Jun 13, 2020Black Trans-led and Black Trans-serving organizations and initiativesWith the convergence of Pride Month and widespread protests against white supremacy and police brutality, it’s important to elevate, donate, and support Black transgender leaders at this time. So often these frontline freedom fighters and liberation seekers aren’t given their just due. Let’s change that. This is an evolving, community-sourced…LGBTQ7 min readLGBTQ7 min read
Published in ZORA·Apr 29, 2020Member-onlyTrans Communities Are Demonstrating Incredible ResilienceThrough grassroots efforts, we’ve found abundance among ourselves — In late February, New Orleans hosted its annual Mardi Gras celebrations. As usual, there were vivid floats, crowds galore, and attendees adorned in green, purple, and yellow decorative beads. …Coronavirus7 min readCoronavirus7 min read
Mar 11, 2017A Trans Woman’s Response to Chimamanda Ngozi AdichieChimamanda Ngozi Adichie being asked about trans women is like Lena Dunham being asked about Black women. It doesn’t work. We can speak for ourselves. She needs to take a lesson from herself on the danger of a single story because cisgender hegemony is dangerous. We know what you…Transgender2 min readTransgender2 min read
Published in Gender 2.0·Jun 19, 2015Trans Womanhood and The Power of Self-DeterminationDo all women define themselves in the same way? Do we all share the same experiences and relationships to our bodies? Do we all have the same goals or methods for achieving gender equality? No. And Elinor Burkett’s blather of a piece criticizing Caitlyn Jenner’s Vanity Fair cover in The…7 min read7 min read
May 4, 2015Ciara: A (Not-So-Brief) HerstoryThoughts on music’s underrated champion — “My goodies, my goodies, my goodies… not my goodies.” I can’t remember that pivotal first moment I heard Ciara’s voice, but when I reflect on her first single coming out I see images of 14-year-old me singing along on the bus after school with swaths of other teens or…13 min read13 min read
Published in Cuepoint·Apr 14, 2015To Pimp the Black Woman: On Kendrick Lamar’s Limited Black LiberationIf music is the product of its original environment, Compton rapper Kendrick Lamar has become the quintessential arbiter of this notion. …Music9 min readMusic9 min read
Aug 19, 2014The Limit of Respectability Politics: #IfTheyGunnedMeDown would YOU care?“In the opinion of the court, the legislation and histories of the times, and the language used in the Declaration of Independence, show, that neither the class of persons who had been imported as slaves, nor their descendants … had no rights which the white man was bound to respect.”…9 min read9 min read
