Canadian artists and activists on their experiences of altruistic violence A benevolent-seeming gesture disguised as generosity towards BIPOC creators, altruistic violence is becoming hard to ignore By Chaka V. Grier From left: Chaka V. Grier, Kyla Pascal, Tarun Nayar, Kimmortal In 1962, the classic Black girl group The Crystals’ released the controversial hit He Hit Me (And It Felt Like A Kiss). Decades later in 2014, Lana Del Rey released a re-imagined version called Ultraviolence. Both profoundly resonated with me. It’s got me thinking about another concept that’s becoming increasingly hard to ignore. I call it altruistic violence. As a woman of colour, constantly fighting against silence and exploitation, even trivial or backhanded tokens of attention and affection can feel like you are finally being seen.