Do You Wish To Be A Trans Leader Or A Trans Pariah?

As many of you have heard by now, there was a protest jumped off by a cadre of millennial trans women and their supporters during the NBJC Black Institute at Creating Change in Chicago on Thursday

The reason, as the group of protesters claimed, was not to 'hold people accountable' or 'support their trans sister', the purpose of it from the beginning was aimed at shutting down the Trans Attracted Men panel discussion that was set to happen organized by Tona Brown and Bryanna Jenkins.

That action turned ugly when NBJC's executive director and CEO Sharon Lettman Hicks was dismissively told to 'sit down and shut up' by protester Aaryn Lang, and other people in the room were disrespected as well like TPOCC Founding ED Kylar Broadus by the protesters.

While I was also one of the peeps they disrespected, and I thank everyone for their calls, hugs during CC16 and expressions of concern that are still coming in, this post is not about me.   It is about this disturbing pattern I have witnessed over the last two years of Northeastern and Midwest based young Black trans women who seem to think (and know who they are) that it's okay to exhibit Jerry Springeresque nekulturny behavior in conference spaces where we come and invest time and money in those spaces to learn and facilitate the introductions necessary to help build and sustain a national human rights movement.

I'm tired of the off the chains bad behavior along with other Black trans elders who have sacrificed much to ensure your generation of trans women could be you at ages earlier than we could ever dream of, and have less obstacles to face as you did so.

And what irritates us is that you are squandering that blessing paid for with the blood of your fallen trans sisters while embarrassing yourselves and the Black trans feminine community as a whole

The facts as I was able to determine before posting this were that the protest group never attempted to talk to Tona, Bryanna, or anyone in NBJC about their concerns, and it is increasingly apparent that the charge they have leveled at one of the panelists, has increasingly become highly questionable.

Yes boo boo kitties, I saw the police report.

Ladies, one of the tenets of a protest is that before you put your ass and reputation on the line to militantly protest something. make sure that the stuff you are allegedly protesting for actually happened before you start it.   If it turns out to be false, your credibility is shot.

As my sis Kim Watson so eloquently stated, 'You do not go in the line of fire based on lies'.

But back to the panel.   There were people in that room who spent money on conference registration fees, travel to Chicago, hotels and their valuable time to see that panel.  Your sisters Tona and Bryanna organized it, and it was being held in one of the few unapologetically Black spaces in that Creating Change Conference hotel in the NBJC Black Institute.

It was sponsored by an org that has had Black trans women's backs since Sharon Lettman-Hicks became the ED/CEO of that organization in the National Black Justice Coalition and the Kylar Broadus founded Trans Persons of Color Coalition.

The NBJC Black Institute attendees have every right to be pissed about not seeing that panel, much less a group of ungrateful children disrupting the NBJC Black Institute   You selfishly suppressed a conversation that needed to happen, and may have revealed insights into the mindset of trans attracted men that may help us reduce the numbers of our trans sisters being murdered.  

But y'all didn't give a rats anus about the people in that room gathered to see and hear that conversation or that were triggered as violence or sexual assault survivors by your actions.  You ate NBJC's deep dish pizza and then proceeded to crap on them afterwards.

You can try to justify that mess with that BS 'taking the space that is rightfully ours' mantra all you want, whatever in the hell that means, stroke your egos, but the end result is what you did was wrong and phucked up.  If you wish to continue down the trans pariah path that Ashley Love and Mariah Lopez occupy, be my guest, because that is exactly where you six peeps are heading right now.

And far from shutting that conversation down, there is even more desire and determination to see the trans attracted men chat happen.

While y'all were preening for the cameras, the right wing is introducing legislation to dehumanize us in several states and make it a criminal offense to be trans.

And the question I have for you six is simply this.  Do you wish to be a trans leader or a trans pariah? Choose wisely.

I understand y'all wish to be like the trans Latinas and have an organized, national movement.  But the trans Latinas also have discipline in their ranks, short and long range plans, don't disrespect their elders and diss each other on social media.   If they have beef with each other, they take it offline and squash it.

We have real work to do to build an intergenerational sustained Black trans movement.  I'm down to mentor people who wish to lead that movement and collectively give our people the representation they deserve.

If you wish to be part of that and want that to happen, great.  If you wish to keep mess and confusion going in Black Trans World, I'm not down for that and y'all can step aside.

As y'all step aside and descend to pariah status, the real leaders in Black Trans World can get on with the business of leading our community, fighting all who would seek to dehumanize and oppress us.

They are also tasked with educating our allies and enlightening all who wish to learn about trans issues from a Black perspective, and not embarrass our community at the same time.