Diamond Stylz in her comment to the assembled Montrose Center crowd was this: "We Black trans women are there for everyone's movements. We're there for gay people. We're there for the women's march. We're there for Black Lives Matter. When will people be there for us?"
Indeed, that is the question for these Trumpian times. We Black trans women stand up for everyone and their human rights. When will you begin to consistently stand up for ours? When will people consistently be there for us?
Whether it's at Ferguson, MO and elsewhere with Black Lives Matter, speaking from the women's march stages in DC and elsewhere. march for a woman's right to choose, at a anti-police violence rally, speaking at a memorial service, or any cause that requires us to be there in solidarity with our people, we're there to not only lend our voices to it, but in some case we will step up to lead or organize it.
Black trans women are catching hell from multiple angles. We have people hating on us because we are transgender . We have people hating on us for having the audacity to exist. We have people hating on us because we are unapologetically Black. We have people hating on us because of our #BlackTGirlMagic. We have people hating on us because we are walking this planet in feminine bodies.
But despite that, we rise, survive and thrive as proud Black trans women. But we're not superhuman. We're facing near genocidal levels of anti-trans violence aimed at us, and it is going to take a village to help us stem the tide and stop it. Four of the five trans women killed due to anti-trans hate violence in 2017 have been African American, and three of the four murdered this year have been under age 40.
That's unacceptable to us. It should be just as important to the cis Black community and all the communities we intersect and interact with that Black trans women get to live long, healthy and productive lives as it is a Prime Directive imperative for us.
When will you, NAACP, Urban League, and other traditional Black civil rights orgs step up and loudly and consistently call out the injustice aimed at Black trans women?
When will you cis Black trans attracted men get over your shame and guilt issues, stand up, and boldly proclaim to the world you love and stand with trans women?
Cis Black women, when will you call out the unacceptable level of violence aimed at us and help us do the ongoing work of building sisterhood in our ranks that will be required to stem the tide of it?
Black SGL community, when will you call out your fellow peeps in LGBTQ World and let them know that shadily attacking trans people is unacceptable, and diligently work to eradicate transphobia in our community ranks?
When will you Black community, make it clear that demonization of Black trans people will not be tolerated inside or outside our community?
We're anxiously awaiting in Black trans feminine world your answer to all those questions.
3 comments:
WUT...?! Trans male entitlement rides roughshod over the class of humans it claims to identify with and you are calling women out? please engage your brain forthwith.
I understand the frustration but a bit of care needs to go into conversation. Perhaps you feel that "not enough" people have stood up for trans woman but statements such as these are DISMISSIVE of those of us who HAVE/ARE right there for you.
As a trans man who does a lot of activism work, and who knows dozens of trans men who do loads of activism work, some whom have even foregone major careers in order to take low pay working in activism organizations and NFPs, I'm sorry but, as you put it, wut?
Stop separating us. Our number might be even less than yours and we get attacked, too. We deal with shit, too. Can't we all stay focused on the bigger cause of getting Cis people to stop ignoring and start agreeing with us without going for each other's throats?
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