promoted Roger to a position of leadership where he remained until early December 2020 when his employment was terminated. For six years, we chose not to stand in solidarity with survivors of harm and instead protected an abuser. We told ourselves that the internal work we were doing to design policy and structures to account for the harm was “transformative” when really it was insufficient and cowardly, with no public accountability offered to the community. This caused further harm caused to talented, trusted Free Write staff members and community partners, some of whom unwittingly found themselves in proximity to the employee while simply doing their jobs with Free Write, while others who strongly advocated for accountability were ignored or placated." The organization added to their statement on February 17, 2021. On February 24, 2021, another poet and YCA coworker of Bonair-Agard's came forward to accuse him of rape. In March 2021, Chicago Public Schools suspended its partnership with Young Chicago Authors, due to the allegations against Bonair-Agard, as well as the outcries from the poetry community, including a statement from the president of Button Poetry, alleging that leadership within the YCA organization knew Bonair-Agard was dangerous and did not act. This triggered journalism by Chicago Reader that logged two decades of survivors' accounts of abuse by predators affiliated with YCA. Bibliography Where Brooklyn At?, 2016, Aquarius Press Bury My Clothes, 2013, Haymarket Books Gully, 2010, Peepal Tree Press Tarnish and Masquerade, 2006, Cypher Books Burning Down the House, 2000, Soft Skull Press, co-authored with Stephen Colman, Guy Lecharles Gonzalez, Alix Olson, and Lynne Procope Discography List in a Valley of Bone: New and Selected Poem Recordings (2009) Chantuel NYC Slams 5 Past 13 Filmography The 2000 National Poetry Slam Finals - 2000, Poetry Slam Inc. Poetry slam - 1999, Princeton: Films for the Humanities & Sciences (with David Deutsch, Elizabeth Farnsworth, and Ariana Waynes). References External links The louderARTS Project Roger's Journal Audio of "How Do We Spell Freedom?," "Southpaw," "Andrew Jackson's Statue, French Quarter New Orleans" and "Soul" (among others) on Indiefeed Performance Poetry Channel Trinidad and Tobago poets Trinidad and Tobago emigrants to the United States Hunter College alumni Year of birth missing (living people) Poets from Illinois Violence against women in the United States African-American poets American male poets Living people Stonecoast MFA alumni 21st-century African-American people African-American male writers