they would be having sex. He and the woman “intended” to have sex. Words mean things, and ‘intend’ means to make plans to do something. We all know the best laid plans go astray, so intending to have sex is not actually consent. I just wanted to take a moment and make that clear. The fact that she hadn’t had sex with you implies to me that perhaps her intentions were to never have sex with you. I mean, based on the evidence provided by Lenard, that seemed to be the plan she was making.

And if this wasn’t enough, Madam Noire broke another story on Monday (7/23) and dropped another clip of Lenard talking about how he and his wife (according to his own words) agree their first sexual encounter was more like rape. He said that this woman who for one whole ass year did not have sex with him, got wasted one night, passed out and this would be the first time they had sex.

Evidently, this morning (7/24), he called his wife to back him up and explain to the world that her first sexual experience with him was completely consensual and of course she did all of that because what else is she going to do? The fact that Lenard tha God would place that burden on his wife is disgusting and also tells me what kind of man he is; he would rather throw his wife to the wolves, even though she is not a media personality and by all accounts seems to enjoy her anonymity. Who cares about her well-being and her peace (I know her mentions are in shambles). Lenard tha God preferred to have his wife do his heavy lifting as if that somehow will absolve him of all the harm he’s done. Is that y’all king? For real?

Also, these stories he’s told — these are the version of events that he feels comfortable sharing. Can you imagine what the real story is??

Anyway, the fact that all these clips are from media that’s been out in the universe for three to five years and the fact that he’s been able to prosper and gain the status as probably one of the most influential Black media gatekeepers tells us who his audience is — a bunch of other rapey mofos and the women that love them. It also tells us that being a sexual predator doesn’t matter if you are a Black man with a largely Black following. I mean who in the R. Kelly is going to tell me differently?

Side note — Some of the most bigoted, homophobic, sexist, ridiculous nonsense is attached to the Breakfast Club. It’s like Black celebrities specifically go to the Breakfast Club just to make bigoted, nonsensical statements.  Imagine Wiz Khalifa going on Good Morning America talking about men shouldn’t eat bananas. You can’t imagine it, can you? Because it would never happen.

Anyway, Fuck Lenard tha God.

Instead, I’d like to send love and light to all the victims dealing with the trauma of sexual assault every day, who have to get up and go to work and take care of kids and significant others and try to smile and find joy and love Jesus, your neighbor, and sex, all while the rage and frustration and hurt and anxiety are swirling inside of you. Maybe one day Black people collectively will stand on the side of the victim rather than the predator. That’s all I can give you – a maybe one day.

#MeToo…Except when it comes to holding Black men accountable

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Rolling Ray Undergoes Surgery After Wig Catches On Fire

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Social media star Rolling Ray underwent surgery Tuesday morning to treat serious burns on his body after his terrible wig accident last week. 

In a series of IG stories, he let his audience follow along as he prepped for surgery.

Last week Rolling Ray announced he was hospitalized after his wig caught on fire! During a January 13 Instagram Live session hosted straight from his hospital bedside, he showed his severely burnt and damaged face telling viewers his “whole skin, legs, arms, feet, and everything” were burned.

In a more recent Live, Ray explained the incident that led to his whole wig catching on fire: an unfortunate smoking accident. “It just, like, lit on fire when I tried to light the cigarette,” he recounted. “So I get to trying to snatch the wig off. B***h, the fire goes to my f*****g shirt, to my feet, to my legs, to my back. It’s a fire everywhere, it’s a fire in the whole room.” 

Of course the internet trolled him in a disgusting display of ableism and heartlessness. Comments like “Rolling Ray should have stopped, dropped, and rolled” and “karma’s a b***h” had social media conflicted in its feelings about his accident. His sensation comes from his harsh and, often, below-the-belt reads (just last month he told Yung Miami to “dig (sic) up” her dead baby father. However, the criticism didn’t stop him from responding on Twitter. 

Rolling Ray might be problematic as all get-out, but we do not tolerate ableism here. We wish him well as he heals.

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Fantasia Reveals Gender of Baby On the Way!

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On Tuesday singer-songwriter and “American Idol” winner Fantasia Barrino took to social media to reveal that she is having a baby girl, her first child with husband Kendall Taylor.

In a series of Instagram stories, Fantasia showed pink fireworks being shot off during a gender reveal party, to her and her hubby’s excitement! She continued by sharing what her daughter-to-be’s name will be: Keziah London Taylor.

The news comes after the couple revealed they had struggled to conceive since their 2015 marriage. During a November episode of her IG Live show “Taylor Talks,” she described continuously praying for a child with her husband. Fantasia, a deeply devout Christian, was obviously elated when she shared the news.

“God I Want To Thank You!” she said in an Instagram caption. “You Gave Us A Seed even when the Doctor said that one of my Tubes [was] Closed you said Different. @salute1st I Love You King and I can’t wait to see who He or She acts Like.”

We can see Fantasia and family are all super excited to be welcoming a baby girl into their lives. All congratulations to her.

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Kim Kardashian and Kanye West Are Getting Divorced, Report Says

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In a story published Tuesday evening, Page Six is reporting that Kim Kardashian and Kanye West are getting divorced, with the two already in settlement talks. The news comes after the couple spent the holiday season separately – Kanye at his ranch outside Cody, Wyoming, Kim and the kids with her famous family in southern California. 

A source close to Kardashian was quoted saying, “Kim got Kanye to go up there so they could live separate lives and quietly get things sorted out to separate and divorce. She’s done.” Kardashian, 40, and West, 43, are said to be splitting because of marital problems directly related to Kanye’s very public mental health struggles.

For several years the rapper’s various antics have caused fans to worry. After coming out as a Trump supporter, West then announced his own 2020 presidential bid under a new political party: the Birthday Party. At a campaign rally in South Carolina, he was seen rambling, debating individual audience members, and at times, crying. In various interviews, he has rambled on almost incoherently, and his tweetstorms are now infamous.

For her part, Kim has always supported her husband and has openly discussed the difficulties of their marriage. Back in June, she shared on social media, “Anyone who has [bipolar disorder] or has a loved one in their life who does, knows how incredibly complicated and painful it is to understand… People who are unaware or far removed from this experience can be judgmental and not understand that the individual (has) to engage in the process of getting help no matter how hard family and friends try.”

It appears she has finally reached her limit in the union with the unnamed source saying, “She is serious about taking the bar exam and becoming a lawyer, she is serious about her prison reform campaign. Meanwhile Kanye is talking about running for president and saying other crazy s**t, and she’s just had enough of it.”

Separately, a source close to Kanye alleges the rapper is sick of his wife and her family, which might have some truth to it since he has tweeted some pretty nasty things about them in the past. “I been trying to get divorced since Kim met with Meek at the Warldolf [sic] for ‘prison reform,’” he said in a now-deleted July tweet. Recently, he hasn’t been featured on his wife’s Instagram and has largely remained out of the public eye.

With the news yet to be confirmed, the “divorce is imminent” reports are just rumors for now. We’ll be following the news as more information comes out.

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