Some of those JET articles were light years ahead of the mainstream media in terms of respectfully using correct pronouns while others would be right at home in our current media environment when it comes to covering trans women of color.
We even had a girl like us appear as a JET Beauty of the Week.in its August 20, 1981 issue in the late actress Ajita Wilson
There's a saying in the African-American community that you haven't made it until you appear on the pages of JET or EBONY.
I was deliriously happy and pleased to discover via Janet Mock and ELIXHER that JET"s April 29 issue contained a one page article featuring Washington DC trans woman Brandi Ahzionae.
29 year old Brandi opens up about her journey to be a girl like us in that JET issue that may still be available on your grocery store magazine racks with the 'Missing And Black' cover story.
Brandi was subsequently interviewed on the electronic pages of ELIXHER. She said something in the ELIXHER interview I enthusiastically agree with, especially in light of the ongoing journalistic hate crime being perpetrated by the Cleveland Plain Dealer aimed at Cemia Acoff.
I’d like to see Black trans women portrayed in a more positive light. I want the media to give us just as much of a right to be “normal” as anyone else. This is an opportunity to start a movement and gain some respect in the transgender community. The T in LGBT is excluded. We are a separate issue and people need to learn this.
Amen Brandi and congratulations on continuing the tradition of Black trans women being featured in one of our community's iconic magazines.
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