Happy Kwanzaa Black Trans Style-The 2011 Remix: Imani

TransGriot Note:  On each night of the 2011 Kwanzaa celebration, just as I did last year, I'm going to write about each one of those principles and explain how it applies to the chocolate trans community and our cis African descended brothers and sisters. 

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Imani (Faith): To believe with all our heart in our people, our parents, our teachers, our leaders, and the righteousness and victory of our struggle.

Haban gari    What's The News?   

It's time to light the seventh candle on the Kinara and ponder the seventh principle of the seven celebrated during Kwanzaa.

Happy  New Year!   The arrival of 2012 signals a new beginning , a fresh slate and 366 more days (this is a leap year, people) to exhibit that faith the Imani principle calls for in ourselves, our people, our leaders and in the righteousness of and the eventual victory of our ongoing struggle for trans human rights.       


As I said in last year's post, we must for the sake of African descended trans people sick and tired of the status quo want something better for ourselves and the trans kids following in our footsteps.   But in order for that to happen, we must take positive action and exhibit the faith that we will get a positive result from those action 

Benjamin Mays once said, "We live by faith in others. But most of all we must live by faith in ourselves - faith to believe that we can develop into useful men and women."

I have the faith in myself and in the African-American trans community that with determined, discipled effort and given the opportunity, we can and will develop into useful men and women ready, willing and able to take part in building not only our own community, but uplifting our African-American one as we climb.

I have the faith in my fellow African-American people that their justice and human rights loving side will overcome the faith based lies and innorage being spread about us and they will come on their own to the conclusion that trans human rights is a moral issue and worth fighting for as an African descende community issues.

I have the faith in the African-American trans community that we will continue to vast  off the shackles of shame and guilt in being trans, stand up, speak in a loud voice and assert our human rights.

I also have the faith that we in conjunction with our African descended transbrothers and transsisters will work hand in hand with our African descended cousins across the Diaspora to ensure that the humanity of African descended transpeople is recognized, respected and protected in the laws of our various nations.

Imani is that powerful a principle, and it's past time it be used as a force for good and human rights progress instead of the way some people have misused it as a shield and excuse for their bigotry and selfishness.

Trans human rights is a just and righteous position in line with the arc of the moral universe.   It is inevitable that humanity will recognize the fact their is no justifiable reason to discriminate against trans people and we will emerge victorious by continuing to point out that principled position.

Happy Kwanzaa Black Trans Style-The 2011 Remix: Kuumba

TransGriot Note:  On each night of the Kwanzaa celebration, just as I did last year, I'm going to write about each one of those principles and explain how it applies to the chocolate trans community and our cis African descended brothers and sisters.

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Kuumba (Creativity): To do always as much as we can, in the way we can, in order to leave our community more beautiful and beneficial than we inherited it.

Haban gari    What's The News?   

It's time to light the sixth candle on the Kinara and ponder the sixth principle of the seven celebrated during Kwanzaa.

When I wrote about this principle last year it was more in terms of what I had done as an individual to live up to the kuumba principle.   This year I'm focusing more on what the African descended trans community does and can do collectively to live up to this principle. 

So let's repeat the question.  What can we do as a community to leave it more beneficial and beautiful than when we inherited it? 

First of all, the word beautiful just doesn't apply to art works or the physical features of other human beings.. It also means of a very high or excellent standard.

So what can we do to strive for and achieve that excellence?      

We can start by doing what we can where we are at that given moment to uplift the African American trans community.  It can be as small as organizing a once a month gathering of friends.  Resolving to get to know five African American transpeople you don't know and promising to yourself by the end of the year you'll form solid friendships with them. 

It can be you going back to school to further your education or encouraging someone else to do so.  It can mean that you strive to take better care of yourself and the people around you.   It can mean you become more involved not only with our community but step up to a leadership position and become a more vocal advocate in the communities we intersect with. 

Collectively, fulfilling the kuumba principle can mean we trans African Americans do a better job of working together to formulate policy that benefits all of us.   It means we redouble of efforts to achieve the social and political goals of our community.   It means we work harder to make and keep those connections between us strong.  It mean we strive to be finer specimens of humanity with each other and everyone else we come in contact with inside and outside our community.  It  means we strive to build community with our African American cis brothers and sisters and our cousins across the Diaspora.  

It also means we never stop trying to reach for and achieve excellence.  Remember, we have young African American transkids not only watching us, but counting on us to do what we need to do in a morally upright and ethical manner to leave the world better, more beautiful and more beneficial for all of us that it was when we first encountered it.

We must strive to leave it in the best possible condition for those transkids so that when they reach adulthood and it is time for us to rest after laboring to build that better world for them, they can use the kuumba principle and the examples of our ancestors as a roadmap to build upon our work.  
 

Happy Kwanzaa Black Trans Style-The 2011 Remix: Nia

TransGriot Note:  On each night of the Kwanzaa celebration, just as I did last year, I'm going to write about each one of those principles and explain how it applies to the chocolate trans community and our cis African descended brothers and sisters.

***
Nia (Purpose): To make our collective vocation the building and developing of our community in order to restore our people to their traditional greatness.

Haban gari    What's The News?   

It's time to light the fifth candle on the Kinara and ponder the fifth principle of the seven celebrated during Kwanzaa.

Nia.   Making our collective vocation the building and developing of our community in order to restore our people to their traditional greatness.  This is a principle I'm definitely on board with and as I noticed this year, seems many of my trans brothers and sisters of African descent have come to an epiphany about it as well.

I'm glad our cis brothers and sisters are beginning to realize that the African American community includes transgender people as well and we can no longer afford to be throwing away their talent if we are serious about the task of helping restore our people to their traditional greatness.

As we continue to point out, there is greatness in the African descended trans community that is untapped and unrealized and all it needs is an opportunity to prove it.  We also need the trust and confidence from our people that we can own our power as Sharon Lettman-Hicks of the National Black Justice Coalition is fond of reminding us.

The trans community needs to live up to the nia principle by continuing on the path of closing ranks and building our community.   We must continue to nurture, support and build TPOCC to become the muscular organization it needs to be to successfully represent us.   We must continue those efforts at the local, regional, state and yes international level to build community.   Our African Diaspora trans brothers and sisters could use our help just as we need theirs. 


And as we continue to draw inspiration from the nia principle, hopefully the end result will be by the end of this decade not only a more cohesive African descended trans community, but in conjunction with our cis brothers and sisters an African descend community that is once again unquestionably on the path we deviated from a bit to get to our traditional greatness.