Alliance of White Anti-Racists Everywhere – Los Angeles
domesticviolence
Crystal Gail Mangum Isn’t Innocent, But She’s a Victim Just the Same
09 months ago
If you’re the type to follow maddening, pathetic stories, you’ve already heard how Crystal Gail Mangum, the Durham, North Carolina, mother who wrongly accused three white Duke lacrosse players of rape, has been indicted for the murder of her boyfriend, Reginald Daye. She allegedly stabbed Daye, 46, in the torso during a domestic dispute on April 3; he died in the hospital 10 days later.
I’m not going to rehash the emerging details of Daye’s killing. I’m not going to do the “humanize her” two-step, either; a man is dead. But I still feel compelled to note what the hell happened to Crystal Gail Magnum’s body and mind long before she lurched into Duke rape case infamy.
Several events stand out:
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According to a 2007 News and Observer profile: “She was 14 when she took up with a man twice her age. Three years after that, in 1996, she told police that the boyfriend had “shared” her sexually with three friends in a trailer home on a country road in Creedmoor. She filed a police report but never provided a written account of what happened, as an officer had requested, and the case was not pursued.”
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Also from this profile: “Her parents say the assault left her depressed and that she saw a therapist for a year after and took prescription medicine. But they insist she didn’t suffer lasting psychological damage.” … Her big brother, Travis “TJ” Jr., 36, told the paper, ‘I might be wrong but I feel my sister had to grow up too fast. She was under a lot of stress. She lost her mind one time.’ His father countered, ‘She didn’t lose her mind. She was just depressed and got counseling.’
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And this: “[Hospital] records indicate that she had a long history of psychological problems, including being diagnosed with bipolar disorder, and that she named two anti-psychotic drugs that she had been prescribed. People with bipolar disorder experience swings in behavior.”
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By 2006, when Mangum accused three Duke lacrosse players of raping her, she was a divorced mom of two who had been kicked out of the Navy after a short stint. She was stripping part time and studying psychology full time at North Carolina Central University. According to the state attorney general’s final report of the racially charged case, Mangum encountered the Blue Devils when the escort service she worked with assigned her to what was supposed to be a small bachelor party. The host had requested two white dancers. What he got was Mangum, another black woman–and about 40 male guests. The women, who didn’t know one another, were reluctant to perform for a group that large but relented and collected $400 apiece. During the performance, Mangum, who had been drinking, “appeared to be unsteady on her feet and fell to the ground.” After a spectator held up a broomstick and “suggested its use as a sexual object for the dancers,” the women stopped dancing and retreated to a bedroom. Eventually, partygoers demanded a refund. Mangum, who later blacked out on the lawn, used a racial and sexual slur and claimed to be a cop. At some point during the melee, a white guest screamed, “Thank your grandpa for my nice cotton shirt!”
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Mangum was combining the prescription drugs methadone, Ambien and Paxil. She was clearly impaired during at least one meeting with investigators.
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In February 2010, a little over a year before Daye’s stabbing, Mangum was arrested for assaulting another boyfriend, Milton Walker, and setting his clothes on fire in her bathtub. By then she was a mother of a 3-, 9- and 10-year-old. Her kids were in the next room. Mangum’s daughter, called police because she believed her mom was going to die. But when cops arrived, they reportedly heard her threaten to stab Walker. Mangum–who denied she’d set the fire and insisted that Walker had beaten her–was charged with a slew of felonies including attempted first-degree murder and arson. The jury deadlocked on the felonies; Magnum was sentenced to time served for misdemeanor child abuse, resisting arrest and injury to personal property.
Mangum isn’t what TV newsmagazines and tabloids call an ‘innocent victim.’ But she seems to be a victim, nonetheless. Perhaps if her parents, community and law enforcement had realized the severity of her mental problems and confronted the sexual violence she suffered as a teen, her life might be different. Now a man is dead. And it’s too late.
Rapper Bambu Tackles Domestic Violence–as a Man’s Problem
010 months ago
Recent news has been littered with reports of direct and systemic violence against women, such as the Texas Rape of a young Latina and the GOP’s effort to defund Planned Parenthood. Amid that fury, Los Angeles-based emcee Bambu has stepped up to the plate through his music. The Filipino rapper leaked the song “Something” last month, which discusses an issue relevant to Women’s History Month: domestic violence.
Bambu takes a daring standpoint, narrating from a first person perspective on what it means to be the abuser. In the music video, released this month, Bambu portrays a character who commits suicide because his partner, tired of abuse, has left him. It’s quite rare to hear from the perpetrators of violence, especially when they’re men of color. Hyphen Magazine comments on Bambu’s message:
He breaks it down with every line: the cycle of violence, how violent
behavior can be passed down through generations, how domestic violence
is as much a men’s issue as it is a women’s issue. He puts to words a
painful truth for many of us: that the culture of violence can be
inescapable.
According to the Asian & Pacific Islander American Health Reform, over 40 percent of Asian Americans report experiencing intimate partner violence in their lifetimes, and that is just the figure for reported cases.
This powerful track, produced by DJ Phatrick, will be available on Bambu’s upcoming “Short Changed” Ep, set to drop April 29. Be sure to check out the video, as it intelligently summarizes how domestic violence in communities of color is just as much of a man’s issue as it is a woman’s.
How Do We Support Men With Violent Histories? [Reader Forum]
010 months ago
![How Do We Support Men With Violent Histories? [Reader Forum]](http://colorlines.com/assets_c/2010/11/comment_073010-thumb-640xauto-471-thumb-640xauto-1216-thumb-640xauto-1288-thumb-240xauto-1550.jpg)
Two parallel topics on Colorlines.com this week: the uncertain paths that led two black men to feminism, and the uncertain future of Chris Brown, a record-industry cash cow with a track record of domestic abuse.
Thoai Lu rounded up two recent pieces by black male writers, the Root’s Byron Hurt and PostBourgie’s G.D., discussing how they came to call themselves feminists. In the comments, pedestr1an pops out a quote from G.D.’s piece:
“But if growing up black and poor and male provided an unlikely bridge to anti-sexist thinking, so has feminism complicated the way I think about blackness and class.”
These articles are really great, but I just want to say that I don’t think that being black and poor is an unlikely bridge to understanding sexism at ALL. I’ve interacted with many educated white male “feminists” who are good at regurgitating theory, but fundamentally don’t get it. They approach feminism like monarchs who have decided in their graciousness that it is now wrong to say these things or act in these ways–even to the point of lecturing women on it. I think that you have to be marginalized to understand what marginalization means.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the blogosphere, Chris Brown got angry when asked about his anger issues and broke some windows at Good Morning America. Akiba Solomon said what needs to be said: committers of abuse are broken and can’t fix themselves, and Brown and his management play a dangerous game by pretending otherwise.
Reader Gladstone:
This commentary is spot on! Mr. Brown could learn a thing or two from Mr. Mike Tyson, whose personal history is very well known to the public. Mr. Brown must learn to face his adult life in the context of his childhood, it is not something that you ever “get past”, because wherever you go, there you are. Like anyone who comes from a family with an inherited disorder, be it a physical ailment, or an emotional one, self-awareness and impulse control are the two things necessary to adjust to life in a civil society.
Anna H:
I’m reading your article and realizing that I don’t know much about treatment for abusive men. Most of the things you hear about are framed within pathologizing women, even DV shelters can almost be punishing women for utilizing them (by not allowing them to have contact with family, etc.). There isn’t a lot out there about what is needed to make men confront their issues with patriarchy and how that has influenced their views on women. After reading the quote you posted, about how little girls will love his music and he was doing “girl business,” it’s really alarming how he seems to be trying to run from his actions instead of holding himself accountable. I think what Chris Brown’s story shows is that violence against women isn’t going to end by pathologizing women, but by pathologizing patriarchy and sexism, because it doesn’t seem like he has changed at all.
And on Jorge Rivas’ first report of the GMA outburst, Facebook fan Gari Buttarsays where the line is drawn:
This is a major reason why I stopped being a fan of Chris Brown’s music. Might be a very talented musician, but I want no part of suporting a person prone to this much anger and violence. :( :(
Also on Facebook, Nicki Angela says dumping the Chris Browns of the world isn’t enough:
I don’t like this dude, but he’s too young to just throw away. He’s not seeking the help he needs, and obviously the people around him are not helping him. He needs to also spend some time at not only an abused women’s shelter but also abused children. As of yet he still is not growing as a person.
Which begs the question: How do we support me with histories of violence? And where’s the line between supporting and enabling? Tell us what you think.
Want to join the conversation? Join us here on Colorlines.com, or hit us up on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Tumblr.
Chris Brown Needs More Therapy and Less F.A.M.E.
010 months ago
There was a time, before he assaulted his girlfriend, when Chris Brown was candid about the terror he felt at 7 and 8 years old when he’d overhear his stepfather beating his mother. Brown described a terror so profound that he’d wet his bed rather than risk being caught up in the adult violence. So along with being scared, he was humiliated. I weep for that little boy.
But now he’s a 21-year-old man–with choices.
Brown, unlike many men in his community, can afford quality, effective, consistent mental health care without crazy-making bureaucratic nonsense. He’s also in a unique position to circumvent the cultural stigma. He may have heard some variety of “black men don’t go to therapy, they go to the barbershop,” but his healing (in theory, at least) is literally court-ordered. His friends, family, community, fans, stans and future romantic partners already know about his anger management and mental health needs.
Unfortunately, Brown is a celebrity. And he seems to believe that celebrity will disappear the trauma he suffered as a child and the blackout-level violence he committed himself.
Brown has said he uses the arts to escape. But singing those runs, dancing the hell out of a Michael Jackson tribute then breaking down on the 2010 BET Awards, dyeing his kinky hair blond, making Spring Break-ready techno pop hits, tweeting about Jesus, and using urban radio and TV to say “Dueces” to his ex won’t change the fact that he pummeled Rihanna so severely. Because his victim happened to be more famous than him, he couldn’t count on the silence that kills so many women of color.
During yesterday’s hostile interview with a clearly sympathetic Robin Roberts, Brown kept insisting that he had come to “Good Morning America” to discuss his album, “F.A.M.E.,” which alternately stands for “Forgiving All My Enemies” and “Fans Are My Everything.” (After that interview, he allegedly tossed a chair through his dressing room window and ripped off his shirt in disgust.) I’m not clear how Brown could give his album–which hit Number One on iTunes when it dropped yesterday–such provocative subtext then place a gag order on journalists whom he’s using to sell his work.
Besides, when Brown gets his way, which I believe he did in this recent MTV interview, here’s what he gives:
“Being able to collab with [Justin Bieber] was great. He’s a young, energetic cat, so being able to work with him, with the fanbase he has, was incredible. I know a lot of little girls are going to love this record.
…I actually stood [Bieber] up on accident. He was kind of mad … I was all the way on the other side of town handling some business, ‘girl business,’ and I was rushing back, and by that time, he’s like, ‘Man, I’m leaving, bro.”
For me, two things pop out of this blather:
I know a lot of little girls are going to love this record.
I was all the way on the other side of town handling some business, ‘girl business.’
I’m not Chris Brown’s target audience; I’m a grown woman. I’m not enough of a fan to be his everything, and I don’t detest him enough to be one of his so-called enemies. I’m just an observer who believes he should be a better example for the little girls who scream for him and protect the girls with whom he’s ‘doing his business.’ Without some serious mental health work, I don’t think he’ll succeed. And really, I’m afraid of what he will do to himself and to the next woman who gently reminds him that he can’t escape the inescapable.
Why Does Charlie (Irwin Estevez) Sheen Get So Many Passes?
010 months ago
For the past two decades Charlie Sheen’s life has been a never-ending cycle of drama, the bad kind–allegations of him being a womanizer; court appearances related to domestic abuse, drugs, arrests; rehab stints, and countless other fiascos, like his cars being repeatedly driven off cliffs.
To say that Sheen, who’s real name is Carlos Irwin Estevez (his grandfather migrated to the U.S. from Spain), has gotten away with a lot is an understatement. The man has shot a woman before. And yet, he remains enormously popular. What gives? On Tuesday, I joined Michael Eric Dyson on his radio show to chat about Charlie Sheen, a.k.a. Carlos Estevez. You can hear the segment I’m in at the 33:00 minute mark.
For a country so obsessed with personal responsibility, how is it possible that his fans have given him so many second-chances? What if Sheen was black? Would his fans be just as forgiving? Chime in with your own thoughts in the comments below.
Part of why Sheen’s fans stand by him may be because he’s established a pattern of consistently being a mess. In 1990, he accidentally shot his then fiancée in the arm. In 1994, he was sued by a woman who alleged he hit her after she turned down sex. In 1997, he was charged with misdemeanor battery for throwing his then girlfriend Brittany Ashland onto the floor during a fight. Denise Richards said that Sheen shoved and threatened to kill her. Brooke Mueller called police in 2009 when he held a knife to her throat. In 2010, a 22-year-old woman locked herself in a bathroom at the Plaza and called security when she became “extremely afraid” of Sheen.
Throughout all this, Sheen’s audience stuck with him. “Two and a Half Men”–the show he starred in, before CBS fired him–never really saw ratings go down since it first aired in 2003. In its eight-season run, the show averaged about 15 million viewers and ranked among the top 20 programs every season.
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Sheen would probably still be working today if he hadn’t demanded an extra million dollars per episode and lashed out at his bosses–whom he called “clowns,” “AA Nazis” and “blunt hypocrites”–for “getting up in my grill, telling me how to live my personal life,” Sheen said on a call into the radio show Loose Cannons. When CNN’s Piers Morgan asked him if he regretted any of his past actions, Sheen replied with “I think it’s a waste of time because I can’t change it.” |
All this seems to make no difference with his fans.
Last Monday, Sheen went on Twitter looking for a social media intern to work for him and he received more than 74,000 application in 48 hours. “I’m looking to hire a #winning INTERN with #TigerBlood,” Sheen wrote on Twitter.
Sheen, who was making close to $2 million an episode, has a new project to keep his career going. He’s going on a mini tour of a show he’s calling “Charlie Sheen LIVE: ‘Violent Torpedo of Truth’”. You guessed it, tickets for that sold out, in 17 minutes.
Celebrity-scandal comparisons laid to the side–Tiger Woods, Michael Vick, even Kanye West haven’t proven to be so impervious; nor have any of a long list of messy female celebrities–it’s hard not to think about what a non-celebrity, brown-skinned Carlos Estevez would face if he lived this way. Three strikes and he’d be out with a mandatory-minimum firearm possession sentencing.
Chris Brown Says He’s Been Forgiven
011 months ago
R&B pop singer Chris Brown says his audience and fellow artists have moved on and that he’s been forgiven for assaulting ex-girlfriend Robyn Rihanna Fenty, better known as Rihanna.
In an interview with Page Six, Brown cites other artists interests in working with him as a sign of progress and forgiveness.
“They wanna get on the record. They wanna let me back in the door. The last two years, everybody dissed me, but my fans were so dedicated,” Brown told Page Six.
“A handful of people stuck by me,” Brown said, including fellow artists Pitbull and Pharrell Williams of N.E.R.D.
It’s been three years since Brown was booked on felony criminal charges after assaulting Rihanna. He was convicted of assault back in
2009 and sentenced to five years probation, 180 days of community
labor and ordered not to contact Rihanna. Along with community service Brown also sought therapy and anger management classes. In a January 2010 interview Brown told Wendy Williams that he was now in “the best place in my life.”
The saga still continues though.
On February 22, 2011, a Los Angeles judge replaced Rihanna’s restraining order with a level one order — allowing Brown to contact Rihanna as long as he does not “harass, annoy, or molest her.” Days later when MediaTakeOut.com released more LAPD images of Rihanna and Brown the night of the incident Brown took to twitter:
“The Devil is always busy!! But when u have a destiny, nothing or no one can stop what god has planned!”
It’s not clear who he was referring to in the tweet that has now been removed, but what is clear is that all these updates (including nude pictures of Brown) are showing up at what seems like an opportune time. The singer’s fourth album ‘F.A.M.E.’ — which stands for “Forgiving All My Enemies” — will be released March 22nd.
In the end, it’s less about whether your fans and fellow artists have forgiven you, and more about whether you’ve broken the cycle of domestic violence. Before assaulting Rihanna, Brown told TV host Tyra Banks that as a child he witnessed and heard his own mother be beaten and sexually assaulted her then-boyfriend. Watch a clip from that show below.
During Recession, Domestic Violence on the Rise
01 year ago
October is National Domestic Violence Awareness Month, and on Wednesday President Obama hosted an event at the White House with Vice President Joe Biden to launch a set of new initiatives for domestic violence survivors.
“Nobody in America should live in fear because they are unsafe in their own home–no adult, no child,” Obama said. “And no one who is the victim of abuse should ever feel that they have no way to get out. We need to make sure every victim of domestic violence knows that they are not alone; that there are resources available to them in their moment of greatest need.”
As Daisy Hernandez wrote for ColorLines earlier this year, the recession has played a big role in rising rates of domestic violence. What’s going on outside the home often exacerbates what’s already happening behind closed doors. The economy and intimate partner violence are often related:
The woman had given birth to the couple’s first child and her partner’s family gave him $300 to help with groceries. But her partner, who received the cash, lied and said it was only $100, only enough to buy milk, eggs, juice and a Swiffer mop. The new mom was left to dip into what money she had to provide groceries for the family of three. Money had become one more weapon for the abuser.
Advocates call it “economic abuse” and it’s part of the rise in domestic violence that they report happening nationwide in this recession. The last data available on the issue is a 2004 report by the National Institute of Justice, an agency of the Department of Justice, which found that when unemployment rates go up among men so does violence against women. This is of particular significance for Black and Latino communities where unemployment rates are in the double digits.
Obama said his administration was going to create a national advisory committee addressing violence against women that will be overseen by Attorney General Eric Holder. He also announced a suite of programs in different departments to meet the needs of domestic violence survivors, including giving people greater legal protections and protecting domestic violence survivors from being denied or kicked out of housing because they’d been abused.
Obama also said the Department of Justice was looking into making sure that restraining orders were successfully implemented and enforced, and that his administration was going to connect DV survivors with jobs and services and other tools so they could win “financial independence” to build new lives.
The White House event coincided with the launch of a new report from the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs, an affiliation of grassroots groups that work on issues of violence against and within queer communities, that showed that intimate partner violence is on the rise and that the economic crisis has severely affected service providers’ ability to support LGBT domestic violence survivors. There was no mention of queer folks’ experience with domestic violence at the White House event, but LGBT people are nearly twice as likely to experience domestic violence as people in hetero relationships.
NCAVP also found that reported incidents of LGBT domestic violence have become increasingly deadly and that people under 30 make up nearly 40 percent of those who report cases of intimate partner violence. And NCAVP reported that alongside this rise in domestic violence, people have reported an increase in police misconduct or negligence when it came to responding to domestic violence calls.
Readers Debate Chris Brown’s BET Comeback
01 year ago
If singer Chris Brown had beat up Black Entertainment Television (BET) president Debra Lee’s daughter, would she let him on her awards show?
That was just one of the questions readers posed on a ColorLines story published earlier this week. In “Chris Brown’s Fake Tears? He Had No Business on BET Either Way”, I asked readers if Chris Brown had done enough in publicly confronting his woman-batterer past to merit a spotlight on BET’s primetime awards show–the number one rated awards show among Black viewers in the U.S.
A lively conversation erupted on both ColorLines and the ColorLines Facebook page. A number of commenters felt Brown has been unfairly singled out, saying things like: “Please! give the guy a break…it’s obvious he’s hurting.” Others asked their own questions: “I have a question to pose to everyone who felt Chris Brown should not have been able to perform and doesn’t deserve forgiveness, what do you suggest as an alternate?”
First, here’s the back story: After declining Brown’s request to perform last year, BET invited Brown to perform a medley of songs as a tribute to his idol Michael Jackson. He began his six minute performance moving his body in ways that only someone who’s obsessively rehearsed Michael Jackson’s choreography could. Brown mastered and performed each routine meticulously. But by the end of his performance, when “Man in the Mirror” began to play, Brown became emotional and ended up on his knees, crying.
Here’s how, one reader reacted:
Crying to Man in the Mirror isn’t a sign of meaningfully making up for his heinous act of violence… Numerous survivors out there relive their experiences when these men are given platforms to imply that their pain is greater than the brutality they inflict on the bodies of women they claim to love. The bottom line is, we need to make a decision about what kind of world we want to live in: one where violent crimes against women are treated seriously or simply given a year grace period.
Earlier this year, six months after he was sentenced to “labor-oriented community service” for assaulting his girlfriend, Rihanna, Brown received a glowing probation report. At the time, he had completed 17 out of 52 court-mandated domestic violence counseling groups sessions, paid his fines and was performing community service. He’s also apologized to his fans. So is it time to forgive him?
That’s actually the wrong question. The question is not how BET (or the rest of us) should or shouldn’t engage Brown in his personal drama. Rather, the question is, What responsibility does BET have to the Black community and Black women?
More than one commenter pointed out a range of troubling ways in which other artists demean Black women on BET every day and to the many other public figures who have histories of abusing women. All of this is what makes Brown’s appearance so troubling. Against that backdrop, and the backdrop of remarkably high rates of domestic violence among Black women, BET made a particularly loud statement by aiding Brown’s image makeover.
Brown isn’t just any pop star. He was a role model for young boys and a heartthrob to young girls learning about love and relationships through billboard topping songs like “Kiss Kiss” and television appearances on the Disney Channel’s “The Suite Life of Zack and Cody.”
“Kids look up to him. He could of gone out to speak to the youth. Gone in to schools and Boys and Girls clubs and bared his heart out,” says Tanya McLeod, a domestic violence survivor and organizer at the Voices of Women Organizing Project.
That sort of act could go a long way. According to the Women Of Color’s Network, Black women are less likely to report abusers or seek help because of discrimination and Black men’s vulnerability to police brutality and negative stereotyping. As a public figure, Brown had a unique opportunity to put a face to treatment, recovery and what it means to heal from domestic violence. Instead, we’ve now moved on to his personal story of forgiveness–and makeover. “People aren’t talking about his actions, but his performance–and it waters down his actions,” said McLeod.
Who knows where Brown truly is in his personal journey. But it’s clear Black and Latino communities as a whole have a long way to go. BET isn’t helping. Visit Voices of Women Organizing Project – Surviviors of Domestic Violence Organizing For Change to learn how you can.
(Photo by Jason Kempin/ Getty Images)
Chris Brown’s Fake Tears? He Had No Business on BET Either Way
01 year ago
Last night at the BET awards, Chris Brown performed a “tribute” to Michael Jackson. After a few minutes of showing off his dance moves inspired by his idol Michael Jackson, Brown got emotional and the tribute became a self-serving attempt at redefining his current woman-batterer image. At Michael Jackson’s memorial, Jermaine Jackson sang “Smile” above his own brother’s coffin never broke his delivery. But Chris Brown couldn’t deliver “Man in the Mirror” at the BET awards?
Regardless of whether you think Chris Brown’s breakdown was authentic, we should agree on one thing: Brown should have never been on the Black Entertainment Television’s awards show. Black women in the United States suffer deadly violence from family members at rates decidedly higher than other racial groups. The number one killer of African-American women ages 15 to 34 is homicide at the hands of a current or former intimate partner.
Inviting Brown to perform at the BET awards show makes him choking Rihanna to the point where she began to lose consciousness OK–and we saw this happen last night also. During the awards show, Brown won BET’s Fandemonium award, a prize determined by fan votes, beating out apparent favorites like Justin Bieber, Trey Songz and Nicki Minaj. And the LA Times conducted an online survey asking readers if they thought “Chris Brown faked his “emotional appeall.” The majority of readers said his tears were authentic and not part of a marketing tactic.
What do you think?
Let’s say Chris Brown has indeed faced the man in the mirror, gone and got himself some therapy and changed his ways, should he be a headliner on the awards show of the country’s number one cable network in Black households?