Yesterday was the 11th annual Transgender Day Of Visibility (TDOV), and a week ago was the 385th Maryland Day. And yet this past Saturday March 30th included the second murder of a trans person in this country in 2019. Ashanti Carmon, a 20-something Black trans woman, was murdered here in Maryland, in Prince George’s County’s Fairmount Heights at the DC border. On Sunday January 6th (Epiphany / Three Kings Day), Dana Martin, 31, also a Black trans woman, was murdered in Montgomery, Alabama. May their memories be blessings, as we say in Judaism, and ones that call us to act!
Last November 20th was the 20th annual Transgender Day Of Remembrance (TDOR), when we remembered almost 30 trans people murdered in this country in the past year, and more than 360 more murdered elsewhere in our world. And the great majority of our stolen siblings are Black, women, and young (and there have been multiple murders in several locations); elsewhere, the majority are Latinx trans women and transfeminine people. Too, very little attention is given to the murders of and assaults on Native people who are Two Spirit.
Last year included a murder in my home state of Massachusetts -- Christa Steele Knudslien in North Adams; she was a trans advocacy colleague, and we were Friends here. And one here in Maryland -- Tydi Dansbury, in Baltimore, an hour from me here in Gaithersburg. Roxana Hernández died in ICE custody after being abused there, and Nikki Enriquez was one of four women victims of an intel supervisor for US Border Patrol.
I also remember Nicole Hall, a Black trans woman found dead in Dallas last May. And my siblings lost to suicide, as the attempt rate in our community is over 40%. And every year there are unreported deaths, and reported ones where the victim is not identified as trans.
May all of my trans sisters, brothers and other siblings’ memories be a blessing -- and one that calls us to act, particularly at trans justice’s intersection with racial, immigration and economic justice. May we continue schlepping towards tikkun olam, world repair, at the intersection of LGBTQ+, climate, racial, immigration, spiritual, fat, disability, and all other stripes of the rainbow of justice. May we never forget that white supremacy has always included cis supremacy, misogyny and transphobia. Amen!
And as always, there is much more information at Monica Roberts' TransGriot -- https://transgriot.blogspot.com/2019/03/number-2-rest-in-power-and-peace-ashanti.html.
#TransDayOfVisibility #TDOV #TDOV2019 #TDOR #TDOR2019#TransDayOfRemembrance 🏳️⚧
Last November 20th was the 20th annual Transgender Day Of Remembrance (TDOR), when we remembered almost 30 trans people murdered in this country in the past year, and more than 360 more murdered elsewhere in our world. And the great majority of our stolen siblings are Black, women, and young (and there have been multiple murders in several locations); elsewhere, the majority are Latinx trans women and transfeminine people. Too, very little attention is given to the murders of and assaults on Native people who are Two Spirit.
Last year included a murder in my home state of Massachusetts -- Christa Steele Knudslien in North Adams; she was a trans advocacy colleague, and we were Friends here. And one here in Maryland -- Tydi Dansbury, in Baltimore, an hour from me here in Gaithersburg. Roxana Hernández died in ICE custody after being abused there, and Nikki Enriquez was one of four women victims of an intel supervisor for US Border Patrol.
I also remember Nicole Hall, a Black trans woman found dead in Dallas last May. And my siblings lost to suicide, as the attempt rate in our community is over 40%. And every year there are unreported deaths, and reported ones where the victim is not identified as trans.
May all of my trans sisters, brothers and other siblings’ memories be a blessing -- and one that calls us to act, particularly at trans justice’s intersection with racial, immigration and economic justice. May we continue schlepping towards tikkun olam, world repair, at the intersection of LGBTQ+, climate, racial, immigration, spiritual, fat, disability, and all other stripes of the rainbow of justice. May we never forget that white supremacy has always included cis supremacy, misogyny and transphobia. Amen!
And as always, there is much more information at Monica Roberts' TransGriot -- https://transgriot.blogspot.com/2019/03/number-2-rest-in-power-and-peace-ashanti.html.
