Yasmin Shiraz

Chris Brown Talks to Larry King About Rihannagate

I wanna react and respond to Chris Brown on Larry King last night. I felt he seemed genuinely sorry for his actions. I also thought it was important that his mother stated REPEATEDLY that he had never had any prior incidents of violence in his entire life. Not having prior incidents was extremely important because it shows that he doesn’t have a history as a violent abuser. Many comments scrolled along the bottom of the TV screen during the show. Many people seemed to think he got off easy, some people think he’ll beat other women, etc. There were a few comments that mentioned forgiveness and giving him the opportunity to redeem himself. During the interview Chris Brown mentioned that people feed on “negativity.” I think that is absolutely true. I think many people are happy that this has happened to him. In their minds and hearts they say, “See you didn’t deserve to be a superstar. And so now, I’m not gonna forgive you or allow you to get pass it.”

I think people’s past histories should go a long way to determining if they are capable of being forgiven or moving forward. Many people have written Chris Brown off for an act he committed when he was 19 years old, that there is no prior incidents from school or other relationships. I think that is wrong. Chris grew up in a household in which he saw his mother abused and unfortunately in the interview, his mother didn’t take ANY RESPONSIBILITY of how that negative situation must have impacted him. Growing up in a household where people are physically abused does not give you the right to become an abuser, but it does explain a propensity for violence and/or one’s need to resolve conflict through violent means. Violence can be a learned behavior.

The sadness that I pulled from the interview is that Chris, like other kids, was obviously negatively impacted by violence in his life and the one person that he should have been able to go to for understanding to help him grow is clearly in denial. If I am his mother and I deny the impact that seeing me be beaten has had on him, how can I help him to nurture himself so that he does not violently abuse again? Denial helps no one.

As a final note I’d like to say 5 years of probation and hard labor for one incident of beating your girlfriend is not getting off easy. There are men out there who have beat their wives REPEATEDLY and had to stay in jail one night and cool off. Those one night offenders often went on to kill their wives. The fact that Chris Brown has to be watched and do hard labor for 5 years is no joke. If he even steps out the line, one time, he’ll be in jail. Look at Domestic Violence cases for first time offenders and you’ll see that he did not get off easy.

Furthermore, since this case has so many people riled up, I encourage you to donate your time as I have at Battered Women shelters throughout the country and learn something about domestic violence. In addition, talk to your congressmen about domestic violence laws and make sure that NOBODY gets off easy.

There’s a reason why young people shouldn’t be on the wrong side of the law. I don’t know what this girl did, but was their reaction to her appropriate? I wonder…

What do you think? It seems that young people in juvenile detention are not treated with the kid gloves. I imagine adults who work with youth in juvenile detention have their own side of the story. In any case, was this behavior acceptable? I haven’t heard if the officer was even “reprimanded” or “patted on the back.” What do you think about how the officers treated this juvenile in custody?

Let me know.

Chris Brown & Rihanna

As Chris Brown faces a judge and jury for accusations of beating Rihanna, many of us are watching with baited breath. What will happen to this young popstar who has never had any trouble with the law until now? Will he be made an example of and be given a sentence harsher than anyone before him? Will he be given leniency–the same kind that other people are given when they are first time offenders. With the American criminal justice system, you can never know for sure.

This weekend I held a couple of workshops with teen girls. These workshops dealt with healthy relationships, dating violence and the like. We did a poll and I asked the 23 ladies who were in my workshop, “Who is more at fault? Chris Brown or Rihanna?” 83% felt Chris Brown was more at fault, but 17% felt that Rihanna was more at fault. Though this wasn’t a scientific study, I asked the young ladies to vote according to what they’d heard in the media and what their feelings were about the situation.

The young ladies who fell into the 17% who “blamed” Rihanna for the altercation felt that she must have hit Chris first, or did something that caused him to react in such a way. One young lady went as far as to say, “Sometimes people can really make you go off. He ain’t like that so she must have done something…”  Thank goodness there were a sea of ladies who chimed in, “No matter what she did, he shouldn’t have hit her. No man should put a hand on a woman.” Thank goodness for that.

What do you think should happen at the trial today. Based on what you’ve heard, should this first time offender have the book thrown at him or should he receive leniency. I’d love to know your thoughts.

**UPDATE**

Chris Brown enters a plea deal and gets 5 years probation and 180 days of community service!

Below is on his Chris Brown’s fans supporting him no matter what! Beware: We live in a cult of celebrity where we believe in people based on how much we like their music!