Recently acclaimed music video producer, Aswad Ayinde, was sentenced to 90 years in prison for raping his six daughters over the course of 20+ years. Ayinde fathered six children with his daughters, two of whom died in the home and were subsequently buried by Ayinde. The mother of the girls claimed she lived in constant fear of Ayinde and cites fear as the reason she allowed him to carry out his heinous behavior.
Many questions flood my mind when I ponder the trauma these girls were subjected to well into their adult lives. I can’t even begin to imagine the hell they endured being abused by the person who was supposed to be their biggest protector. Not to mention the disdain that must have developed towards their mother once they realized she wasn’t going to come to their rescue. It is utterly unimaginable that parents could carry out such unconscionable acts against their own kids!
The truth is however, this type of evil, vile, and deviant behavior is carried out everyday in homes across America. Everywhere from small town USA to the projects; likely in my neighborhood and yours. These kids are waiting for someone, anyone to take notice of the oddities surrounding these families; kids who aren’t allowed to play outside, they appear fearful, or present with unexplainable bruising and other injuries. Granted, these things alone aren’t evidence that abuse is occurring, but it won’t hurt to give yourself permission to consider the possibility and pay closer attention to determine if anything is awry.
Often times it is because we are all so conditioned to “mind our own business” that we ignore our intuitions. It is impolite to even consider that someone we know could be capable, let alone involved in such behavior. But, we owe it to these children to take a second look because while millions of fans were singing along to Ayinde’s Killing Me Softly video masterpiece, his children were singing the chorus and meant every word of it!
