May 29, 2020

Louis Mitchell is tending to himself and to our Black kin this week, but he has asked me to offer a statement of support to our beloved community -- both to those who are directly in the line of fire and those who are seeking to be allies and/or accomplices.

Not much has changed from the quotes in my 2013 article, “Hearing Our Kin: Trayvon Martin and Our Black and Brown Transgender Siblings.” Perhaps, we have different names and different cities in the news. However, the issues have changed very little in terms of police, vigilantes, and even loved ones profiling Black folk for violence.

As Minneapolis literally burned in the aftermath of the George Floyd assassination, we learned that a Black transgender man, named Tony McDade, was shot and killed by a member of the Tallahassee (Florida) Police Department. McDade was then misgendered in police and news reports. While the details of McDade’s death may suggest “police-assisted suicide,” the incident is no less a reminder of how easily such police-violence may be unleashed on unarmed Black (and Brown) bodies.

Meanwhile, our kin are not only victims. Black Transgender Elder and Minneapolis Council Woman, Andrea Jenkins, has called for racism to be declared a public health emergency. She began her press conference by singing “Amazing Grace” in a way that reminded many of us of then-President Obama’s voice at the funeral for one of those killed in a Charleston church in 2015. Later, she broke the news that Floyd’s murderer was a colleague in a non-police security gig for years. He was not an unknown stranger.

Being transgender in no way makes our Black and Brown kin immune from police violence, the threat of police violence, or vigilante assault. We know well that being transgender does not keep us from being public servants or religious leaders, but, being “respectable,” whether as clergy or lawyers or as community advocates, does not protect our Black and Brown kin from the very real consequences of living in a white supremacist world, either.

Read/Watch more: 'You Don't Have to Know Somebody to Grieve Them': How Black People Can Process Collective Trauma and Grief

This is the world we live in. Each one of us must find our own way forward in the midst of conflicting news and conflicting feelings. Whether you are sick and tired of being sick and tired, or whether you remain confused about why protesters might take to the streets, we want you to know that you are loved.

This week, as has happened many times over since I wrote that article in 2013, I have held some space for and given some space to my Black colleagues, for my Native colleagues, for my other colleagues of color. I don’t have a road map for how to “fix” all the problems that have haunted the United States since before its founding, but, I do know that we are “better together.”

Transfaith remains a multi-racial community, committed to justice and equality for our Black and Brown kindred of all gender experiences and expressions. We invite you to take up Council Woman Jenkin’s charge, as we are.

Racism is a public health emergency, no less than COVID-19. We have changed our lives to survive and help others survive the global pandemic. We must now ask the next logical question:

How will we change our lives in response to the threat racism poses to our public health?

Will your transgender organization join Council Woman Jenkins in declaring racism a public health emergency? What will that mean for your group or organization?
What next steps will you take to prepare for the impacts of this on-going threat to Black and Brown transgender communities?
How will you make a commitment to protecting our Black and Brown transgender siblings from further threat?
How might transgender communities lead the way, following Andrea Jenkins’ declaration, in renewing our commitment to fight this threat?

We invite you to share ideas and resources, words of comfort and solidarity in the comments on our Facebook page, or you can email us at office@transfaith.info, if you prefer.

Read more about being Black and transgender in our 2013 article, “Hearing Our Kin: Trayvon Martin and Our Black and Brown Transgender Siblings.”

Mx Chris Paige is co-founder and Operations Director for Tansfaith. They also blog about race, religion, and gender at OtherWise Christian.

Hearing Our Kin: George Floyd, Tony McDade, and our Black Transgender Siblings