Author: Desmarie Jackson
Editors: Lindsey Chung, Miranda Mosley
Photos: Jayasri Alhamdaputri
Art: Gabi Backus
Content warning: transphobia, racism, violence, death.
From left to right: Aria Sa’id, Matisse Leathers, Riya Christie, Alora LeMālu 
From left to right: Aria Sa’id, Matisse Leathers, Riya Christie, Alora LeMālu 
Quijai Johnson of BlackQTs 
On November 13, BlackQTs hosted Riya Christie, Associate Executive Director of the Transgender Gender-Variant & Intersex Justice Project, and Aria Sa’id, Co-Founder and Executive Director of Compton’s Transgender Cultural District, and founder of the Kween Culture Initiative. They spoke on their fight for social and political reform, their work within the Black trans community, and the injustices facing the Black trans community, particularly Black trans women, every day. They also discussed the tangible ways in which allies and other communities – including other QTPOC, Indigenous, and Black folks – can promote the healing and empowerment of Black trans people.
To kick off the event, Matisse Leathers of Black QTs shared some essential words of wisdom to set intentions for the space. We would like to uplift Matisse’s words and ask our readers to follow them: “It’s disrespectful for us to sit here and not take this knowledge they’re giving us and implement it in all our work and take it outside these walls. Have the intention of making a difference and actually going out and taking action.”
The moderator for the night, Alora LeMālu, echoed this sentiment, adding, “I really want the intention, especially for us non-Black people in this room… to just listen with our hearts. And to integrate this into everything that we do from here on out, and to uplift voices without taking up space… We’re here to help as best as we can.”
For those who could not be in attendance, below we re-cap some of the most impactful and inspirational quotations and advice Aria and Riya provided for the audience during their panel. They spoke on houselessness, lack of funding and support, anti-Blackness and exclusion from the broader LGBTQIA+ community, resilience and self-care, community unity and love, and finally, how allies and accomplices can really, truly show up for Black trans women. This is how we fight the systems and oppressors that marginalize and neglect the beauty and strength of Black trans folks everywhere.
The following are statistics and quotations demonstrating the need for Black trans visibility and celebrating the power and beauty of Black trans women. Quotations have been edited minimally for readability.
Certain life decisions brought me here, and now I feel like I’m in such a position– an amazing position– to be a help to my community and communities where there is a lack of resources and where we’re often overlooked. I’m an immigrant. I’m Black, I’m trans, I’m a woman. So I feel like that intersectionality has taught me a lot of things. I deal with discrimination every day, but it has made me stronger. I try to use what I’ve learned throughout my journey to help other Black trans women, trans women in general, and people in general to cope with what they’re going through.
Riya Christie
My job is to promote the beauty and the sophisticated, rich culture of transgender people… I know that a lot of our work talks about the realities of being transgender in this world where the world does not want us to exist. And that is why you see the immense amount of disparity that we face. Homelessness, capital violence, murder, discrimination, and extreme poverty. On the flip side, our resilience is unlike any other. And we are some of the most beautiful people in the world. – Aria Sa’id
Our lives are so precious. They’re so amazing. I don’t know what’s going on in the world right now. But I just know that we all deserve to be here. We all deserve to just be our authentic selves. We all deserve to just have a chance at life. And I want to be a part of the fight to make sure that everyone, every single soul on this planet has that chance. – Riya Christie
We have members that we [house] in hotels. These are chronically homeless members, and it costs about $1500 per week to house one person. So if you do the math, housing several folks, 10 folks– that adds up over time. And if we’re not getting funding, how do we house them? We’ve been trying to think strategically to come up with better solutions, apart from just housing folks at hotels.
I personally know how it feels to not have somewhere to call home… I know we can’t help everyone. But even if it’s one person, I will do the best I can to make sure that they are housed… we’re going to keep doing the best we can as an organization to make sure that we keep these beautiful individuals off the streets and out of harm’s way. – Riya Christie
[It’s] only recently that the realities that Black trans people [face] have come to public knowledge, thanks to social media… before that, any philanthropic efforts that would happen would be led and steered by gay white men… Many of the major nonprofits and other institutions have said, hey, we’re advocating for these communities, and then when you need them, they’re all gay white men who are very disconnected from the communities that they are shouting that they’re serving. Black trans led efforts like TGI Justice Project or like Kween Culture don’t receive the same onslaught of resources simply because Black people are not trusted, especially with rich white people’s money.
Aria Sa’id
The reality is Black trans women have actually been the leaders towards LGBT liberation, and everyone on the LGBT spectrum benefits because of Black trans women. At the same time, we are not trusted to lead efforts towards creating solutions for our communities. It’s absolutely essential that the people most impacted [by] whatever intersection we’re looking at– whether it’s immigration, transphobia, what have you– that the most impacted community members are at the table and leading and guiding the conversations towards solutions.
Aria Sa’id
I had a co-worker, and I consider her a true ally. Why? Because she shows up for me and the community even when we’re not around… You don’t have to be trans to be an ally to trans people, but it’s knowing these issues and saying, I’m going to put myself out there, put myself sometimes even on the line, for these people so that their quality of life can be better.
I want to see more of … our family on the inside [of prison] break free from [incarceration], get liberated, and come out and show the world that you tried to bring me down, you tried to break me down, but here I am standing strong. Here I am being resilient. Here I am showing you that you can’t stop me. – Riya Christie
In times like these, where we are always seeing headlines that number 17 has been murdered, number 18… When Black trans women are murdered, we are murdered very violently… the importance of our work is to make sure that we have spaces to convene and to be in community with each other because life is precious for all of us in this room… We have to create moments that bring joy, that are memorable, that allow us to be with each other, especially with all that we navigate, so that even in our darkest moments we still have purpose and still can live. – Aria Sa’id
I’m not giving you a gold star because you see my humanity. I think ally is not a noun. In 2020 it better not be a noun, it better be a verb. Don’t put yourself in harm’s way. But also, those moments where you make someone uncomfortable, and then they need to sit through that discomfort to have a paradigm shift to see and have a higher consciousness? Those are the moments where we actually make change.”
Aria Sa’id
You can donate money, or you can also donate your time. [S]ometimes we just don’t have the capacity. But we have work to do, and if we have a few extra hands that would be really helpful.
Riya Christie
Thank you to Matisse Leathers and BlackQTs for planning such a critical and impactful event, and to Aria Sa’id and Riya Christie for their fight, their resilience, their wisdom, and their advice. As Alora said, may we all follow and learn from these “ancestors in the making, elders in the making,” as their work and efforts will ensure the safety and future of all LGBTQIA+ folks. We are not free until Black trans women are free, and this includes immigrants and differently abled folks.
DONATE TO TGIJP
DONATE TO COMPTON’S TRANSGENDER DISTRICT
SUPPORT BLACK TRANS LEADERSHIP AND SAFETY
IF YOU CAN’T DONATE, SHARE, UPLIFT, LISTEN
Black trans women experience violence, trauma, and deep losses across our community every single day. We know what we need to survive, to thrive, and to create the world we’re all fighting for. It is time to invest not only in the solutions, but the actual people that have shaped & sharpened the solutions we need based on our lived experiences. We are capable & competent enough to take care of our own, we just need the resources to do so.
Janetta Johnson & TGIJP
Sources:
GLAAD, The National LGBTQ Task Force, National Black Justice Coalition (NBJC). “A National Epidemic: Fatal Anti-Transgender Violence in the United States in 2019”
American Medical Association. “AMA Adopts New Policies on First Day of Voting at 2019 Annual Meeting.”
Human Rights Campaign. “Violence Against the Transgender Community in 2019.”
