Yoga Flamed: Russell Simmons, Hip-Hop, and Dropping the Torch of Patriarchy

Let’s get it right from the offset, Russell Simmons couldn’t be more wrong in his sexual assault ‘apology’. Apologies are a thing, but the best apologies are the ones that do not have to be given. I am filled with disappointment (and after reading the accounts, disgust), but I can’t judge. Why? Ain’t none of us (men, or male-bodied) “clean” in this, really. To be specific, a privilege is defined by inequity, someone has to ‘have not’ for someone else to ‘have’. So no privilege is exempt from causing harm. Point blank period. If I am male-identified and living in a patriarchy, then I am in some way (even if slightly and with “good intentions”) contributing to someone’s harm. The best I can do as a man is ask questions and listen if I want to change that. Russell Simmons is gonna need a lot more than that weak ass apology. Jenny Lumet’s letter recalling the events of that night with Russell Simmons is one of the most harrowing accounts I have ever read. If I could boil it down to one detail, it’s the one that highlights that Russell offered Jenny a ride to her home. When she gave the address to the driver, Simmons responded with “No.” The cold calculation in Simmons’ “No.” was all I needed to understand (even if only superficially) how Jenny might have felt. By extension, I realized how many female-bodied/identified people feel most times, most days, most nights. The compound privilege of just these two accounts is crippling. To this point, there’s so much at play, I could take…