“While Her Memory of that Evening is very Different from Mine…”: Russell Simmons Stepping Down From His Companies

I am not surprised. As more and more people are revealing their truths, it does not come as a shock to me that Russell Simmons is among the list of enforcers. He exudes the power-loving capitalist, and at the time of his ultimate hubris, I’m sure he felt inclined and entitled to many a thing, and in his eyes apparently, things could be women. Simmons’ apology is sound, it checks all of the boxes, it remembers to state that he is leaving to work on himself and correct his ways. The problem is, with this and so many of the apologies, is they all seem to say, “I’m sorry you took that situation the way that you did”, then they step down or leave a show. Simmons stated that “While her memory of that evening is very different from mine…” Your memory is not relevant. The article Lumet wrote in The Hollywood Reporter is terrifying – like a horror movie kidnapping and a girl doing what she felt like she had to do as she felt her life at stake. Whatever Simmons remembers has nothing to do with how this woman truly felt by the circumstances Simmons created, thankfully Simmons acknowledged this. This country has been through an immense trauma from its inception, murder, rape, torture, enslavement. Ancestral trauma is real and presents itself in many forms. For some it compels them to act in a violent fashion, present trauma people have experienced can have this effect.

Specifically, the historical trauma in this country around Black men is real. This pain is in our blood, our bones, b…