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Reject racial fetishization.
Of all the hospice patients in the United States, only 14% of enrollees are people of color (The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine). While communities of color and low-income communities face the brunt of COVID-19, they also face a myriad of hurdles when navigating and accessing end-of-life care. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, people of color are up to 2.8 times more likely to die from the virus, underscoring the importance of end-of-life and hospice care for this population (CDC).
Happy Thursday and welcome back to the Anti-Racism Daily. Today, Sayaka outlines how racial fetishization often increases violence against people of color, particularly those in the LGBTQ+ community.
This newsletter is a free resource and that's made possible by our paying subscribers. Consider giving $7/month on Patreon. Or you can give one-time on our website, PayPal, or Venmo (@nicoleacardoza). You can also support us by joining our curated digital community. Thank you to all those that support!
Nicole
TAKE ACTION
Work to bring awareness to the sexual violence perpetrated against people of color, particularly trans women of color by supporting the Trans Agenda for Liberation.
Express your support for the Survivors’ Access to Supportive Care Act, which will increase access to forensic nurses who provide comprehensive care to victims of sexual assault, by sending an email to your representatives. The act also increases support for tribal communities. RAINN (Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network) has a good template here to do so.
Reflect on your own current and past relationships and ask yourself why you are attracted to a person. Do misconceptions about race or ethnicity play a role?
GET EDUCATED
By Sayaka Matsuoka (she/her)
For as long as white supremacy has existed in the world, so too has the exotification and fetishization of people of color, particularly those who identify as women and femmes. Racial fetishization is the seeking out of a person or culture belonging to a specific race or ethnic group for sexual gratification. While some individuals may explain their attraction as a personal preference, historical research and context shows that choosing sexual partners specifically based on their race is problematic and rooted in white supremacy (Wear Your Voice Mag).
The fetishization and exotification of women of color dehumanizes the individuals that are targeted and denigrates them to objects that exist solely to fulfill the male gaze and appetite. It’s about taking a fully fledged, well rounded human and limiting them to one aspect of their being that they don't even have control over says Kevin Patterson, a polyamory activist and author. (Willamette Week).
In the United States, racial fetishization dates back to a time before the slave trade. White women often were seen as pure, innocent entities to be protected, while Black women were depicted as lustful and sinful (Thirteen). After migrating to African countries, white settlers objectified Black women and saw them as sexually promiscuous beings because of their attire or physical features (Jim Crow Museum). White owners often raped Black enslaved females referring to the women as their hypersexual property (Earlham Historical Journal).
During the early 1800s, women of color were displayed in carnival freak shows to showcase their “exotic” features. One such example was Sarah Bartmaan, a South African Khoikhoi woman who was exhibited while scantily clad. Wealthy white people were given the opportunity to prod and touch her if they paid extra (BBC). The mistreatment of Black women continued long after slavery was abolished. These days, the ramifications of this type of behavior can be seen in the criticism of Black female artists like Nicki Minaj, Cardi B, and Megan Thee Stallion who own their sexuality and use it in their work.
“We never address how cisheterosexual men’s sexuality facilitates some unhealthy practices that we’ve normalized and accepted,” writes Melissa Brown (Blackfeminisms.com). “Negative reactions to Cardi B result from how, historically, strippers were the objects rather than the subjects of the songs written from the vantage point of a male rapper’s voyeuristic and pornagraphic gaze.”
Racist fetishization permeates other aspects of society and extends across all women of color. Indigenous women are depicted as sexual beings to conquer. Statistics show that they are most likely to be sexually assaulted (End Rape on Campus). Latina women have also historically been hypersexualized in American media, which often makes heavy use of the actress’ accent—real or forced—to create a sense of the exotic.
“If I played a Latina, I always had to be too sexy and too easy. I hated that," explained actress Rita Morena (Latina.com).
A study found that of the hundred top-grossing films of 2016, only 3% of roles were occupied by Latinx people—and of that, one-fourth of the women cast either appeared nude or in sexy attire (USC Annenberg).
Like Black and Latina women, Asian women are hypersexualized as well, but in a different way. Historically, the media often portray East Asian women as being submissive and childlike. Examples can be seen in the novel and movie Memoirs of a Geisha and the Broadway show Madame Butterfly. Lately, the stereotype is further perpetuated by members of the alt-right who see East Asian women as the perfect partners because of their perceived submissiveness (NY Times). The idea stems from other harmful stereotypes about Asians like the model minority myth which pits Asians against Black and Brown individuals. Read our past article about the Model Minority Myth.
“Asian women are seen as naturally inclined to serve men sexually and are also thought of as slim, light-skinned and small, in adherence to Western norms of femininity,” Audrea Lim says in her article, “The Alt-Right’s Asian Fetish.”.
Such ideas follow in the footsteps of nineteenth century European male fixations on geishas and China dolls. The subjugation of East Asian women continued well into the twentieth century when American GIs visited countries like Japan, Korea and Vietnam where the local women and sex workers often were raped (Institute for Policy Studies).
The issues of fetishization are even more complicated for members of the LGBTQ+ community, particularly transgender individuals because it is directly correlated with a person’s curiosity of the other. The hypersexualization of trans people of color is compounded by the fact that they are part of another marginalized community. This can lead cisgender individuals who are curious about transgender bodies to objectify and perpetuate violence against them. A 2015 national survey of transgender people in the United States found that 47% of them are sexually assaulted at some point in their lifetime. Of those who were people of color responded with higher rates of assault (National Center for Transgender Equality).
Because the fetishization and exotification of women of color, including transgender women, is a dehumanizing mechanism that often leads to violence and acts of sexual assault, it is up to us all to fight these stereotypes when we see them. It is important to remind each other that women of color are not for consumption. They deserve respect on all levels, from the mind and soul to the body.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
The fetishization of people of color has existed in the United States for centuries and works to dehumanize individuals as objects for consumption by others.
Fetishization can harm individuals and lead to sexual violence.
Members of the LGBTQ+ community, particularly trans individuals, face higher rates of sexual violence and can also face additional layers of fetishization.
RELATED ISSUES
8/21/2020 | Let Black girls be girls.
11/24/2020 | Stop violence against Native women.
9/25/2020 | Decriminalize sex work.
PLEDGE YOUR SUPPORT
Thank you for all your financial contributions! If you haven't already, consider making a monthly donation to this work. These funds will help me operationalize this work for greatest impact.
Subscribe on Patreon | Give one-time on PayPal | Venmo @nicoleacardoza
Rally against anti-trans legislation.
Right now, there are over 50 pieces of anti-trans legislation under consideration in states across the U.S. All are designed to strip away the limited rights and protections that currently exist for transgender people (LGBTQ+ Nation). Seventeen states are all considering bills that would ban transgender girls and women from school sports this year, and some of the bills also ban transgender boys and men. These states are Arizona, Connecticut, Iowa, Georgia, Hawaii, Kentucky, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, and Texas.
Happy Tuesday and welcome back to the Anti-Racism Daily. This week, hearings are scheduled in South Dakota, Kansas, Tennessee, and South Carolina to act on anti-trans legislation that will disproportionately impact trans women and girls. Amplify the work of state and federal organizers fighting for their rights.
This newsletter is a free resource and that's made possible by our paying subscribers. Consider giving $7/month on Patreon. Or you can give one-time on our website or PayPal. You can also support us by joining our curated digital community. Thank you to all those that support!
Nicole
TAKE ACTION
Sign up to phone bank with NEAT, the National Equality Action Team, to defend trans youth in key states.
Review the anti-trans legislation by state on the ACLU’s tracker. Then, contact your local legislators and urge them to block anti-trans bills from passing. Find your state representatives here.
Donate to trans-led organizations in your community. To make a donation that will be distributed to local orgs, donate to the Trans Justice Funding Project.
Action items inspired by the work of Chase Strangio, deputy director of transgender justice for the ACLU.
GET EDUCATED
By Nicole Cardoza (she/her)
Right now, there are over 50 pieces of anti-trans legislation under consideration in states across the U.S. All are designed to strip away the limited rights and protections that currently exist for transgender people (LGBTQ+ Nation). Seventeen states are all considering bills that would ban transgender girls and women from school sports this year, and some of the bills also ban transgender boys and men. These states are Arizona, Connecticut, Iowa, Georgia, Hawaii, Kentucky, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, and Texas.
In addition, 15 pieces of legislation designed to prevent transgender youth from receiving gender-affirming healthcare. Like HB 1/SB 10 in Alabama, these bills seek to impose criminal penalties on medical professionals and parents that offer transgender youth medical care. Arizona’s SB1511 wants to make it a Class 2 felony – punishable with up to 12 years in prison (Human Rights Watch).
Together, this legislation drafted in 2021 is a coordinated attack against trans rights, which activists feared after the Trump administration’s continued attacks on the trans community and growing anti-trans sentiment. Although President Biden signed an executive order to protect LGTBQ+ people in federally funded spaces, including education, it’s insufficient to ban state legislation on this topic (them).
These bills don’t necessarily reflect the sentiment of each state’s voter base. The Human Rights Campaign and Hart Research Group conducted a study across ten swing states on LGBTQ+ rights. They found that 87% of total respondents believe transgender people should have equal access to medical care, with many states breaking 90% support. They were also asked to prioritize banning transgender people from participating in sports against other policy issues. This issue came in dead last, and only 1-3% of respondents prioritized the issue (Los Angeles Blade).
In fact, much of this legislation has been drafted not by legislators, but Alliance Defending Freedom, a conservative Christian nonprofit organization that aims to protect "religious freedom, sanctity of life, and marriage and family" (Southern Poverty Law Center). As Nico Lang reports for them, the ADF has been fighting against equal rights for queer and transgender people for years. The organization has lobbied in favor of anti-LGBTQ+ legislation in Colorado, Idaho, and South Carolina and advocated for the use of “religious freedoms” to justify discrimination against LGBTQ+ people (them).
This is also happening in a time of rampant violence against the trans community, particularly the Black trans community. And many of these deaths were directly caused by police brutality; the criminal justice system disproportionately impacts the Black trans community (Vox). This is exacerbated by the systemic injustices that the Black trans community experiences, including unprecedented unemployment rates, high levels of houselessness, and low household incomes (Harvard Civil Rights). The Human Rights Watch noted a 43% increase in the formation of anti-LGBTQ hate groups in 2019.
This legislation is yet another form of policing the health and safety of trans youth, particularly trans women, for it’s important to emphasize how gender influences these harmful narratives. A common refrain from proponents of this legislation is that it’s necessary to protect women in sport because people assigned male at birth are “inherently” better at sports, purporting the notion that “women are weak and in need of protection.” It also insinuates that trans women athletes have an unfair advantage (this has been proven untrue). Throughout history, women’s protection, particularly white women, has been used to justify unnecessary harm against other marginalized communities (Washington Post). And more generally, the government continuously tries to control women’s bodies (Institute for Women’s Policy Research).
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These bills cloak transmisogyny in inflammatory language and scare tactics that distract from the policies’ discriminatory intent. Notably, many do not lay out restrictions for transgender boys and men, focusing solely on regulating women’s bodies.Excerpt from Fair Play: The Importance of Sports Participation for Transgender Youth by the Center for American Progress (CAP), via them.
As hearings unfold this week, I urge you to take direct action on this legislation right now, even if it doesn’t affect your state. And, more broadly, continue to amplify and advocate for the needs of the trans community, particularly trans youth.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
A series of anti-trans legislation is being discussed in state legislators across the U.S. this week.
This legislation is a part of the violence and discrimination that trans communities experience on behalf of our government, particularly trans communities of color and the Black trans community.
This is especially harmful for trans women and girls, who experience added discrimination because of stereotypes about the role of gender in society
RELATED ISSUES
11/20/2020 | Honor Transgender Day of Remembrance.
6/13/2020 | Center Black trans lives.
PLEDGE YOUR SUPPORT
Thank you for all your financial contributions! If you haven't already, consider making a monthly donation to this work. These funds will help me operationalize this work for greatest impact.
Subscribe on Patreon | Give one-time on PayPal | Venmo @nicoleacardoza
Honor Transgender Day of Remembrance.
Today is Transgender Day of Remembrance, an annual observance on November 20 that honors transgender people. The observance was started in 1999 by transgender advocate Gwendolyn Ann Smith as a vigil to honor the memory of Rita Hester, a Black transgender woman who was killed in 1998 (GLAAD). The vigil commemorated all the transgender people lost to violence since Rita Hester's death, sparking an important tradition that especially resonates in 2020, when COVID-19, police brutality, and discrimination politically has all exacerbated the violence and oppression this community experiences. To this day, Rita Hester’s murder hasn’t been solved. Read more in NBC News.
Happy Friday! Welcome back to the Anti-Racism Daily. Today we're honoring Transgender Day of Remembrance, and hope you are too. Learn about the historical significance of this date, more information on those murdered and missing, and commit to taking daily action to support the LGBTQ+ community.
Tomorrow is Study Hall, our weekly newsletter where – instead of introducing a new topic – I answer questions and share insights from the community. Reply to this email with any thoughts.
This is the Anti-Racism Daily, a daily newsletter with tangible ways to dismantle racism and white supremacy. Support our work by making a one-time contribution on ourwebsiteorPayPal, or giving monthly onPatreon. You can also Venmo (@nicoleacardoza). To subscribe, go toantiracismdaily.com.
Nicole
TAKE ACTION
If you are employed, learn how your company specifically stands for transgender rights, both within your company itself and in relationship to the broader community.
Share your pronouns everywhere you can to normalize using the right pronouns. This includes your email signature and your Zoom name when joining virtual calls. Learn more >
Do research to support organizations centering trans people in your community, like Black Trans Travel Fund in NY/NJ, Brave Space Alliance in Chicago, and Solutions Not Punishment Co. in Atlanta.
If you identify as cisgender, consider: what privilege(s) does that come with? How does that influence my worldview? What can I actively do with my power and privilege to dismantle the norms?
GET EDUCATED
By Nicole Cardoza (she/her)
Today is Transgender Day of Remembrance, an annual observance on November 20 that honors transgender people. The observance was started in 1999 by transgender advocate Gwendolyn Ann Smith as a vigil to honor the memory of Rita Hester, a Black transgender woman who was killed in 1998 (GLAAD). The vigil commemorated all the transgender people lost to violence since Rita Hester's death, sparking an important tradition that especially resonates in 2020, when COVID-19, police brutality, and discrimination politically has all exacerbated the violence and oppression this community experiences. To this day, Rita Hester’s murder hasn’t been solved. Read more in NBC News.
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Transgender Day of Remembrance seeks to highlight the losses we face due to anti-transgender bigotry and violence. I am no stranger to the need to fight for our rights, and the right to simply exist is first and foremost. With so many seeking to erase transgender people -- sometimes in the most brutal ways possible -- it is vitally important that those we lose are remembered, and that we continue to fight for justice.
Gwendolyn Ann Smith, founder of Transgender Day of Remembrance, via GLAAD.
In NCTE’s U.S. Transgender Survey, which included more than 28,000 respondents, nearly half (47%) of all Black respondents and 30% of all Latino respondents reported being denied equal treatment, verbally harassed, and/or physically attacked in the previous year because of being transgender. Nearly one in ten (9%) were physically attacked in the past year because of being transgender. Transgender women of color were more likely to be physically attacked in the previous year because of being transgender, compared to non-binary people of color and transgender men of color (Trans Equality).
And these attacks are often perpetrated or tolerated by law enforcement, emphasizing the need to reimagine our notion of safety in the U.S. Nearly 57% of all respondents said they were afraid to go to the police when they needed help. And 58% of transgender people who interacted with law enforcement reported experiences of harassment, abuse, or other mistreatment. More than 60% reported being physically assaulted, and 64% reporting being sexually assaulted. We discussed police violence against the Trans community in a previous newsletter >
Because of the deep distrust in law enforcement, paired with frequent misreporting and unreporting by local law enforcement, it’s incredibly difficult to discern how many transgender or gender non-conforming people are murdered in the U.S. The racial and gender bias in missing persons cases also exists in the LGBTQ community. According to Kylar Broadus, executive director of the Trans People of Color Coalition, a non-profit social justice organization, “A white trans* person is far more likely to get press than a trans* person of color” (The Missing). He explains that transgender people of color experience the most pervasive forms of discrimination because they are both people of color and identify as transgender.
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Transgender people – and particularly Black and Latina transgender women – are marginalized, stigmatized and criminalized in our country. They face violence every day, and they fear turning to the police for help.
Rodrigo Heng-Lehtinen, deputy executive director for the National Center for Transgender Equality
Nevertheless, reported cases are higher than ever before. The HRC has a list of 37 individuals in the U.S., and Transrespect versus Transphobia Worldwide has names of 350 individuals from all around the world (The Trans Murder Monitoring Report). This is a national and global issue; the stigma and bias against transgender people cause violence worldwide. It is still illegal to be transgender in 14 countries (them).
Honoring Transgender Day of Remembrance, of course, isn’t the only way to support the transgender community. We must do more to dismantle our own biases and advocate for this community’s safety and security. In the U.S., a significant focus will be on the political landscape; Trump’s administration persistently attacked the rights of LGBTQ+ people, and although many were challenged in court, those efforts made a lasting adverse impact, both politically and socially (The Guardian). We need to keep issues related to LGBTQ+ people – housing, employment, education, healthcare – centered when we show up in future elections and stand adamant that the Biden administration holds up to its promises.
It’s also one of many reasons to acknowledge, honor, and uplift the contributions of the transgender community in our everyday lives that we – particularly those of us that benefit from the gender binary – take for granted. Recognize how the transgender community shapes our history, politics and culture. Listen to transgender advocates, particularly the youth, on how to support the future they envision. And, as we discussed in yesterday’s newsletter, diversify the books you read and the media you consume. Remember to center the transgender community every day, not just today.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Today is Transgender Day of Remembrance, an annual observance on November 20 that honors the memory of transgender people.
Transgender people, particularly those of color, disproportionately experience violence – including police brutality.
Beyond honoring today, it's critical to center the needs of the transgender and gender non conforming community in all of your efforts.
RELATED ISSUES
6/13/2020 | Center Black trans lives.
9/25/2020 | Decriminalize sex work.
8/26/2020 | Be an active bystander.
9/17/2020 | Abolish ICE.
PLEDGE YOUR SUPPORT
Thank you for all your financial contributions! If you haven't already, consider making a monthly donation to this work. These funds will help me operationalize this work for greatest impact.
Subscribe on Patreon | Give one-time on PayPal | Venmo @nicoleacardoza
Decriminalize sex work.
Happy Friday! I became quite passionate about today's topic after hearing Layleen Polanco's story, and the injustice she suffered after being arrested for prostitution and drug charges in NYC. Meanwhile, solicitation charges against Robert Kraft were dismissed yesterday in court. The sex worker industry disproportionately harms communities of color and other marginalized populations. Ebony walks us through the relationship between consensual sex work and law enforcement below.
Also, many of you noted some strange link issues with the social graphics. Not sure why. Hopefully, they're fixed now, but know that we also post them on Facebook and Instagram each day (in fact, we share more images than we include here)!
Thank you for your contributions. If you enjoy this newsletter, you can give one-time on our website, PayPal or Venmo (@nicoleacardoza), or subscribe for $5/mo on our Patreon.
– Nicole
TAKE ACTION
1. Tell your senator to oppose the EARN IT (Eliminating Abusive and Rampant Neglect of Interactive Technologies) Act, which will implement dangerous online censorship that will disproportionately impact marginalized communities. Learn more and sign >
2. Do your research and see how your state representative voted for SESTA/FOSTA and other prostitution-loitering laws.
3. Support organizations such as Sex Workers Outreach Project, Helping Individual People Survive (HIPS), and Erotic Service Providers Legal Education and Research Project (ESPLERP), who are actively fighting for sex workers’ rights.
GET EDUCATED
By Ebony Bellamy (she/her)
Note: This article discusses sexual assault and violence against sex workers. Please be aware this content may be triggering. Read with care.
Sex workers are regularly targeted, abused, and profiled. And marginalized communities suffer the most from this. Of the 41 sex workers who were murdered in the US in 2015, 17 were Black, and 12 were transgender women (Amnesty International).
In 1985, in Los Angeles, the L.A.P.D. knew a serial killer targeted Black women in the South Central community, yet waited until 2007 to alert the public about the murders (Vanity Fair). The killings were occurring for 22 years before the general public knew about it. To keep these crimes secret, police officers allegedly used “the unofficial acronym ‘N.H.I.’ (“no humans involved”) to describe the slayings of prostitutes and drug addicts” who were the main victims of the serial killer (Vanity Fair).
Between 2012 and 2015, the State Division of Criminal Justice Services reported that 85% of the individuals arrested in New York for loitering for prostitution were Black or Latinx (Survivors Against SESTA). At that time, anti-loitering policing was highly concentrated in Bushwick, Belmont/Fordham Heights, East New York, Hunts Point, and Brownsville because their residents were predominantly people of color (The Village). And approximately 68.5% of arrests for loitering prostitution* were made in those communities, with a vast majority being women.
In Calfornia, Black women made up 42% of all prostitution-related arrests in 2015, despite representing only 2.8% of the state’s population (Survivors Against SESTA). In Chicago, 90% of all prostitution-related arrests in 2017 were connected to selling sex, and 8% were for buying sex (Chicago Reporter). This means women of color are more likely to be arrested for sex work than men who receive their services.
This stems from loitering laws being based on whether or not an officer believes someone is “loitering for the purpose of prostitution” (Chicago Reporter). Police can make prostitution-related arrests even if they don’t have evidence the person committed a crime. In NYC, officers have regularly cited a woman’s clothing as evidence of her engaging in prostitution (The Village). And everything from tight leggings to a bra strap showing has been listed as evidence.
“When you have factors like an article of clothing or the fact that you are one gender and you are talking to people of another gender, you have to expand your view and ask, where is this happening that’s not being policed? And our answer with the loitering case is, everywhere, except these places when the police decide these are the arrests they are going to make.”
Sarah Mogulescu, a survivor of anti-loitering policing via The Village
These arrests happen so frequently that in 2015, the FBI reported more than 30,000 prostitution-related arrests. And of those, 39.9% of arrestees were Black, and 18.7% were Latinx (FBI). But, when violence is committed against sex workers, police often neglect or ignore these cases (Amnesty International).
According to a 2015 report conducted by the DC Trans Coalition, approximately 23% of Black transgender individuals were physically or sexually assaulted by the police because they were perceived as transgender and involved in the sex trade (Amnesty International). This interaction has made transgender sex workers weary to ask for help. About 27% feel somewhat uncomfortable, while 32% feel very uncomfortable (31.8%) seeking help from the police (Meaningful Work).
This community is heavily policed because officers assume transgender women of color are involved in the commercial sex industry (Chicago Reporter). Commercial sex work includes stripping, street prostitution, brothel prostitution, paid domination, and sexual massages, among other things (National Association of Social Workers). And this belief has caused officers to frequently police places they know transgender women socialize at (Chicago Reporter).
Police even target people with prior arrests for prostitution, despite their charges being dismissed. They often follow these individuals around until they catch them engaging in prostitution-related acts such as “approaching a vehicle” and “beckoning to multiple vehicles passing by with male drivers” (The Village). This, unfortunately, creates a cycle of arrests and incarcerations for transgender women, whether they’re involved in the sex trade or not (Chicago Reporter).
And this level of policing will only intensify as bills such as SESTA/FOSTA continue to be passed. Introduced in 2018, this group of bills was meant to curb online sex trafficking. However, many sex workers say SESTA/FOSTA has significantly affected their ability to make a living in consensual sex work because it has prevented them from advertising (Rolling Stone). It has also removed the online safety networks they used to vet potential clients and has driven them into the streets, which increases their chances of experiencing violence and sexual assault (Rolling Stone).
Between SESTA/FOSTA and anti-loitering laws, people of color and members of the LGBTQ+ community are continually being targeted by the government for being different. It’s time to shift the way people think and support sex workers trying to earn a living like everyone else. And we can start this work by decriminalizing sex work because sex work is work.
*The term prostitute/prostitution is considered a derogatory phrase by many in the sex worker community. We use it here only in law enforcement related terminology.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
1. In New York, between 2012 and 2015, 85% of the individuals arrested for loitering for prostitution were either Black or Latinx (Survivors Against SESTA).
2. 90% of all prostitution-related arrests in Chicago in 2017 were connected to selling sex, and 8% were for buying sex (Chicago Reporter)
3. The FBI reported more than 30,000 prostitution-related arrests. Of those, 39.9% of arrestees were Black, and 18.7% were Latinx (FBI).
4. Approximately 23% of Black transgender individuals were physically or sexually assaulted by the police because they were perceived as transgender and involved in the sex trade (Amnesty International).
5. SESTA/FOSTA is a group of bills created to curb online sex trafficking but has severely affected the way sex workers conduct their business.
RELATED ISSUES
9/20/2020 | Make the justice system more diverse.
9/3/2020 | Support mental health response services.
8/27/2020 | Help decriminalize drug possession.
8/26/2020 | Be an active bystander.
8/23/2020 | Support those incarcerated and impacted by COVID-19.
PLEDGE YOUR SUPPORT
Thank you for all your financial contributions! If you haven't already, consider making a monthly donation to this work. These funds will help me operationalize this work for greatest impact.
Subscribe on Patreon | Give one-time on PayPal | Venmo @nicoleacardoza
Center Black trans lives.
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Happy weekend, and Day 10 of the Anti-Racism Daily 🎉
You may notice your feeds and conversations with friends start to move "back to normal". But remember that there is no such thing as normal anymore. The work of dismantling and reimagining doesn't fade with the protests. In fact, now is the most urgent time to dive deeper. So stay here, with all of us, doing the work each day.
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Nicole
TAKE ACTION
1. Raise awareness about today's subject using the hashtag #BlackTransLivesMatter
2. Donate to the COVID-19 Relief Fund for Black trans people, hosted by the Marsha P. Johnson Institute.
This cover is the forthcoming issue of Time magazine. Photo taken by photographer Devin Allen showing people lying on the street during a Black Trans Lives Matter protest in Baltimore.
Via Axios.
GET EDUCATED
Since the protests began there's been significant shifts in protecting Black lives. But as the Black Lives Matter movement takes hold across the country (and around the world) the narrative about the violence against Black trans people often gets left behind. We touched on this briefly when we discussed Breonna Taylor in an email from last week.
In just this past week alone, two Black transgender women were reported dead: 25-year-old Riah Milton was murdered in an attempted robbery in Ohio, and Dominique “Rem'mie” Fells was killed in Philadelphia. According to the HRC, this marks at least the 13th violent death of a transgender or gender non-conforming person this year in the U.S., but because violence against this community is systemically underreported, that number is believed to be much larger.
And throughout the protests the stories Black trans people who were victims of police violence, like Tony McDade, got lost in the larger conversation around Black Lives Matter. Remember that centering those that are most vulnerable is critically important in movement work, because a specific community's distinct pain can be minimized when lumped in with others.
And that's clear when we look at our political system as a whole. Although there's been significant political progress to protect Black lives over the past few weeks, there's still very few legal protections for the transgender community. The HRC, reflecting on the death of Dominique “Rem'mie” Fells, note that "at the state level, transgender and gender non-conforming people in Pennsylvania are not explicitly protected in employment, housing or in public spaces. They are also not covered under the state’s hate crimes legislation". Read more in their 2019 report >
And as all of this unfolds, Trump chose yesterday to erase transgender civil rights protections in health care. By narrowing the legal definition of sex discrimination so that it does not include protections for transgender people, Trump has reversed part of the Affordable Care Act from 2010, which bans discrimination based on race, color, national origin, sex, age or disability in “any health program or activity".
June is Pride Month in the U.S. so it's all the more critical to center the needs for our LGBTQ+ community during the movement for Black lives – especially because their liberation are so closely intertwined. No one defines that more distinctly than Marsha P. Johnson, a black, transgender leader that paved the way for both Black and LGBTQ+ rights in America. Known as a self-identified drag queen, performer, and survivor, she was a prominent figure in the Stonewall Uprising of June 1969, one of the most important events leading to the gay liberation movement. She, alongside her friend Sylvia Rivera, a legendary transgender activist of Venezuelan and Puerto Rican descent, centered the lives of Black and brown transgender lives throughout their work for decades. Now, as the Black Lives Matter movement forges on, we must too.
“What happens is that black trans people are erased and made invisible in society, but then we actually disappear in our deaths.”
Kei Williams, a founding member of the Black Lives Matter global network and a national organizer at the Marsha P. Johnson Institute, in an interview with The Lily
Thank you for all your financial contributions! If you haven't already, consider making a monthly donation to this work. These funds will help me operationalize this work for greatest impact.
Subscribe on Patreon | Give one-time on PayPal | Venmo @nicoleacardoza