Written by Nicole J.

It was recently reported that a black woman by the name of Valencia Love posted the $100,000 bail for Robert Kelly. Safe to say, I am both disgusted and unsurprised. Love, who owns the restaurant Love on the Blu in Chicago, stated she was just helping out a friend according to a screenshot from her restaurant’s Yelp page, which has since been scrubbed due to this recent controversy.

Love also owns the Lord and Child Christian Daycare. So, to add it all together, a woman responsible for the safety and wellbeing of minors, paid a rather large sum of money to release a repeated abuser of minors. Some people are saying that it was probably Robert’s money to begin with. Even if it is, Miss Love’s name is attached to it, so she’ll go down with the ship.

Now, again, I am not surprised by this turn of events, as unfortunately black women have either defended or were party to the degeneracy of our men for ages. Unfortunately, some women will destroy their own image to save a black man. Instead of robbing Peter to pay Paul, it’s betraying Keisha to save Tyrone. The black community looks the way it does because of our actions. Rather than casting out the R. Kellys and the men like him, we defend them, all while our daughters and sons are violated.

Imagine all the good $100,000 could do when not funneled into the release of an abuser. As creative and hardworking as we are, that amount of money could go a long way. It could pay for therapy for the victims of sexual assault. The funds could set up scholarship programs to help abuse victims escape the cycle of poverty they might be trapped in. It could contribute to the survivors of sexual abuse. It could be a hefty down payment on a battered women’s shelter. The possibilities are endless. But nope! Let’s instead re-release a rapist to the world. What is wrong with you?!

Black women can mobilize when we want to. Too bad it’s for nonsense like this.