One Response to “Pride Sunday This Is My Story”

1. Dear Black Trans Woman,
   You stood proud in the middle of a crossroad
   Where every turn lead you to homophobia, racism, sexism, transphobia
   You stood there like a beacon for queers and strights alike
   Unlike the world around you, you opened your arms in love to everyone who needed a hug

   Dear Black Trans Woman,
   You were discriminated against by your own kin
   The very people you fought for called you embarrassments

   Dear Black Trans Woman,
   This is an apology
   This is a thank you letter
   This is an ode to your courage
   Courage to be yourselves in a time when your very existence
   Was looked down upon in disgust

   Dear Black Trans Woman,
   Im sorry
   Im sorry that you had to fight so hard just to live
   Just to dance
   Just to work and love and eat
   I am so very sorry that we have not done more
   We should be so much farther than what we are now
   Its been 50 years since the StoneWall Riot
   And I still am under threat of being punished for using the bathroom

   But you, you looked into the fire, you looked into the mirror, you looked into the crowds of unaccepting faces like a fortune teller and saw what our future would be like if you did not fight.
   You didn’t know your actions would change the world, all you knew is that you had to try.

   Dear Black Trans Woman,
   You fought so hard for people like me
   and you didn’t even know I would exist
   Oh how you must have felt alone
   And yet, you were so strong and defiant in the face of everything

   Dear Black Trans Woman,
   We are following the path you once did
   Our Youth has picked up the weight you once carried on your shoulders
   We carry that now
   And with pride in every painful step
   Every step towards freedom
   Towards liberation
   To true equality and father into the beyond

   Dear Black Trans Women,
   Like mothers, you taught us how to bear our teeth in the face of oppression
   Simply by being ourselves
   You taught me that my identity is valid

   Dear Black Trans Women,
   I dream that you all could see us now,
   I dream you could see what we’ve worked for
   What we’ve accomplished
   I dream that you could know that you,
   Marsha, Pay it no Mind, Johnson
   Miss Major Griffin-Gracy
   Victoria Cruz
   And so many other names that I searched for but never found
   That you could see the seeds you planted have grown roots and sprouted

   Dear Trans Youth,
   I can not help but to feels some sort of connection to these people
   Even though I will never know anything more of them than an article or a youtube video
   These were real women
   Real mothers of our community
   It makes me feel empowered
   It makes it so hard not to address every stranger like a lifelong best friend
   It makes it so hard not to walk into every building like I have a place there
   To walk into every bathroom like I’ve always belonged there

   Dear Black Trans Woman,
   Thank you

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