Abuse at the hands of someone who was admired and respected, and of course, the response from dirtbags is that it’s just a money grab and a shot at five minutes of fame.

https://www.vibe.com/2016/04/afrika-bambaataa-sexual-molestation-ronald-savage/?utm_source=sc-fb&utm_medium=ref&utm_campaign=afrikabambaataa

Ask yourself what a middle aged man would think he’d gain by telling of abuse that took place 35 years earlier, especially when naming a legendary figure in the hip hop community. He knew he people would call him a liar (and worse) and ostracize him.

He has nothing to gain by doing this except having his voice heard and possibly preventing it from happening to someone else. Can you imagine how much fear, humiliation and shame someone would have to face to decide to let the whole world know they were abused? Even moreso than when a woman comes forward — I think as a culture we look at a male victim differently after learning this part of his past. Society (and I think particularly hip hop culture) punishes men as being weak for allowing another male to victimize him, even when the victim was just a defenseless child at the time.

I wish there weren’t more stories to be told, but I hope more keep being made public. Sexual abuse of children and teens is so common in this country, and we just look the other way. We create an environment where one does not feel safe enough to tell anyone. As a culture, we willingly protect accused abusers when we insinuate the victim is just looking for attention or money. Guess what, rich people, famous people, respected people are guilty of child molestation too.