R. Kelly conviction offers measure of justice for long-silenced Black women

New York: For decades women and girls, most of them Black, sounded the alarm over R. Kelly´s web of abuse, only to hear their voices silenced.

Weeks of devastating testimony threw the severity of Kelly´s crimes into stark relief, but to many advocates, the harrowing pattern of abuse was nothing new -- it was just the first time police, the justice system and society at large had taken it seriously.

Now, the multi-platinum R&B singer´s conviction as the boss of a decades-long sex crimes scheme offers a measure of justice to long-dismissed victims and activists.

"For years, I was trolled for speaking out about the abuse that I suffered at the hands of that predator," wrote Jerhonda Pace, who was among those who testified against Kelly in Brooklyn federal court, on Instagram after the verdict dropped.

"People called me a liar," said Pace, whose testimony included searing descriptions of Kelly choking her until she passed out when she was a teenager.

Kenyette Barnes, who co-founded the #MuteRKelly movement in 2017, said that the prosecution that many people have called long-overdue was down to the "blood, sweat and tears of Black women who would not stop beating that drum."

Well before viral hashtags, she said Black women and allies tried to shed light on Kelly´s abuse only to be "silenced" and "threatened."

"On the surface," Barnes told AFP, "Black women and girls are not rapeable. They´re not believable."