Damn! Damn! Damn!

That famous Good Times scene in which the late Esther Rolle while playing the iconic Florida Evans, lets loose her anger, frustration and grief over the death of her husband James is what I feel every time I hear or have sent to me an e-mail that informs me of another murdered trans woman that I eventually have to disseminate to all of my TransGriot readers.

That anger and frustration hit me once again as I pondered the death of our sister Mia Henderson in Baltimore.  At the 5:57 AM EDT time her body was discovered by police, several of my trans brothers and sisters were in the process of returning to their homes after spending the last two days lobbying on Capitol Hill.  My peeps in Philadelphia and their allies were awaiting the start of a competency hearing to determine whether Charles Sargent, the alleged killer of Diamond Williams, would stand trial for his heinous crime. 
   
As of this writing, in the cases involving Kandy Hall, Zoraida Reyes, Yaz'min Shancez and Tiffany Edwards, the four transwomen killed last month, only Edwards' alleged killer is in jail right now facing charges for his crime.

Now we have Mia Henderson to mourn, light a candle for and read her name at this November's Transgender Day of Remembrance ceremony.

I was asked by a trans ally a while back why is this happening to trans women of color?

It's a confluence of factors.  One is simply the fact that it is straight up dangerous to walk planet Earth in a feminine body.  It is unrealistic to think that if our newscasts are full of reports every day in which cis women of all ethnic backgrounds are being murdered for various reasons around the world, that trans women would escape that misogynistic pattern of violence.    

Another factor is that all trans women have been demonized and had their femininity and humanity questioned by friend, foe and frenemy.  That dehumanization only increases when you are a non-white transperson, and increases by a factor of ten when you combine the historic demonization of Black femininity with the devaluing of Black lives and off the charts demonization of transfeminine women.   

When the murderers of transpeople are either never caught, are freed after a trial, freed on legal technicalities,  receive ridiculously low sentences, or a defense attorney attempts to jaw droppingly argue that the killer of a transwoman he was defending didn't deserve a long sentence, the societal perception is set up that trans women's lives aren't as valuable to society as cis people's are, and murdering a transwoman is a crime the perpetrators can and should get away with committing..

It also doesn't help when the law enforcement personnel who are sworn to protect and serve us are seen more as oppressors and predators than protectors.

How many times can I say and write I'm beyond sick and tired of being sick and tired of seeing my transsisters killed?   When will the African-American  (and Latino/a ) cis community stop treating their trans sisters like pariahs and begin enveloping us with unconditional love? 

When will you realize Black cis community, Black politicians, Black clergy and Black legacy organizations that just because I or any other transperson transitions, we didn't forfeit our Black cards or our humanity?

I and my trans peeps are part of the diverse mosaic of human life.  We have made some tremendous strides in educating my community about exactly who we are and the talents we bring to our kente cloth covered family table.   All we want to do is live our lives to the best of our abilities and contribute our talents to the uplift and betterment of all the communities we intersect and interact with. 

I love my people and I'm proud to be a Black trans woman.   But you have to start unconditionally loving me and my trans sisters back.   And that starts with eliminating the thought from your mind that just because you have your hate on for a transwoman, you have a justified right to kill her. 

Let's Play TransGriot Jeopardy 3

Have a new clue for you in TransGriot Jeopardy.     Remember,  your answer much be in the form of a question.

The category is Black Trans History and the Final Jeopardy answer is.

In June 2014 Tona Brown will become the first African-American trans woman to do this.



Time's up.   The Final Jeopardy answer is:  What is play at Carnegie Hall?

Tona is quickly raising the money she needs in her indiegogo campaign to make that dream happen.   Thanks to everyone who has made videos supporting her and who have contributed for her to stand on that hallowed stage on behalf of our community. 

Speaking of videos, here's the latest from the host of Denver's InFocus program,  Eden Lane.



Going to be wonderful to see that happen.

Monica Jones Guilty Of Walking While Black Trans In Arizona

Have another reason to not like Arizona despite some of the cool people who call it home.

Been keeping an eye on the ongoing case of ASU student Monica Jones, who was accosted on the street while walking in her Phoenix neighborhood during a sting operation and charged with 'manifestation of intent to prostitute' the very night after she spoke at a May 2013 rally denouncing Project ROSE.  .

Project ROSE is a program created with 15 partner organizations including the Phoenix Police Department with the goal of avoiding filing charges against adults engaged in prostitution, providing an opportunity for medical and social services and assistance in helping them exit the life of prostitution if they choose.  

In practice, the program and its profiled prostitution sweeps target trans, SGL and low income women far too often and has a 30% success rate, the same rate as a woman who goes before a judge and hasn't gone through the unjust Catholic Charities supported program.  

Jones believes she was unfairly targeted for arrest because of her outspoken criticism of Project ROSE.   A Change.org petition was created urging the Phoenix city prosecutor to drop the charges against her..    

The ACLU of Arizona joined Jones’ lawyer in contesting the constitutionality of the manifestation statute. Dan Pochoda of the ACLU explained in his arguments, “The statute eviscerates first amendment rights.”

In a packed Phoenix municipal courtroom this morning filled with supporters wearing “I Stand With Monica Jones: Stop Profiling Trans Women of Color”shirts, Judge Hercules Dellas found the 29 year old Ms. Jones guilty based solely on the statements of the police officer who targeted her. 

Gee why am I not surprised?   Jones' trial is also being monitored by the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders as an example of discriminatory policing and retaliation on activists organizing for human rights.

She is appealing the ruling because she faces time in the men's jails, and Maricopa County has a less than stellar human rights record in their penal system.  

Ms. Jones stated, “I am saddened by the injustice that took place at my trial this morning, but we are not giving up the fight. It’s time that we end the stigma and the criminalization of sex work, the profiling of trans women of color, and the racist policing system that harms so many of us.”

Hope she has better luck with her appeal.

Happy Janet Mock Day!

As y'all are aware of, Janet's tour across the country in support of Redefining Realness continues, and tonight she is in San Francisco. 

She was given a proclamation at an event that is happening right now declaring today in San Francisco as 'Janet Mock Day'.  

I also found it deliciously ironic that it happened (snicker, snicker) on the very day the last Piers Morgan Tonight show is being broadcast on CNN.

Aww, my heart bleeds for him.  Psyche.  

Naw, I know I won't miss watching him berate guests and neither will America 

But back to the #girllikeus of the hour.  Congrats Janet for the well deserved honor!   



 And oh yeah, happy Janet Mock Day!

Janet's A New York Times Bestselling Author

Congratulations to my sis Janet Mock whose book tour is not only packing venues, but is selling books at a historic and rapid pace as well.

Janet may have made a little Black trans history as well.  With the debut of Redefining Realness at #19, she may have become the first Black trans author to have her memoir make it to the New York Times Best Seller List.

Will probably have to double check that to be certain, but there is no denying that Redefining Realness is a historic and game changing book that people are snapping off the shelves to eagerly read. 

Islan Nettles Rally And The Lingering Questions After It

Something else that was happening while I was busy hosting 4000 of our TBLG family and allies in H-town last week was a January 30 New York rally demanding action on the Islan Nettles case.

When we last checked in on the case the Manhattan DA dropped misdemeanor assault charges against Paris Wilson, the person who was pulled off of Nettles by the police. because the speedy trial prosecution clock had run out and to ostensibly pursue more serious charges in this case. 

Well, the New York trans community isn't staying silent about this, they want justice for Islan like all of us do.  There was a December 20 meeting of New York City trans leaders headed by Laverne Cox and Brooke Cerda Guzman and various organizations facilitated by the New York Anti-Violence Project with the Manhattan DA.. 

Over 100 people including Janet Mock showed up for a January 30 rally at One Police Plaza organized by the Trans Women of Color Collective of New York (TWOCC) to keep the public pressure on NYPD and the Manhattan DA's office, keep the case in the public eye, and prod them into speedier action to solve the Nettles case. 

“Having survived a violent assault, I know what a struggle it can be to get justice in NY. Not one of my attackers was charged - and I was almost treated by the police as though I deserved to be assaulted,” says Madison St. Claire, Co-Chair of Membership for TWOCC. “Now, the same thing is happening in the Islan Nettles case - and that sends the wrong message: that trans women of color are disposable - that our lives don’t matter.” says St Claire. “Today, we send our own message NYPD and the DA’s office: TRANS LIVES MATTER!”

TWOCC activists have pointed out some troubling issues and things that make you go hmm concerns surrounding the Nettles case.  TWOCC has accused the NYPD and the Manhattan District Attorney's office of negligence and mishandling of this investigation that is leading to fear in the NY transfeminine community that a perpetrator of violence against us will get away with it.

It was revealed by TWOCC that no DNA evidence was collected from Paris Wilson at the scene of the crime, nor were witnesses rigorously questioned. Nor has it been satisfactorily explained why Simone Wilson, the suspect’s mother, was never held accountable or charged for hindering prosecution or falsifying evidence when she persuaded a friend of her son to make a false confession which was later recanted.

And perhaps in a statement that strains credibility, the DA’s office is claiming that all 10 surveillance cameras in the vicinity of the beating that lead to Islan Nettles’ death on that August 17 night were broken.

There have also been questions raised by transpeople in the NY area and nationally about what exactly is the Rev Al Sharpton's and the National Action Network's stance concerning the Nettles case and trans human rights in general.  

NAN held a December 7 panel discussion moderated by Dominique Sharpton entitled 'My Brothers Keeper' at NAN's Harlem headquarters that included trans panelists Sean Coleman, Arisce Wanzer and Kimberly Howard.  But the forum has not quieted the trans community asking this legitimate question in light of the fact the vicious attack on Islan occurred mere blocks from NAN's Harlem headquarters.

So will keep you TransGriot readers posted on the latest developments in the Nettles case as I receive them.

Black Men, You're A Misogynistic Punk If You Hit Any Black Woman, Cis Or Trans

One of the things we definitely have to work on in the rapidly approaching New Year is eradicating this misogynistic attitude amongst young Black men, (and men in general) that it is okay to hit and fight women.  That attitude gets ratcheted up a few notches if the woman in question is trans

That transmisogynistic attitude needs to be checked especially in the wake of Islan Nettles death two months ago.  Because some punk was upset to discover she was an attractive trans woman, he brutally attacked her on the street and rendered her unconscious until she died a few days later.

That's right, I said punk.  

I was alerted by Jaila Simms concerning a video of a man fighting and body slamming a woman, subsequently knocking her unconscious and her friend fiercely coming to her defense. 

I'm still trying to gather the information as I write this as to whether the woman who was attacked is a cis or trans woman.   Some of the misogynistic and transphobic comment in the thread accompanying this video on Facebook claimed she was trans, but that hasn't been confirmed yet.   

So let's run with the assumption for a moment that the woman in question is trans.   If she isn't the following comments still apply to her as a cis woman.

I don't care what lies you cis peeps were told or disinformation has been fed to you, but a trans woman is a WOMAN, and should be treated and respected as such. 

And this bull feces of you alleged Black men trying to justify swinging your fists at Black women cis or trans is disgusting, unacceptable, nekulturny behavior that needs to cease and desist.

Trigger warning for the upcoming video that sparked this post. 

Post by Tàs Mi.

So let me repeat what I said before the video break.  I want you cis Black men and you cisgender men of other ethnic backgrounds to burn this in your brains, too.

I don't care what you were told, a trans woman is a woman.  Putting your hands on her in anger is never justified or acceptable behavior.   When she or any woman is out and about in the world, should be respected and treated as such even if she is screaming in your face millimeters from your nose because she's pissed off at you. 

I don't care who started this incident that is on this going viral videotape.  Bottom line is that as long as you walk this Earth in a male body, you are NEVER justified to hit ANY woman whether she is cis or trans.

The societal rules don't change just because a woman is trans, cis men.  By dint of you being testosterone based lifeforms, you are still stronger than any woman you will ever come in contact with.  A trans woman may have been born in a male body, but after a year on estrogen has less body strength than the average cis male because of her hormone replacement therapy (HRT) even if you are the same height. 

She being a trans woman doesn't give you the right if you get into an argument with her to hit or strike her either.   If you're a so-called man, you will back the hell away and out of that situation without using violence because that what men are supposed to do.  

If you don't like the fact a transwoman transitioned, that's your transphobia talking and you need to get a life and some counseling to help you get over that, not her.  The trans woman is just simply trying to live her life to the best of her ability.  She gets enough micro and macroaggressive crap from society for simply existing.  She does not need a beatdown or being body slammed by you just so you can grab your crotch afterward like a gangsta rapper and feel more secure in your manhood.

Neither is swinging your fists at this woman going to alter the fact she is still walking Planet Earth in a female body, and has to cope with all the baggage that comes with that.  Multiply that societal baggage load as a Latina, Asian or Native American woman, and triple it as an African descended woman.  

Black women have been demonized as the 'unwoman' for the last four centuries vis a vis the beauty standard that exalts white women as the penultimate in beauty and fertility.  Not only does the Black woman not need you Black men, who are supposed to be their defenders and protectors, demonizing them with the b-word or worse epithets, we don't need you swinging at us as if we were a boxing ring opponent with you. 

Megathanks, props and prayers go out to Jamisha Smith for standing up for her friend who was unconscious after being body slammed and possibly saving her friend's life.   Our prayers go to this young woman who was attacked as well.  

And FYI to the waste of DNA who put his hands on this sistah, karma is not only a you know what, she wears a dress and stiletto heels, too.  

Instead of proving your manhood, all you proved to the world is that you are a violent misogynistic punk who is not worthy to date, much less be intimate with ANY woman. 

And Black community, it's past time we said no to and diligently worked hard on eliminating in 2014 and beyond the misogynistic violence being directed at all Black women cis and trans that is injuring or killing far too many of our sisters.

Tavares Spencer Attempted Murder Trial Starts In Tampa

22 year old Coko McDonald almost ended up being another one of the sadly too long list of Black trans women whose names we'll read on November 20.

But because of quick thinking on her part she's not, and the waste of DNA who allegedly tried to kill her is on trial.

16 year old Tavares Spencer is facing attempted murder and hate crime charges after luring McDonald to a home on April 9 in the 5000 block of Winnie Street N.in the east Tampa area and shooting her. 

Spencer wanted to date Coko and after discovering she was a trans woman, became enraged about that revelation and allegedly plotted to kill her.

Just because you get pissed about finding out you are attracted to a trans woman doesn't give you or anyone else the authority to kill us.  

Off soapbox, returning to story.  

A week after the two met, Spencer lured Coko to the home on Winnie Street, pulled out a gun, and told her to get on the ground.  Police say he stole her cell phone and her purse and then shot her. Coko says the bullets hit her in the hip.


“I lost my breath with the first shot.  The second one kind of put my body in a shock,” said Coko.

McDonald played dead until Spencer walked away.  She then got up and took off running as Spencer fired another shot at her that fortunately missed.

Tampa Police Department investigators said that within an hour of the shooting, the teenager was bragging about it on text messages and using "defamatory statements" about McDonald's sexual orientation.

Spencer was in jail on an unrelated charge when he was arrested and charged as an adult for the attempted murder of McDonald along with robbery and aggravated battery with a deadly weapon.  The enhanced hate crime charge was the result of a warrant authorized search of Spencer's phone that revealed the transphobic text messages. 

Jury selection started this morning with prosecutors and Spencer's defense attorney interviewing potential jury members for this attempted murder trial.   It's also not known at this time whether Coko will appear in the courthouse to either testify during the trial against Spencer or just be there in the courtroom to watch the proceedings.

At any rate, I'll be keeping an eye on it along with the Tampa area trans community to see if justice is served in this case.

The Hurdles Around Love For A Transwoman And A Trans Attracted Man

Guest Post By Rebecca Desvignes Aeon

It is not as simple for a transattracted man that's now discovering his attraction towards transwomen, to fall in love, or be in a serious committed relationship with a transwoman unless he has come to terms with his personal thoughts, desires and acceptance of it all including overcoming the fear of being called gay by the ignorant statements from most of society from lack of education.

It is an emotionally challenging experience for a transwoman that is comfortable in her mindset and skin, being in love with a transattracted man, that is now discovering his attraction towards transwomen either in the exploration stage, or is seasoned but yet still dealing with the fear of family and friends finding out, and also being incapable of reproduction in some cases, if that transattracted man happens to desire having a child through non-adopted options.

It's is even more emotionally challenging for an HIV-positive transwoman to date and find love.  Some are having to deal with some transattracted men that may at first start a relationship after being told at first of her status, agreeing to continue dating, and may quit with no explanations afterwards.  This is also including HIV-positive transattracted men receiving the same treatment from an HIV-negative transwoman.

Some transattracted men live with a burning desire to be in love and be in either a serious committed relationship or marriage with a transwoman, but is too afraid or circumstances don't permit for such a union. Therefore for some transattracted men, it's easier to have one night stands or secret unions behind closed doors when having the chance to do so while others which some people call chasers, remain in exploring mode.

Some transattracted mens only interest in transwomen is purely sexually motivated.   They could never fathom the thoughts of falling in love with a transwoman due to the lingering subconscious mindset they were indoctrinated with from an innocent child from elders and refused to see otherwise.  They continue looking at a relationship whit a transwoman and thinking about it subconsciously as being with a 'man'. If by chance they did fall or feel like they are falling in love with a transwoman, their first initial reaction is to run or disappear.

Some are only willing to accept and deal with the imagery of the female figure with something extra for many provoked through sexual urges honed through shemale porn.  Many are spontaneously still haunted by their issues of their own sexuality from misguided visuals, information and lack or no available correct information about the lives transwomen really live. 

It is a very odd position for a transwoman to be in to have to school, teach Trans 101, answer questions that sometimes border on the offensive or odd coming from an inquisitive eager transattracted man newly discovering transwomen about her life and the issues we face.

The bottom line here is a pre-operative or post-operative transwoman is a woman and needs to be loved and treated that way!

The love union between a transwoman and transattracted man can only be possible when first there is love, trust, fidelity, open mindedness, comunication, understanding, patience, willingness, and consistency.

Those qualities will help both parties overcome the hurdles around love for a transwoman and a trans attracted man.

We New Black Transwomen Define Us, Not You

The New Black Transwoman is an outspoken advocate for the dignity of herself and all transwomen, and refuses to submit quietly to anti-trans oppression and injustice.  

She is grounded in her spirituality, constantly evolving on her feminine journey and strives to be a compliment to Black womanhood and not regarded a joke or detriment to it.  

She fearlessly tackles the shame, guilt and fear issues we face and expresses pride in being a Black transwoman.   --TransGriot. Birth of the New Black Transwoman   July 20, 2012

It seems as though some peeps have a problem with New Black Transwomen standing up for ourselves, owning our power and calling out people who disrespect, denigrate and dehumanize us. 

And sadly, some of those people are in our own Black LGB and Black community ranks    

If you fall into that category and have a problem with African descended transwomen standing up for themselves and their humanity (and you know who you are) that's too damned bad. 

We are no longer going to allow disinformation and misgendering of Black transwomen to go unchallenged.by friend, foe or frenemy inside or outside this community.  We are tired of the media misgendering our people in life and death and getting a 'tude when we call them on their bull feces.  We are tired of misguided Black politicians hypocritically voting against human rights laws and ordinances that will go a long way toward helping to solve many of the problems that ail our community because you fail to grasp the concept that Black trans issues are Black community issues.  

We are more than fed up with the misguided gay and straight Black cisgender people who arrogantly assert they know more about our trans lives than we do.  We're sick of their loud and wrong commentary about Black trans women when they have never walked in our pumps and won't STFU and listen when we try to tell them our stories.  

Enough is enough.   If you truly wish to be a standup trans ally to our community and intelligently talk about chococentric trans issues, 'ejumacate' yourself first. 

Google and Bing are your easily accessible tools to help you gain that Trans 101 and beyond knowledge you'll need to facilitate these much needed Black family conversations.  

There's also an increasingly long list of African American trans women of all ages who are eminently qualified and willing to discuss our lives at a Trans 201 and beyond level and the challenging issues we face.

And that's before we even get started talking about the issues that our trans sisters in the rest of the African Diaspora face in the Caribbean, the Americas, and Continental Africa.

We New Black Transwomen define us, not anyone else.   We are the experts at living our trans feminine lives and navigating our 21st century world in them.  If you're spouting falsehoods and lies about our trans feminine community, we have every right to confront and call it out because we are tired of your lies and disinformation getting our trans younglings killed.

The ongoing online and offline internal trans definition conversations are happening in our own ranks as we speak.  They are happening on our Afrocentric print and video blogs, in our online groups, at conferences, at community meetings and amongst each other.  

We New Black Transwomen are part of the diverse mosaic of human life and interwoven in the kente cloth fabric of African-American life.  We desire sisterhood not only with each other but with our Black cisgender sisters. 

We New Black Transwomen simply want to live our lives in peace and relatively drama free tranquility.   We not only want to see our trans younglings get to experience their 30th, 40th, 50th and 60th birthdays, we want to work toward our ultimate goal of being a valued part of the greater society.
 
The sooner you realize that, the sooner we New Black Transwomen can use our talents, education, and skills to benefit not only our own community, but uplift ourselves and our people as well.  

Laverne And Janet On HuffPo Discussing #Girls Like Us Relationships

Two of my little sisters got together to give America the blessings of their collective wisdom on relationships while being #girlslikeus in the wake of the Mr. Cee mess.

Janet wrote this September 12 commentary on her blog, Diamond Stylz has already commented on it via her video blog, and I'm still debating if I need to wade into this mess after these ladies basically broke it down.

But enough jibber-jabber.  Here's the video from their recent HuffPo Live appearance with Marc Lamont Hill moderating.

Why The Unacceptable Levels Of Anti-Trans Violence Aimed At Us?

Danielle King touched upon the frustration and anger we all feel about Bree Wallace, another Black transwoman being viciously attacked last Friday morning in the Washington DC area and us being beyond sick and tired of being sick and tired about it.  

I'm also praying along with the DC trans community and her sisters around the world for Bree's swift recovery from her injuries.


Someone asked in the comments on my Facebook page why we African-American transwomen (along with our trans Latina sisters) are facing unacceptable levels of anti-trans violence, and I submit it's multiple factors playing into this.

*The anti-trans hate speech regurgitated by TERF's, conservative religious groups and Fox Noise.
*The meme injected into American society since slavery that a Black life isn't worth that much or as important as a white one and a trans life is even less important.
*The lack of visibility and respect for trans people of color inside and outside our community.   
*The outright media disrespect for Black trans women as exemplified by the Cleveland Plain Dealer's journalistic hate crime aimed at Cemia Acoff.
*Black trans women getting killed or having anti-trans violence aimed at them and the perps either never getting arrested for it or when they do, getting little or no jail time for it or getting acquitted.

If you don't think that DC cop Kenneth Furr getting off for discharging his service revolver at three transwomen didn't play into this or the fact that I as of yet can't hit Bing or Google and find any information about Gary Niles Montgomery's trial for killing Deoni Jones, you are sadly naive.

There's a perception that it's open season on Black transwomen in DC and beyond, and too many people and our legacy orgs have been cricket chirping silent about it.  Time for that sorry dynamic to change ASAP. 

Bottom line is that the POTUS and FLOTUS need to know about it.  The Congressional Black Caucus.   The NAACP.  The Urban League.  Our national, state and local politicians.  Every organization in Black America and our people need to be aware that Black trans women are catching hell besides TPOCC and the National Black Justice Coalition.

Why?  Because Black trans issues are Black community and Black LGBT issues.  What affects us also affects the entire African-American community and vice versa. 


And yes, Black SGL community,  let me repeat what I just said in that last sentence in terms of Black trans community issues being Black LGBT issues because some of your Black trans sisters also intersect and interact with the LGB and same gender loving end of the community.

Black LGB community, you will also need to do your part as well of being standup allies for us just as we are for you instead of elements of you trying to suck up to the Gay, Inc power structure that hates you just as much as they hate us. 

And my beautiful Black transsisters, yes I understand your concerns, but visibility is what will ultimately stop this wave of anti-trans violence directed at us, not hiding in the closet and cowering in fear.  That's what the haters want so they can deny we exist.  

It's nation time, Black trans women.  It's us being out, proud and open about our lives that will eventually stem the  tide of anti-trans violence along with us interacting with all the communities we intersect and interact with.  

We Black trans women have to come to grips with the fact we are walking targets for anti-female violence and sexual assault.  We must be hyper vigilant about our surroundings and the situations we potentially end up in.   One small lapse in that vigilance can result in us being seriously injured or having our names read at the next Transgender Day of Remembrance memorial ceremony.   

We have had three African-American trans women killed this year and all were under age 30. There is a pattern of anti-trans violence and disrespect in DC that Earline Budd alluded to that has existed since the mid 90's. That's gotta end.

What also has to end is nobody caring about a Black trans woman unless they need her in a photo to prove their organization is diverse or they want to use us as bargaining chips to pass GL rights only legislation.

I can write about what happens to African-American trans women every day, but if you aren't sharing my TransGriot posts or talking about it, the news doesn't get disseminated. To borrow a slogan from the ACT-UP era, Silence=Death     

Your votes also put those national, state and local politicians in office.  Let them and the folks in these organizations know this is an unacceptable situation and ask them what concrete steps will they be taking to help stem the tide of anti-trans violence aimed at African-American trans women.   If they try to spin their way out of it, don't accept that.

I want you 40 and under African-descended transwomen to not only enjoy your lives, but know what it's like to get to my age so you can be mentors to the next generation of trans women.

It's why I want to do my part to ensure the unacceptable levels of anti-trans violence aimed at African-American trans women in DC and elsewhere in this country ends as expeditiously as possible.