5d (edited) • Theater | Media
When Roberta Speaks, Listen | Theater Voices
"I said I wasn't going to share it, but READ THE COMMENTS and come back....I'll wait....I got time today!
What's fascinating about this entire conversation is that the people who actually own and operate the theater have remained almost completely silent while a parade of white people rush in to defend them.
That's white liberalism in a nutshell.
Not accountability. Not action. Not relationship building. Just endless explanations for why marginalized communities are asking for too much, expecting too much, or should simply move on. For years now, people have been asking the same basic question...What has been done to engage the community that was harmed? Not the general community. Not the subscribers. Not the people who were always welcomed in the room.
The community that was specifically harmed.
And instead of answers, we get lectures. We get told that asking for accountability is "keeping artists from work." We get told that the people harmed should be the ones reaching out. We get told that new leadership "owes us nothing." Well, at least that's honest. Because that's been the reality all along.
The issue isn't that they haven't fixed the harm. The issue is that they don't seem particularly interested in understanding it. And the people rushing to defend them don't seem interested either. What I also find interesting is looking at who is agreeing with these dismissive comments. Almost entirely white people and people who have historically benefited from the status quo. People who were never excluded. Never tokenized. Never silenced. Never had their concerns treated as an inconvenience. A few of them will try to say they have or make oppression Olympic comparisons...but that will prove my point further....
And before anyone starts clutching pearls, let's be clear...nobody is asking for permission to exist in these spaces. Nobody is begging for a seat at the table. What we're doing is observing. Observing who gets listened to. Observing who gets defended. Observing whose comfort is prioritized. Observing who is expected to do all the labor of reconciliation while the people with the power and responsibility to initiate it remain silent. The owners/operators could have spoken. The producers could have spoken. The city could have spoken.
Instead, we're getting a bunch of self-appointed spokespersons telling us what the "majority" thinks. A majority that somehow always looks exactly the same. At this point, I wish people would stop pretending they care about repairing relationships with the Black community and other marginalized artists. Just say you don't. Say you're comfortable with business as usual. Say you're more concerned with reopening a building than rebuilding trust. Because the performance of caring has become more offensive than simply admitting the truth.
Silence is an answer.
Deflection is an answer.
And who rushes to speak for you is an answer too.
And while we're here, a special note for the white folks reading these conversations, privately agreeing, liking comments, sending DMs, or telling us in person that we're right while remaining silent publicly...you are part of the problem too.
Anti-Blackness and exclusion don't survive because of the loudest voices. They survive because of the quiet ones. Because too many people are willing to acknowledge harm in private but refuse to risk anything by saying so in public.
If you know these concerns are valid, if you've witnessed the behavior, if you've benefited from the same systems we're talking about, then it is not the responsibility of Black people and other marginalized artists to do all the speaking. Come get your people. Challenge your peers. Correct the narrative. Use the credibility and access afforded to you.
Because solidarity that only exists in private is comfort, not courage."
OG Post - Roberta
Update:
"Whew. Yall.
I think I'm done responding individually.
What has become clear over the last several days is that some people are far more interested in being seen as good people than in asking why so many Black artists have been saying the same things for years.
When multiple Black people tell you that something is harmful, the response cannot continue to be, "But my intentions were good," "I treat everyone the same," or "Let's all just come together." Unity without accountability has never healed anything.
I've also noticed a familiar pattern…somehow the burden always circles back to the Black woman in the room. I'm asked to educate, to mediate, to calm people down, to fix relationships, to reassure white people that they're okay, to lead everyone toward healing. Meanwhile, the people with the power to examine themselves ask us to do the labor for them.
No. Full stop.
This community does have a rift. But that rift wasn't created by the people naming harm. It was created by years of harm going unnamed, unaddressed, or explained away. Calling for accountability is not division. Setting boundaries is not division. Refusing to perform comfort for people who would rather defend themselves than listen is not division.
I have the screenshots. I have the receipts.
More importantly, many of us have lived the experiences long before there were screenshots to capture them. I'm no longer interested in convincing anyone. I'm interested in building with people who understand that listening is an action, accountability is an action, and trust is earned…not requested.
If that makes me difficult, so be it. History has rarely been changed by people who prioritized being perceived as nice over being honest."
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When Roberta Speaks, Listen | Theater Voices
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