Should we continue to condemn Chris Brown after the matter has been resolved?

Oct 21, 2012 Letters

---

Dear Editor,
I’m going to get to the point on the Chris Brown Coming to matter from my point of view with some facts included.  Throwing myself in at the deep end I’ll state this much.
Chris Brown was NOT my most favorite person after the public unfolding of physical abuse of RiRi. Despite having some good vibes musically he committed a grave sin and I hated his guts because those of a beautiful face bloodied and bruised stirred my emotions. They made me hate him and we had not even met once.  How dare he hit a woman, more so RIRI, that Caribbean rose with Guyanese heritage?
But as the years passed I learned that there was more to this story if I separate emotions from life’s reality.  Human beings have the propensity to become animalistic, enraged and emotionally charged. Some of us have the ability to fight the animal inside of us but sometimes, just sometimes it over powers us.
Yes he did it, and has admitted to it too with karma galore costing millions, Billions even. The animal inside of him that ruled or a few seconds caused him untold persecution and plummeted record sales. I like millions celebrated that.
Chris Brown was side stepped for awards and award shows and again I surely celebrated that.
But then he sought forgiveness from the victim, his ex- girlfriend and got it. It was process but ultimately she said it to the world on Oprah that she has forgiven him and also took some responsibility for what ultimately happened.
She has moved on and he has too and the both are friends who the press has reported spends lots of get away, alone times with each other.
If we were to be fair I’d say the story is over and he is now an advocate against the bad that he has done. Yes he is, because he too talks about how emotions can make you do some crazy things and that he is sorry. We know that all too well that to err is human to forgive divine.
By talking against his announced concert billed for Guyana and reflecting only on those images…are we saying that we should continue to judge a man and condemn him for an eternity even after the matter has been resolved?
If that is the case I posit that all others should stop trying to fight causes and start locking themselves away as permanent evil doers. Let us face it. We all have made mistakes a.k.a bad choices and have suffered, some in public and others in private.
Unless we wish to see things with one sided vision then we need to realize that this artiste too was a victim.  Victims are supposed to be supported to make a recovery and it’s unfortunate that this story played out on a public stage. But it might have been a lesson that behind the glitz and glamour lays human beings who feel, hurt, laugh, cry and are generally emotionally charged to the point of hurting. Someone wrote “love hurts” but it does not always continually do that.
Let us be fair. It’s ultimately a person’s choice if they choose to attend the show but let’s not confuse the past with what else followed as it relates to the case. Come to think of it, RiRi is likely to be among the 50 coming in his entourage. Why not wait on his arrival and seek answers to those lingering questions about abuse and then formulate your opinion thereafter.
Well unless, you permanently believe that an abuser cannot change his/ her ways. It takes a real man to admit where he erred, caused hurt and say sorry and mean it and Chris Brown has done that on public stage. He possibly will have to do it again and again and again…in Guyana even… but here is appoint to note:  we seek forgiveness daily in our lives from others and sometimes we get immediate responses and at other times we have to wait a while.
God forgives. RiRi (the victim) in this case forgave her “abuser,” so why can’t we? Life is as such that negatives can be turned into positives if those involve wish to do so and make the relevant steps in that direction.
Be you Pro or Anti-Government that’s should not cloud your judgment of the subject of Guyana getting an ‘A’ list artiste to come our way for the price that’s unbelievably cheap by any means. Think about it after he arrives whenever you Bing or Google his name Guyana will appear and for good or bad people will know of Guyana.
From a journalistic perspective Hits and Jams are the persons contracted to promote the event but it’s a Guyanese businessman from the Aruwai Plaza owned by Mr. Baboolall that has thrown in his cash to make the concert happen as he has invested in a soon to be opened restaurant, supermarket and a hotel at the corners of Sherriff and Garnette Street. That’s as far as my research goes for now.  The government according to the minister has opted to support the event as it augers well for tourism. Hence, they are willing to offer some support for mileage to sell Guyana.
I, as a journalist for 20 years, asked Minister Ali myself that’s how I know… if he’s fibbing then may the Gods judge him for misleading the nation.  No speculation on those truths. And for those who know me, I’m not afraid to call a spade a spade and I’m certainly not afraid to ask tough questions either. I owe that much to those who support me earning a daily bread honestly.  If you do come, welcome to Guyana Chris Brown and entourage.  I shall be asking you the tough questions because Ri Ri is my girl; an example of every girl the world over as you are that to every boy.  Blessings!
Mondale Smith

---

---