美国国家公共电台 NPR #MuteRKelly Co-Founder On The Moment, Her Movement And Its Momentum

 

LULU GARCIA-NAVARRO, HOST:

The hashtag #MuteRKelly started trending last week. The online campaign calls for companies to cut ties with R. Kelly, the singer-songwriter, because of allegations of decades of abuse of girls and young women. The campaign, which began last year, was recently backed by the anti-harassment coalition¹ Time's Up and has been spearheaded by Kenyette Barnes and Oronike Odeleye. We spoke² to Odeleye via Skype, and she told us they want a complete and total mute of R. Kelly.

ORONIKE ODELEYE: We don't want to hear him on the radio. We do not want him on streaming services. We do not want him booked at concerts. It's his money. It's his wealth. It's his notoriety. It's all the connections that he has in the entertainment industry that make it hard for victims to successfully prosecute³ him.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: R. Kelly is no longer a big earner for these companies, though, in the same way that he might've been before. Do you think that that helps your case in a way because it's no longer about the money, and he has less power?

ODELEYE: Well, you know, it's always about the money. I mean, if they're earning $5 for a record company, they're going to, you know, keep them on the payroll⁴. But he also has really deep connections that you don't necessarily see on the surface. He started a lot of people's careers. He's written songs for a lot of people. He's produced a lot of folks. You know, there are women who've been in relationships with him who have singing careers that don't want to now, you know, burn the bridge that got them to where they are. He still is very powerful within the industry. And we've been having the same block against the powers that be in terms of dropping him as we did, you know, years and years ago when people were calling for it.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: Do you think black women's voices have been lost in this movement and the wider movement of #MeToo?

ODELEYE: Absolutely. I think that, you know, we are at the bottom of the pecking order when it comes to importance in this country. Women already have a very hard time proving these things. But black women have an even harder time because of so many stereotypes⁵ that have been going around since slavery about black women's promiscuity⁶ or our - you know, our trustworthiness or lack thereof. It's really hard when we come forward for people to just jump behind us and say, yes, I'm going to support you.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: Walk me through a little bit some of the responses in the African-American community. You know, I've heard some claim that R. Kelly is a successful black man that's done a lot for the black community through his music and that he is a victim of systemic racism⁷ in the way that, you know, other black people are. And so, therefore, somehow should not be held accountable.

ODELEYE: You know, I think that as a community, you know, we have some internal housecleaning to do in terms of who it is we support and who we do not support. R. Kelly is a talented musician, but he has not cured cancer. He has not built hospitals and schools in our community. What he has done is used his money and his fame to prey⁸ on young women. That's it. And so I think that that claim a lot of times can be our knee-jerk reaction because so many of our famous and successful people are targets unfairly so. But we have to be able to sift⁹ through and see who it is is - that's a valid¹⁰ claim against it and who it's not. And with R. Kelly, that's just not a valid claim.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: We should say that in a statement to BuzzFeed News earlier this week, Kelly's representative said that the controversy¹¹ is, quote - and I'm quoting here - "an attempted public lynching of a black man who has made extraordinary contributions to our culture." Your reaction to that?

ODELEYE: I find that, you know, it makes me incensed¹² that he would draw a comparison to our ancestors who were lynched. R. Kelly is being called to task for his actions. That's not a lynching. It's a reckoning, and there's a difference. And so to make that incendiary comparison is really trying to pull on the emotions of the African-American community. But it's not founded in any validity, in any logic¹³ whatsoever¹⁴. He is a pariah¹⁵ to our community. And, honestly, if there was going to be a lynching, then we, as a community, should've done it with him a long time ago.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: National co-founder of the #MuteRKelly campaign Oronike Odeleye joins us via Skype. Thank you very much.

ODELEYE: Thank you.

1 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

2 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

3 prosecute   

vt.告发；进行；vi.告发，起诉，作检察官

参考例句：

• I am trying my best to prosecute my duties.我正在尽力履行我的职责。
• Is there enough evidence to prosecute?有没有起诉的足够证据？

4 payroll   

n.工资表，在职人员名单，工薪总额

参考例句：

• His yearly payroll is $1.2 million.他的年薪是120万美元。
• I can't wait to get my payroll check.我真等不及拿到我的工资单了。

5 stereotypes   

n.老套，模式化的见解，有老一套固定想法的人( stereotype的名词复数 )v.把…模式化，使成陈规( stereotype的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Such jokes tend to reinforce racial stereotypes. 这样的笑话容易渲染种族偏见。
• It makes me sick to read over such stereotypes devoid of content. 这种空洞无物的八股调，我看了就讨厌。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

6 promiscuity   

n.混杂，混乱；（男女的）乱交

参考例句：

• Promiscuity went unpunished, divorce was permitted. 乱交挨不着惩罚，离婚办得成手续。 来自英汉文学
• There is also no doubt that she falls into promiscuity at last. 同时无疑她最后也堕入性乱。 来自互联网

7 racism   

n.民族主义；种族歧视(意识)

参考例句：

• He said that racism is endemic in this country.他说种族主义在该国很普遍。
• Racism causes political instability and violence.种族主义道致政治动荡和暴力事件。

8 prey   

n.被掠食者，牺牲者，掠食；v.捕食，掠夺，折磨

参考例句：

• Stronger animals prey on weaker ones.弱肉强食。
• The lion was hunting for its prey.狮子在寻找猎物。

9 sift   

v.筛撒，纷落，详察

参考例句：

• Sift out the wheat from the chaff.把小麦的壳筛出来。
• Sift sugar on top of the cake.在蛋糕上面撒上糖。

10 valid   

adj.有确实根据的；有效的；正当的，合法的

参考例句：

• His claim to own the house is valid.他主张对此屋的所有权有效。
• Do you have valid reasons for your absence?你的缺席有正当理由吗？

11 controversy   

n.争论，辩论，争吵

参考例句：

• That is a fact beyond controversy.那是一个无可争论的事实。
• We ran the risk of becoming the butt of every controversy.我们要冒使自己在所有的纷争中都成为众矢之的的风险。

12 incensed   

盛怒的

参考例句：

• The decision incensed the workforce. 这个决定激怒了劳工大众。
• They were incensed at the decision. 他们被这个决定激怒了。

13 logic   

n.逻辑(学)；逻辑性

参考例句：

• What sort of logic is that?这是什么逻辑？
• I don't follow the logic of your argument.我不明白你的论点逻辑性何在。

14 whatsoever   

adv.（用于否定句中以加强语气）任何；pron.无论什么

参考例句：

• There's no reason whatsoever to turn down this suggestion.没有任何理由拒绝这个建议。
• All things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you,do ye even so to them.你想别人对你怎样，你就怎样对人。

15 pariah   

n.被社会抛弃者

参考例句：

• Shortly Tom came upon the juvenile pariah of the village.不一会儿，汤姆碰上了村里的少年弃儿。
• His landlady had treated him like a dangerous criminal,a pariah.房东太太对待他就像对待危险的罪犯、对待社会弃儿一样。