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Music

There Is a Protest Over Cornell University's Acquisition of Afrika Bambaataa's Vinyl Collection

The protest comes as the MC fights allegations of child molestation.

Photo via the artist's website

As THUMP earlier reported, Afrika Bambaataa's 40,000 strong hip hop vinyl collection will be housed at Cornell University's Collection of Hip Hop archive following the DJ's stint as a visiting professor. Now that acquisition is being publicly protested following allegations of sexual assault against Bambaataa.

The New York Daily News reported that former Bronx judicial delegate and Democratic party committee member Ronald Savage first accused Bambaataa of sexually molesting him as a child in Savage's recently published memoir Impulse, Urges and Fantasies. Since its March publication, three more men have stepped forward claiming that they too were assaulted by the MC. Savage has since publicly protested the news of university's acquisition of Bambaataa's archive, telling the New York Daily News: "If Cornell accepts anything from Bambaataa, that's like it is telling the world it supports child molesters."

Savage said he is talking publicly about his abuse because he supports the Child Victims Act, a bill by Assemblywoman Margaret Markey (D-Queens) that would eliminate the statute of limitations in sexual abuse cases and open up a one-year window for older victims to pursue litigation.

A petition on Change.org has been launched by DJ Troi (Star) Torain pressing for the university to end its association with Bambaataa. Torain told the New York Daily News: "I'm asking Cornell to show some respect about these allegations… Just because these allegations were made by men of color doesn't mean you can ignore them."

Bambaataa has since responded to these allegations, telling Rolling Stone: "I, Afrika Bambaataa, want to take this opportunity at the advice of my legal counsel to personally deny any and all allegations of any type of sexual molestation of anyone. These allegations are baseless and are a cowardly attempt to tarnish my reputation and legacy in hip-hop at this time. This negligent attack on my character will not stop me from continuing my battle and standing up against the violence in our communities, the violence in the nation and the violence worldwide."

This story will be updated as more information is obtained.