In the most serious case of “Money Myopia” that I’ve seen in some time, Tavis “Accountability” Smiley just announced his publishing ompany will be using a ten-foot-pole to touch R. Kelly’s upcoming memoirs and publish them.
Gushed Smiley:
“We are thrilled to be the conduit through which R. Kelly will tell his own story,” said Tavis Smiley, founder and publisher of SmileyBooks. “He has earned the right to tell his story his own way.”
Riiiiiiiiight.
Sayeth Womanist Musings quite eloquently:
Apparently, with the help of celebrity author David Ritz, Kelly will write about the loss of his mother, the creative process behind hits such as “I Believe I Can Fly” and “You Are Not Alone,” as well as discuss his six year legal ordeal. It must have been trying for him, poor baby; we will just ignore what the young girl went through. It seems that we find it easier to show sympathy for the predator, than we do the victim and only in this unbalanced state could it be possible for Tavis Smiley to believe that it is an excellent idea to offer this man a platform to tell his story.
What’s, I dunno, CONFUSING about this is Tavis has been pretty adamant about holding another particular black man accountable, namely our president, who, last I checked, never went to trial for having sex with an underage girl and didn’t marry any of his 16 year old proteges. You know? The O Man? Our friend Barry. The guy who seems, for all intents and purposes, to really love and respect all the black women in his life from the First Lady to the First Daughters to the First Grandmother to his Chicago homies like Valerie Jarrett and whatnot. You know, that guy. Leader of the free world and the whole shebang. As one of my homies on Twitter, Bassey, wrote: “Please critique the Prez. Please hold him accountable. But don’t act like this didn’t start because he wouldn’t come over to play trucks.”
Bassey, of course, was referring to the now legendary State of the Black Union kerfuffle in 2008 where Smiley wanted Obama to attend and he offered to send his wife Michelle instead and had Tavis REFUSED to be rebuffed in this manner and took to the airwaves of the Tom Joyner Show b*tching to anyone within earshot that Barack Obama need to be watched closely. Which, as Bassey said, would be a cool thing if it weren’t for the fact that Tavis is really just mad because “he wouldn’t come over to play trucks.”
I already knew the whole “accountability” kick was more about book sales than actually holding anyone accountable, but choosing to publish the book by a man who’s about as skeevy as the day is long and beaming about it like it’s the greatest thing since Ali-Forman is BEYOND hypocritical. Pundit, heal thyself!
I’m sure Are-ruh will have some illuminating ish to say, despite the fact that people found it more convienent to shame the girl he performed, ahem, UNSPEAKABLE ACTS on than hold HIM accountable for the fact that he seems to REALLY like them young. And this book will be just another in a long line of signifiers to perverts that you can do pretty much anything to a woman, girl, child, whatever, and someone will love your trifling a** anyway because it’s our fault for having vaginas. But for Tavis, and others who claim to be holding the entire race to a higher standard, this is further proof that you never meant to hold anything to any standards ever. That “cash rules everything around you, dollah, dollah bill, ya’ll” and you could seriously give two craps about the implication of being the speakerbox to a known pederast. After all, freedom of speech, ya’ll! And SOMEONE was going to publish his book so why not Mr. Accountability?
Pardon me while I go regurgitate something.
Article by Danielle Belton
WHO IS “THE SNOB?" She is your very best, better than most since 1977 friend, self-described “nerd girl/hobohemian,” writer and journalist, Danielle C. Belton.Born and raised St. Louis, Mo. on a healthy diet of news programming, pop culture, black history and “snark,” Belton is best known as the woman behind THE BLACK SNOB. A pop culture-meets-politics blog, THE BLACK SNOB takes a look at irreverent side of life, finding the funny, freaky center of every issue. http://blacksnob.com.
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This is digusting but not suprising coming from Smiley. I was officially done with him when I saw his misogynist farce “stand” in which he deified black sexist mens performances during the civil right movement. This decision to pu lish R. Kelley is consistent with that. Smiley is obviously a secular pulpit pimp, a proverbial crab in the barrel…the worst of Black America. There’s no doubt about it.