![]() ![]() What Black History Month means to The 19th staff Here’s what they chose.įor Rissi Palmer, country music is a form of Black resistance We asked lovers of Black literature to curate a Black resistance reading list. In some cases, she also fought transphobia in LGBTQ+ media, on top of racism. She fought her whole life to make space for trans people in Black media and fought to make space for Black people in queer media. Roberts’ mission of adding positive narratives about Black trans people was more complicated than just adding representation into mainstream culture. “And her work, you know, kind of preceded her because I had discovered so much about Black trans history through her blog.” “She was the first trans journalist that I had ever met, moreso the first Black trans journalist I had ever met,” said Anderson. ![]() Roberts proudly relayed the histories of Black trans heroes like Marsha P. And it has to be preserved for future generations to know about this.” “One of the missions of TransGriot is to document our history: good, bad, and indifferent. “Griots in West African culture are oral historians who are able to tell up to five centuries of their people’s history from memory,” Roberts said in 2016. It was with those intersections in mind that Monica started her TransGriot blog, specifically focused on not just the deaths but the lives of Black transgender people. “You’re seeing this whole intersection of oppression.” “One of the things Monica kept reminding me was we’re dealing with this being anti-trans violence, anti-Black violence, sometimes anti-sex worker violence,” said Smith. They also learned quickly that papers misidentified victims as “bearded women” or “men in dresses.” The two women were careful with what they reported, recognizing that not every transgender death was a murder and that reporting them as such could needlessly traumatize the community. “We would regularly share information back and forth.” “Monica also was looking at the issue of anti-transgender violence,” Smith said. It was work she did alongside Roberts, who started her own blog in 2006 when financial woes shuttered Smith’s site. In 1998, she founded the website “Remembering Our Dead,” which tallied transgender homicides each year and laid the foundation for the annual Transgender Day of Remembrance honoring trans murder victims. Even Boston’s LGBTQ+ newspaper, Bay Windows, misgendered Hester. While many in the nation grieved Shepard and pushed for justice, Hester’s murder was not met with the same response. Weeks later on November 28, Rita Hester, a Black transgender woman, was stabbed 20 times in her Boston apartment. On October 12, Matthew Shepard, a White college student, died after being tortured and left tied to a fence post in Laramie, Wyoming. In 1998, LGBTQ+ Americans witnessed two brutal murders. “Even here in the Bay Area, they refused to cover the deaths of trans people who were sex workers or anyone who was sex a worker, feeling that it wasn’t newsworthy enough,” said Smith. Like Roberts, Smith could not bear the way that police and media ignored the brutal killings of transgender women. “She was already just so sharp,” said Smith. ![]() Gwendolyn Ann Smith and Roberts met at the International Conference for Transgender Law and Employment Policy in Houston, a first-of-its-kind gathering hosted by the nation’s first out transgender judge, Phyllis Frye. In 1997, as Roberts’ activism was gaining momentum, she met another trans woman whose advocacy would irrevocably shape her own. Roberts was driven to create a world where Black trans kids could see full lives for themselves, and she dreamed of watching them grow up. “Originally it was because she didn’t see people that looked like her when she first got her transition. Roberts learned early to use media and politics to make change. There were few examples of out transgender people in the media when Roberts was a child and almost no examples of Black trans people. Roberts grew up feeling different but unable to see examples of who she could be, according to her best friend Dee Dee Watters. From in-depth Q&As to staff reflections and our inaugural 19th Celebrates event, we’re focused on telling stories along the twin themes of Black joy and Black resistance. This story is part of our Black History Month coverage. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Details
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |