by Iyana Carter
January 3, 2019: the mini series Surviving R. Kelly aired on television. This day would change the lives of many by exposing the raw material and interviews of the victims of Robert Sylvester Kelly.
People may have heard of Kelly for his well known songs such as Believe I can Fly and Same Girl featuring Usher. His music career began in 1992 when he released his first debut album, Born.
Although he produced music enjoyed by many, Kelly began producing music that became highly sexualized and unpopular among his fans. Because of this, later in his career, many people found his music to be vulgar and inappropriate. It was then when society began to notice who he was becoming.
Kelly was hit with several allegations of sexual related activities as well as being involved with young women. At the age of 27, Kelly married Aaliyah Haughton, then 15. They were married for less than one year. For the two to get married, they must have had a consent form stating that Aaliyah could be married at such a young age. It was said that Kelly had papers forged to finalize the marriage.
Aaliyah’s mother, Diane Haughton, had denied permission for them to marry as well as the two being paired together.Apparently, Kelly had allegedly “fabricated” with the marriage license for them to be wed.
Sophomore Lyric Alark said that what stood out most to her while watching the show was how,”For somebody that’s been around for so long and had been charged before, now wants to come out and everyone has something to say.”
Juniors Zoe Molock and Dimitra Hioutis both said they could not believe the accusations against Kelly; however, people did have proof and he was in the wrong for many of the allegations against him.
Molock and Hioutis were appreciative of the courage it took the victims to express what had happened to them, and their experiences with Kelly. Moreover, how no human being should go through the trauma experiences explained frequently in the documentary.
As for the victims, the purpose of the show was to get their stories out. They had a chance to tell the world about someone everyone awed over, and shut his world down. These females were out to put an end to R. Kelly and to create a voice for those who fail to express theirs.