Strength In Numbers - The Guest Posts

Biko Gray On Politicians & Education

I am so tired of politicians lying about caring about college debt. On both sides, politicians talk about how they want to decrease the economic burden of "getting a good education." But they don't.

They don't, because the neoliberal capitalist system relies on debt, thus making college grads slaves instead of creative and critically thinking citizens.

They don't, because post-secondary education (that is, college and beyond) is no longer about becoming a more informed and happy contributor to those around you; it is a sweatshop-labor system dressed up in fancy school names and letters that have come to mean little. Politicians want workers, not contributors (which is why the conversation surrounding employment is - CONTINUE READING

Phillipe Cunningham on Cisgender Privilege, Mansplaining & Trans Tokenizing

Was on a great panel with some brilliant trans leaders yesterday. Unfortunately, there was a lot of mansplaining during the Q&A portion with the audience. A cis gay man congratulated himself on the mic for his city having a "trans advisory committee" (that has no real power over anything) and recommended other electeds create one for their cities. I pushed back because advisory councils representing marginalized communities are often just tokenizing with no real voice. I recommended to skip the intermediary... Just recruit and appoint trans folks and folks from other marginalized communities directly onto the city's boards and commissions, duh.

He actually had the audacity to come up to me afterwards, step between Lane (my husband) and me, and push back on my - CONTINUE READING

Guest Post: Lola Mo'na on Being Black & Trans in the Workplace

We pull back, bind down and put on this persona, only to be knocked down. We are used for our talents and bright personality, but overlooked for promotions. Any transgender woman who wants to make an honest living, wakes up every morning and is forced to transition back into a male presentation. For years, I believed I was doing the right thing by tying my natural hair back, and binding my chest down. Believing that hard work and a great personality would open doors to advancements, and let me just say that I’ve seen my share of people cutting me in line and/or doors slammed in my face when it comes to opportunities. Recently, I was told - CONTINUE READING