Hip-hop pioneer Afrika Bambaataa and the Zulu Nation, the organization that he founded in the ’70s, are being sued for child sex trafficking. The Root reports that the lawsuit was filed last month by an unnamed accuser, who claims that Bambaataa sexually abused and trafficked him for four years starting in 1991, when he was 12 years old and Bambaataa was 33 or 34. Many of the assaults allegedly took place at Bambaataa’s Bronx River home, which also served as the Zulu Nation Headquarters at the time. The suit was filed under New York’s 2019 Child Victims Act, which opened a limited window for victims of childhood sexual assault to sue regardless of when the abuse occurred.

Afrika Bambaataa was first publicly accused of child sexual abuse in 2016. Democratic Party activist and former music industry executive Ronald Savage accused Bambaataa of molesting him multiples times in 1980, when he was 15 years old and Bambaataa was 23. Following Savage’s allegations, several other alleged victims also came forward. Bambaataa denied the allegations, referring to them as “baseless” and “a cowardly attempt to tarnish my reputation and legacy in hip-hop at this time.”

The Zulu Nation distanced itself from Bambaataa and restructured its leadership in the wake of the allegations, and it has now issued an official statement in response to the new lawsuit:

The Overall Mission, Purpose, Goals & Objectives Of The Universal Zulu Nation-World Department Of Community Affairs; Is To Use Socially Conscious Grassroot Hip Hop Culture As A (R)evolutionary Tool For Global Humanism, Inner/Over/Understanding, Liberation, Self-Determination, Peace, Health, And The Physical & Spiritual Oneness With Mother Earth.

Nothing has changed since 2016 when these decades ago accusations first surfaced. This is a personal matter for Afrika Bambaataa and his lawyers to deal with and has absolutely nothing to do with the 10 year long UZN-DOCA mission, programs and projects which continue in the revolutionary legacy of both The Black Panther Party & The Young Lords Party to “Serve The People, Body & Soul.”

If anyone is truly interested in all of the positive work that the UZN-DOCA does then we will be more than happy to address any of our below Community Survival Programs:

Free Food Project ~ Free The Land Farms & Urban Gardens Project ~ Martial Arts & Self-Defense Project ~ Emergency Preparedness Project ~

Healing & Health Projects ~ Anti-Police Terror & Community Control Over The Police Campaign ~ Children’s Rights Of Passage Program ~

Prisoner Advocacy & Free All Political Prisoners Projects ~ Black, Brown & Asian Solidarity Project ~ International Hip Hop 4 Humanity Tour ~

The Young Fathers Support Circle ~ Youth Sports ~ Black Panther Party Legacy Political Education Classes ~ Housing & Legal First Aid.

But we will neither make nor provide any further comments or responses regarding the aforementioned legal matter.

Bambaataa himself has yet to respond to the lawsuit.

If you or someone you know is suffering from sexual violence, please contact RAINN or call the National Sexual Abuse Telephone Hotline at 1-800-656-4673.