Celebrate Pride by Supporting the Black Transgender Community
Pride was founded by black trans women.
With COVID-19 canceling parades and parties across the country, and with racial justice demonstrations garnering global attention, this year’s Pride month and celebrations are very different from anything in the past 50 years.
And since we cannot attend the pride events as we might like this year, this is the perfect time to turn our attention to supporting the people who started the movement in the first place.
Ianne Fields Stewart is an actor, activist and founder of the Okra Project , which provides homemade food to food- insecure black transgender people. She was also one of the organizers of the Brooklyn March for the Liberation of Black Transgender People, which attracted 15,000 protesters against both the assassinations of Dominic “Remmy” Fells and Ria Milton, and the Trump administration’s recent refusal to protect transgender people.
In the video above, Fields Stewart reminds members of the LGBT community and their allies that if you think these issues are new , you are part of the problem. She says the best way to help black transgender people is to influence your own community, rather than trying to infiltrate black and transgender spaces.
Of course, donations are always welcome. Fields Stewart recommends supporting several organizations run by black transgender people:
- For gworls
- Black Trans Travel Fund
- BTFA team
- Okra Project (and Nina Pop and Tony McDade Companion Mental Health Recovery Funds)