Surviving R. Kelly: Why You Need a Platform
If you’ve been paying attention to traditional or social media over the past week, you’ve probably seen commentary on the Lifetime docuseries Surviving R. Kelly, detailing the award-winning musician’s predatory sexual acts against underage girls.
Why Now?
From R. Kelly to Harvey Weinstein, an ongoing refrains from people skeptical of victim’s claims is, “Why are they talking about it now?”
R. Kelly
In R. Kelly’s case, tales of him hanging out near high schools and even marrying the late 15-year-old singer, Aaliyah, have been well-documented. Court dockets and news articles show that victims had made attempts to speak up, but their cries were largely ignored.
Why now? Because the #metoo movement ushered in a platform for women (and men) who have experienced sexual aggression.
In the largest continuing study available to date, the National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that one in two women and one in five men have experienced sexual violence other than rape during their lifetime; one in 5 women and one in 67 men reported rapes or attempted rapes.
In a nutshell, the problem isn’t new, but the platform has now given a real voice to the voiceless, preventing the world from keeping its head in the sand.
The Power of a Platform
As you may know, a great deal of my work now focuses on helping purpose-driven experts increase their impact through platform building. As I watched the docuseries, I wondered how many fewer lives would have been destroyed if R. Kelly’s victims had been given three nights on national television to tell their stories 30 years ago? How many suicide attempts would have been avoided? Families left intact instead of destroyed by his sadistic manipulation?
If you know that your work has the ability to prevent people from harm, you have a responsibility to push yourself outside of your comfort zone to share your message. If you don’t know where to start or feel like your efforts aren’t yielding the results you’re after, I can help.
This year, I have a goal of personally helping 100 purpose-driven experts grow their platform. I firmly believe that if we all walk fully in our purpose, most of the problems plaguing the world could be eradicated. I’m committed to doing my part.
Will YOU be a part of the 100?
