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Every year, Black History Month gets loads of criticism regarding the usefulness and fairness of a month dedicated to the history of a single culture. A few days ago, Beyoncé —perhaps the most influential black celebrity— showed 115.5 million Super Bowl viewers she couldn’t care less about people’s opinions or possible backlash by performing Formation, her most recent single at the half-time show.

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With lyrics such as “I like my Negro nose with Jackson 5 nostrils“, references to Martin Luther King Jr., racial profiling and abuse of state power, she brought the black community’s political and personal struggle to pop culture and the entertainment world.

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Aside from police brutality and racial profiling, there are other important issues being overlooked. When the #BlackLivesMatter movement was created in reaction to the Trayvon Martin shooting in 2012, the strongest message to come out of the call-to-action was “Stop Shooting Us”.

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Unbeknownst to most, this global movement also “affirms the lives of Black queer and trans folks, disabled folks, black-undocumented folks, folks with records, women and all black lives along the gender spectrum”. #BlackLivesMatter is setting the political tone for years to come as people have had enough with the deprivation of the basic human rights and dignity. The global movement also wishes to “dismantle cis-gender privilege and uplift black trans folks, especially black trans women who continue to be disproportionately impacted by anti-antagonistic violence”.

 

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It is important to know that hate crimes against transgender folks in America have significantly increased in the past few years. A 2013 report by the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs states 72% of victims of anti-LGBTQ homicides were transgender women and 89% of victims were people of colour. These hate crimes also demonstrate very personal forms of murder. Victims are shot in the face, burned or stabbed to death. Bree Wallace, Deoni Jones, Islan Hunter or Tyra Hunter to name a few, should all ring a bell. While not all acts of violence against transgenders fall under the “hate crime” stamp, it is sad to note they have been increasing as the community rightfully demands recognition and respect.

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“When are we ever gonna stop being afraid?”
– Eisha Love, a 26 year-old transgender woman of colour, awaiting trial and facing a 10 year sentence for attempted murder, in what is reportedly said to have been a self-defence situation in the midst of an alleged hate crime in August.

Almost a year ago, and for the first time ever, a database for violent acts against transgenders around the world was launched. Allison Woolbert, founder of the Transgender Violence Tracking Portal (TVTP), has had enough of the media’s misgendering of victims, Iinvalidation of gender identity and miseducation in general.

In a recent interview for HuffPost Queer Voices, she said: “So often, the media and law enforcement are dismissive concerning the violence that is inflicted on transgender/genderqueer/non-binary people. In addition, hate incidents against transgender people are often not documented at all. At any given point, we will have a website that can show around the world what the picture of our community looks like and raise the awareness and the responsibility of law enforcement to protect our basic right to live.” And she is not the only one tired of it. Syrus Marcus Ware, a Toronto-based community activist, visual artist, researcher, youth advocate, educator and radio host, who I interviewed last fall on the importance of role models in the arts community, was recently interviewed by CBC about Black activism in Canada. During said interview he stated: “What we really need is a structural change. We need to start rebuilding our societies in ways that work for all of us because a lot of folks are getting left behind, so that we all have not only what we need to survive but thrive.”

As encouraging as it is to see people starting to take notice of these issues, it’s also very disappointing to observe that in 2016, we still need to fight for our basic right to live. As much as documenting protests and using social media to scream for change does make a difference, the real work lies in educating people. Sadly, panic defence concepts and our current laws are not making it easy to do so. It’s time we open our eyes and act on these issues… because as Black author, poet, activist and academic Audre Lorde once said: “we cannot live without our lives”.

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* Please note that though this article focuses on trans folks of colour, no one should feel their experiences and stories be less important or worse irrelevant, as everybody deserves equality, basic human rights and dignity. If you are made aware of a violent act or hate crime, please do not hesitate and report it.

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