John Doe is Why I Changed the Title Back to “Trapped In A Culture”
The title of my documentary on Afrika Bambaataa and the Zulu Nation never changed
The YouTube title was just that, a YouTube title. I can change a YouTube title as easily as a Facebook post.
Read why the interview series was entitled, Zulu Nation: Hip Hop’s First Gay Family
It’s funny because in early August, I was preparing to change the YouTube title back to the film’s original title, Trapped In A Culture. The whole point of the YouTube title was to bring the Zulu Nation under scrutiny because they had been more than happy to let Bambaataa take the heat by himself. The YouTube title ensured it would also call the organization into question because, like the R Kelly case proved, one man could not run a criminal enterprise of abuse without helpers, participants, and enablers.
No one knew about John Doe’s lawsuit. The suit names the Zulu Nation as a defendant right along with Afrika Bambaataa. The Zulu Nation would indeed be held accountable in a court of law and I was more than happy to change the title back to Trapped In A Culture.
Impactful word play on title inspired by Junior Lee, Patrice Griffin, and John Doe, Artwork by Kel Fonville
That is, until members of the Zulu Nation threatened me about the title and went all over social media condemning me and the title. Once they did that, my plan to change the title ceased because I would not even give the appearance that I succumbed to their threats and insults and told them just as much.
None of these people had even listened to the Trapped In A Culture podcast, and no one cared about the status of the film for at least four years. But throw the word “gay” in the same sentence as the Zulu Nation and all would hell break loose. (Meanwhile, these are the same people who claim they are not “homophobic.”)
If I had released the interview series on YouTube under Trapped In A Culture, the only people watching would have been me and Afrika Bambaataa. Troi “Star” Torain, who came up with the YouTube title, knew it needed to be repackaged for social media. The interview series now has over one million views.
People have a love for salacious sensationalism while parading self-righteousness and are just as much to blame for the Gay Family title as I am. Consider it an experiment and look at your own results.
Nevertheless, the YouTube title had served its purpose and the controversy that ensued showed how many people did not care about the survivors at all. They only cared about the organization and castigating anyone who would try to “destroy” their flawed concept of what a conscious and/or black organization is supposed to be about.
As long as you preach consciousness or blackness, no one, especially a woman, better dare question you. They called me every horrible insult you could imagine. These people had more venom for me than for the alleged perpetrator. My complexion and everything else was thrown in. Someone even said I needed the shit slapped out of me…and this is someone who is supposed to have “knowledge of self” and civilization. HA! Needless to say, I was not changing the title under those low degrees.
With the survivors, we have two sets of alleged victims in the Afrika Bambaataa and Zulu Nation situation. One group of men left the Zulu Nation completely. The second group stayed in the organization because of work, lifelong friendships, and other endeavors, and still identify as Zulus. It is some in this second set of alleged victims that took the title as an affront. The title did not bother the first group in the least.
I explained to all of them that no new person who joined the Zulu Nation changed the essence of their foundation. If what they said was true, they built the Zulu Nation on downlow gay behavior within the organization. And, this is not even mentioning the alleged child trafficking and abuse.
Understand, as a woman, I have a right to go on an all out rampage against the Zulu Nation for living on the downlow while claiming wives and girlfriends. And, no Zulu bozos were going to threaten me and force me to do anything. I had planned to change the title but then I would not.
Other reasons for the title were:
Five alleged victims said that Bambaataa has books of Polaroid shots of naked male Zulu members in sexually explicit poses.
Hassan Campbell said that Bambaataa had sex with older Zulu members in front of him when he was a minor.
TC Izlam said he confiscated a list of Zulu members having homosexual relations with another Zulu member.
Ronald Savage said when he was 15 and Bambaataa finished teaching him how to masturbate, another Zulu member came into the bedroom. That person had his penis already out.
Ronald Savage said Bambaataa made him “go down” on his sister’s boyfriend. This boyfriend was also a member of the Zulu Nation.
Lord Shariyf said he walked in on Bambaataa and another high-ranking male official engaging in self-pleasure while watching porn.
So, I am not sorry for the YouTube title, Zulu Nation: Hip Hop’s First Gay Family and if it were not for John Doe, and his lawsuit, that title would remain.
In the very first conversation John Doe and I had, he told me how Trapped In A Culture was really impactful toward the issues at hand.
And, of course, he’s right. Metropolis
