'Surviving R. Kelly' Puts Abuse In Spotlight: Week's Winners & Losers

Source: Gilbert Carrasquillo / Getty

This week was rough.

From government shutdowns to stories of abuse, it was hard to chose winners and losers for the week. But with a deeper dive into details, the choice was clear on who was taking a W and who got left with an L. Check out the losers below, then hit the next page to find out who’s winning in these days and times.

Losers

The government

So Trump wants $5.7 billion to build a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border to keep “illegal” immigrants out.

A lot Democrats are like nah.

Legislation that directs U.S. Treasury funds to certain federal agencies doesn’t get passed.

The government goes into a partial shutdown that’s already headed into it’s third week.

The department of Agriculture, Commerce, Homeland Security, Housing and Urban Development, Interior, Justice, State, Transportation and Treasury are considered shut down.

Thus, close to 800,000 workers across the U.S. are currently furloughed or working for free, including many Transportation Security Administration (TSA) workers, Environmental Protection Agency workers, and even employees at major research centers like NASA.

Not to mention, public assistance programs such as Section 8 vouchers have lapsed in funding causing The Department of Housing and Urban Development to send letters to 1,500 landlords asking them not to evict residents who receive assistance.

You can check out all the departments affected by the shutdown here.

So the question remains…

WTF IS THE GOVERNMENT DOING!?

What kind of government claiming to be for the people plays with their people’s livelihood?

Now granted, Congress just passed a resolution on Friday ensuring back pay for workers affected by the shutdown, according to The Hill. The bill would also guarantee payment for employees affected by future shutdowns.

But this doesn’t account for the stress and paranoia employees and the American people have had to endure, leading to GoFundMe pages for workers, travel safety scares and food inspection halts.

Who knows what poison could’ve slipped into our tuna salad due to a brief shutdown.

The only way this shutdown will end is if Dems give into Trump’s wall, Trump gives into the Dems “nah!” or they both come to an agreement – one which could include continuing the funding of all agencies, while the debate over the border wall continues separately.

But Trump’s insistence that he’s willing to let the shutdown go on for “months or even years” makes it clear this can get ugly.

So yea, the government is trash right now.

And the American people don’t feel supported.

Winners

Abuse survivors

This past week, many people sat through the three night docuseries Surviving R. Kelly on Lifetime where the stories of women that accuse R. Kelly of abuse were brought to the national spotlight.

Kelly continually denies the allegations of abuse and sexual misconduct against him, but there was no way to ignore the voices of these women.

Despite R. Kelly’s denial, they painted a much needed picture of how manipulation, money and clout can continue the cycles of abuse. Many of them, some of whom met R. Kelly when they were just teenagers, are still on their healing journey well into adulthood. Their stories of survival alone grants them a big win, even if legal action hasn’t been pursued or effective.

Peep what Asante McGee, Kitti Jones, Lizzette Martinez, Lisa Van Allen, backup singer Jovante Cunningham, performing artist Sparkle, and ex-wife and survivor of R. Kelly, Andrea Kelly have to say about Mr. Kelly in the powerful bonus clip below…