[S!N] STRENGTH !N NUMBERS: Black Lives Matter: Black Trans Lives NEED to Matter

INTERSECTIONAL JUSTICE RALLY: ‪#‎BlackTransLivesMatter‬

I am pleased to announce a rally (THIS IS NOT A PROTEST & THERE WILL BE NO MARCH) to honor the Trans community, because our Trans brothers and sisters are continually left out, ignored and experience issues that range from murder to homelessness. Now is the time that we create a safe space!

We will meet at the new Lake Picnic area which is located between Miller Outdoor Theatre and Lake Plaza.

RSVP HERE: https://www.facebook.com/events/911722345569351/

It saddens me to report that in the last 8 months we have lost over 10 of our Black Transgender sisters. While They may not have died at the hands of a racist law enforcement officer, they have died due to circumstances just as insidious. Transphobia in the Black community is out of control, it may be invisible and hard to identify at points but it is there. Just look at the fight for Houston's equal rights ordinance that has come under fire due to its Trans inclusive language. In a previous post called "Why we Must Support our Trans Brothers & Sisters" I said that "Life has a way of putting people in your presence in order for you to truly understand the nature of being human and what comes with it. I guess, I never tried to understand what it meant to be Trans-Masculine or Trans-Feminine, only that people are people, PERIOD. I saw how Trans folks were and are abused physically and verbally via institutional & general means. I will not go into all of that, what I will go into is how we are currently treating people who have the same struggles as us. When I say struggles, I mean living while Black and dealing with all that comes with being Black, while being told that we don't exist by Black folks! When will we stop being so Trans-phobic and disrespectful to our Brothers and sisters? It is extremely odd that members of the SGL-BT/LGBT community of color are some of the most Trans-phobic, this is extremely problematic."

While I understand that not all of the Trans lives lost were Black, the majority were and every year it is the same thing. Why?! I hurt talking about this issue, but as a Cis-gender man It is my duty to speak about the lack of recognition and erasure of the "T" in LGBT. We need to be more active and inclusive by teaching our communities that the Trans community deserves respect and that our brothers and sisters are humans with feelings and bleed just like we do.

I would like to take the time to honor the memory of our fallen sisters #SayHerName**
**Not all of our sisters are listed here, but this is way too much**

Papi Edwards

*I could not find a picture that was respectful and I refuse to post that damn mugshot...

Lamia Beard

Ty Underwood