Executive Artistic Director of Victory Gardens Theater Erica Daniels has resigned, along with Board President Steve Miller. After weeks of artist appeals to the leadership of the theater and the board, they have finally decided to step aside and allow a transparent search.
If you missed the arc of the leadership transition that caused turmoil since early Spring, you can read my latest piece: “Victory Gardens Boards Windows Against Black Lives, Arts Community Protests Leadership.
Daniels’ speaks to the “vitriol” that has escalated and I think it is important to note the violence and victimhood that this statement promotes. When you hurt people of color, and women, by enabling one of the most vicious predators Chicago theatre has ever known, you should expect to be held accountable for it. Labeling it as vitriol minimizes victims’ actual pain, and their efforts to generate healing. I am re-reading “When They Call You a Terrorist: A Black Lives Matter Memoir,” by Patrisse Khan-Cullors & asha bandele. The title alone makes clear we cannot ignore that this response aims to paint people calling for justice as bullies, or violent, and the reverberating effects of such language.
It will take more than a transparent search, it will take anti-racism efforts from the staff and board from top to bottom. It will take putting people of color in a position to make actual decisions so this never happens again. I look forward to seeing what Victory Gardens becomes in its next chapter.
Read the full statement from Erica Daniels and the board below that was sent to affiliated artists and submitted to us by an anonymous source.
