![]() “My heart dropped to the bottom of my feet,” Itunu said. That’s when she came across a tweet referencing allegations of sexual abuse by Bonair-Agard. When Itunu heard about the allegations, she started reading posts on Twitter that mentioned London. Mariame Kaba, the grassroots organizer and abolitionist who served as facilitator for the transformative justice process, wrote in August 2020, “I am deeply disappointed and angry that Malcolm hasn’t taken accountability for his violent behavior and actually done the promised work to change it.” London declined to speak for this story “out of respect for survivors, my own accountability and to avoid creating unnecessary harm to community by participating,” he wrote in an e-mail. The process-which took place over 15 months, in a public manner, with high-profile people-was seen as a model for how survivors and perpetrators of sexual violence can heal without involving the police or courts. Previously accused of assault in 2015, London had participated in a lengthy community accountability process initiated by the survivor and those affected in Black Youth Project 100, the activist organization that both were members of. In August 2020, a woman came forward with allegations that Malcolm London, a renowned poet, rapper, and activist who came up through and previously worked at YCA, had raped her in 2018. To many-enamored by his charisma and his knack for working with vulnerable youth-Bonair-Agard was a hero. ![]() ![]() He’d previously worked at Young Chicago Authors (YCA) as a “poet-in-residence,” a position created specially for him by the organization’s artistic director, Kevin Coval. Sound & Vision was a subsidiary of Free Write Arts & Literacy, a nonprofit that hosted workshops on creative writing, visual art, and audio recording for youth, with a focus on young people incarcerated at the Cook County Juvenile Temporary Detention Center.īonair-Agard’s list of accomplishments is long: program director at Free Write cofounder of the louderARTS Project in New York two-time National Poetry Slam champion performer on HBO’s Def Poetry Jam author of multiple poetry collections, including Bury My Clothes, which was longlisted for the National Book Award in 2013. Since 2018, Itunu, who asked that her last name be withheld for privacy reasons, had been working as a sound technician and program coordinator for Free Write Sound & Vision, a workforce development initiative that provided audio equipment and DJ services for events. But Itunu noticed that he was always the loudest person in the room-and frequently pushing the bounds of what was considered acceptable in a professional setting. One of the most well-known slam poets of his generation, people enjoyed the Trinidadian artist’s sense of humor and his work delving into race, colonialism, and sexuality. Roger Bonair-Agard was intelligent, mischievous, and even adored. Warning: This story contains brief descriptions of alleged rape and sexual assault. A silence louder than words - Chicago Reader Close
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