Victory Gardens Theater Presents BLACK GIRLS, SEXUAL VIOLENCE and the #MuteRKelly Campaign

Victory Gardens Theater presents Town Hall: Black Girls, Sexual Violence and the #MuteRKelly Campaign an event where Chicago community members can join conversations about women of color, sexual violence, community-based prevention, and systemic structures that contribute to this pervasive problem. The Town Hall will be held at Victory Gardens Theater, 2433 N. Lincoln Avenue on Thursday, May 16 at 6pm. This event is FREE and open to the public.

Town Hall participants include facilitators Kyra Jones, Dr. Jeffrey Q. McCune, Jr., Darletta Scruggs, and Andrene Wright, along with local community leaders in the anti-violence against women movement.

"As the R. Kelly sex abuse trial unfolds in Chicago, we hope this discussion will raise more awareness against sexual violence," said Artistic Director Chay Yew. "Abuse and assault against Black women and girls harms the entire community. We must do more than believe and stand with survivors. We must work together towards eliminating rape culture and seek systemic change."

Due in large part to the work of local and national #MeToo and #MuteRKelly movement activists, after 25 years of sexual, physical and emotional abuse allegations, the Cook County State's Attorney have indicted R. Kelly on ten counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse. These charges follow the increased public outcry after several Black women told stories of alleged abuse by the entertainer in the shocking documentary, "Surviving R. Kelly."

According to Survived and Punished, "Survivors [of sexual violence] who are already criminalized for their race, class, work, and gender identities-Black women, undocumented people, sex workers, transgender women and queer people-are often not perceived as being capable of being 'victims', or are perceived as causing their own abuse."

Join this powerful dialogue and learn how you can be a part of ending cycles of violence against Black women and girls.

The Town Hall Series is a part of Victory Gardens' Public Programs Series which is made possible by the David Rockefeller Fund, connecting the theater to the world beyond the stage and rehearsal room. Victory Gardens' Public Programs bridge ideas, provoke dialogue, and deepen the relationship between audiences and productions. Past Town Hall events include: Reunite! (2018),#NeverAgainChicago (2018), Casting Notice (2016),The Color Game (2016), Directors Town Hall (2016) and We Must Breathe (2014).

About the Facilitators

Kyra Jones is an actor, screenwriter, and sexual violence prevention educator whose work centers intersectionality, black feminism, and prison abolition. Originally hailing from Annapolis, Maryland, Kyra received her Bachelor's degree from Northwestern University in Theatre and Gender Studies. During her time at NU, she conducted an independent study with the Gender Studies department on the history of sexual violence in the black community and how rape crisis centers and other resources can make their services more intersectional and accessible to the black survivors. She used that research to help develop a consent curriculum based in black feminism for BYP 100's new member training. Kyra is currently a staff member at her alma mater, working as a sexual violence prevention educator and survivor advocate at CARE, the Center for Awareness and Education - the confidential sexual health and violence resource center on campus. At NU, Kyra frequently collaborates with black student groups to create programming that is intersectional and relevant to the needs and experiences of black Northwestern students. Outside of Northwestern, Kyra gives trainings to theatres and arts organizations around the country on consent, sexual violence, accountability, restorative justice, and how to create art and communities that are trauma-informed. She's facilitated trainings and lectures with California Shakespeare Company, New Colony, SPACE at Ryder Farm, University of Illinois Chicago, Theatre Bay Area, and the Theatre Communications Group.

Jeffrey Q. McCune, Jr. is associate professor of African and African American Studies and Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at Washington University in St. Louis. He is the author of the award-winning book Sexual Discretion: Black Masculinity and the Politics of Passing and the former director of the Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship Program at Washington University. He is presently completing two book manuscripts. First, On Kanye is a critical engagement with the impossibility of black genius, iconography, and monster aesthetics. Second, Disobedient Readings: An Experiment in Seeing Black, is a monograph which utilizes black gay men's vernacular use of "reading"-an interpretation/critique of performance which is centered in one's love and/or proximity to a black object-as a new way to theorize and analyze blackness. He has been featured on Left of Black, Sirius XM's Joe Madison Show, HuffPost Live, Pitchfork, and a guest expert on Bill Nye Saves the World.

Darletta Scruggs is a single mother from the South Side of Chicago, where she has been an active community organizer since 2014. She was active in the Black lives matter- movement and campaign against police brutality in Chicago and nationwide. She organized a strike of her colleagues in support $15 minimum wage and a union. She also was a lead organizer in the successful campaign for the re-election of Kshama Sawant to Seattle city council. She has participated in fair and affordable housing campaigns in places like Seattle, Minnesota and Chicago. She was a leading organizer during the 2016 presidential elections launching Movement4Bernie where Chicago had the two largest rallies with over 5k people attending. She was also a member of the #MillionStudentMarch National Organizing Committee which has had two very successful national day of actions. Most recently her work has included advocacy and awareness around sexual assault survivors as she is currently the lead organizer of the #MuteRKelly Chicago chapter.

Andrene Wright is a first generation college and doctoral student who graduated John Jay College in 2017. Currently a second year PhD student at Northwestern University, Andrene was awarded the 2018-2019 Minority Fellowship from the American Political Science Association. The focus of her research is political behavior at the intersections of race, gender, and class and is currently working on a paper examining Black women in Chicago and their varying trust in government.