Black Trans Community Leader’s Statement on the Murder of our Black Trans Family 

Overview:

     In the midst of one of the most potent historical moments for the affirmation and protection of Black life, two Black transgender women have been murdered and brutalized. Just before 7 pm on Monday, June 9, the body of 27-year-old Dominique Rem’mie Fells was found dismembered and dumped on the banks of the Schuylkill River in Philadelphia, PA. On the same day, in Liberty Township, OH near Cincinnati, 25-year-old Riah Milton was found dead of multiple gunshot wounds after being intentionally targeted in a robbery. This follows the murder of Nina Pop, the state-sanctioned execution of Tony McDade, and many other Black trans people this year. We also are saddened by the ways that our government and Black centered movements continue to silence and decenter the voices and narratives of Black trans folks.

Response:

     These instances of violence are a direct result of white supremacy, anti-Blackness, transphobia, transmisogyny, and historical disregard for the autonomy of Black people and our bodies. The police are not and have never been concerned with the protection of Black Trans people. In looking at the tragic death of Tony McDade, we see that not only are we disregarded when we attempt to access support and justice for the violation of our bodies and lives, but we are also constantly targeted by police violence and aggression. 

     The current decentralized BLM movement presents an opportunity for our communities to hold a mirror up to the ways in which our organizing efforts and allies fail to center the most marginalized. In Seattle specifically, the movements for Black lives have so far aggressively stifled the positionality of Black trans folks in conversations around the value of Black lives, as well as the needs of Black people. We believe that for any movement to be equitable to the experiences & needs of everyone in that particular community; they must consistently uplift & center the voices of trans folks, women/femmes, disabled folks, sex workers, immigrants, imprisoned, and undocumented folks. 

     As a coalition of Black Trans folks in Seattle, we want to highlight the complexity in addressing the ways that transphobia and transmisogyny show up in the Black community, and how these current conversations bring up historical trauma for all involved regarding respectability; forced Christianity; rigid gender roles; detachment from Indigenous African ancestry and culture; narratives around emasculation; and the ways that white supremacist indoctrination and colonization causes those with the most power within the Black community to recreate the same oppressive dynamics that we experience in society within our own communities. All this to say that a movement for Black lives isn’t a fair or accurate battle without centering our stories, values, and ideas. 

     We want to hold Black community leaders, organizations, collectives, and organizers accountable for the ways that the current movements for Black lives continue to violate, traumatize, erase Black Trans lives, voices, experiences, and needs. We also invite Black community leaders, organizations, collectives, and organizers to reach out to us in order to learn about ways to amplify the voices of Black trans folks and learn more about our work. 

     We want to absolutely condemn the recent decision by the current presidential administration to roll back civil rights protections for transgender folks accessing healthcare, as well as HUD rollbacks on protections for transgender folks accessing government-funded shelters and housing. 

     White supremacy continuously seeks to undermine transgender access to life, liberty, and equity, and has required the participation of society, including our own communities, in willful torture, denial of access to life-saving healthcare, and genocide against our community. Black Trans beauty has no place in white supremacy; we are a threat to their power and influence, and we refuse to go silently without a fight.  

Demands: 

1. We demand that Black-led collectives, organizations, organizers, and community leaders acknowledge the Black trans community and work with us to amplify our experiences. 

Engage with us on how to effectively center Black trans people, specifically Black Trans Women and Femmes, disabled folks, sex workers, immigrants, and undocumented folks.
Meet with us to develop strategies for how we as a community can build a more inclusive model for organizing around the protection of all Black lives.

2. Dismantle the police. We believe wholeheartedly that the police have never been a source of protection or safety for ANYONE in the Black community.  

3. Redirect funds to the community-based health organizations and community based social service/support systems to protect and serve our own community; allocating a significant amount to Black trans protection, housing & shelter services, healthcare & direct services.

4. Free all Black trans prisoners and all protestors who have been imprisoned while working towards these goals.

Support: 

     To our Black trans siblings, we are here for you. The Black Trans Empowerment Project, WA Black Trans Task Force, Liberation Medicine School, and Trans Women of Color Solidarity Network have been and continue to work to disrupt the white supremacist violence against Black Trans people in the Pacific Northwest. We feel the attacks from the Trump Administration with the repeal of healthcare-specific civil rights protections for transgender people and denial of space in shelters for transgender people. We feel the hopelessness of staying in this fight when yet another three of our Black Trans sisters and one of our Black Trans Brothers have been taken away from us. We feel the sense of urgency dominant culture uses to pressure our bodies into producing more work and labor. BUT we assure you that the work you have already been doing whether it’s organizing, marching, or even just fighting to live is all the work you need to be doing right now. 

     Rest and self-care are revolutionary acts in a world that values us based on what we produce, how fast we produce it, and whether or not we are producing. You may reach us at the links below, and please know that you are not alone, and we love you.

Scarlett D’Giacomo, WA Black Trans Task Force

Randy Ford, WA Black Trans Task Force

Renee Jarreau, WA Black Trans Task Force

Ellison Jennings, WA Black Trans Task Force

Rev. Louis J. Mitchell, TransFaith

Mattie Mooney, WA Trans Women of Color Solidarity Network

Nicole Lynn Perry, WA Black Trans Task Force 

Jaelynn Scott, WA Black Trans Task Force

Au Collective

Makayla Wright, WA Black Trans Task Force 

Constance Blakeley, Black Trans Leadership Incubator

Kalisto Nanen, Black Trans Leadership Incubator

Kriss Harper, Black Trans Leadership Incubator

Ganesha, Black Trans Leadership Incubator

Fox Hampton, Black Trans Leadership Incubator

Ellis Westbrooks, Black Trans Leadership Incubator

Quantum Richardson, Black Trans Leadership Incubator

Ohenewaa Nkrumah- Liberation Medicine School

Mataun Laws, Black Trans Leadership Incubator

Percy Harris, People of Color Against AIDS Network

B. Williams, House of Lorde