Trans Woman Murdered In Philadelphia On Monday Morning

[Carolyn Marie]

https://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2020/09/28/transgender-woman-killed-west-philadelphia-shooting-police-say/

 

By most counts this is murder #28 this year.  Does anyone outside this community even give a damn?

 

Carolyn Marie

[KMTAL]

I do not think so. For now, our lives do not matter to many or most of the general public. Sadly I worry if we will need an Emmet Till or Matthew Shepard moment, for people to wake up and start marching.

[Charlize]

I think that the commander and thief may care enough to incite this kind of violence.  His administration has managed to stir a big pot of hate soup and we are one of the ingredients.  We may feel a pressure to hide but fortunately there are many good folks who care as well.

 

Hugs,

 

Charlize

[KMTAL]

I do not know. As an African American Transgender woman I think Trump's failure in this area is by not being a leader and pushing for polices such as the ban against Transgender citizens to serve in the military. Standing back from that point, what upsets me even more than his actions is the inaction of the rest of society to stand with us. Especially within the African American community. 

 

A little over a year ago I watched the horrifying cell phone video of the brutal beating of a Transgender woman Muhlaysia Booker, in the region of Dallas, Texas. The video was forwarded to me by another Transgender woman of Color. When I saw the link title I assumed and expected what the video would show. A single African American woman being assaulted over and over by a group of Caucasian men in a pickup truck with Trump 2016 bumper stickers and Confederate flags ripping through the wind. What they say about assumptions is so true as my heart was ripped out when I saw Booker was beaten by a group of people who shared the same skin tone as her and myself. In less than a week, Muhlaysia Booker's body was found shot dead in the streets of Dallas. Since last year I have read the news reports and time and time again, it is often the same. Transgender Woman of Color killed, person of Color charged for her murder.

 

A few months ago, in the wake of the murder of George Floyd at the hands of law enforcement, my friend sent me another video link. In the middle of the protest with people chanting "Black Lives Matter", there was a young Transgender Woman of Color getting beaten in a parking lot of a small convenience store. Once again, the ones beating her shared her skin tone. The girl had to seek shelter in a store where people who appeared to be of Middle Eastern heritage, stood between her and what should have been "her people." The chant of the mob still sits with me today .... "Send 'IT' out or we will burn this (store) M-F'r down!!" The same anger towards general society was turned against someone just like me.

 

I will close with this. I want Trump out of office in January at the same time as someone who is Transgender..Black, White, Asian, Hispanic... What I need is for society to change. Anti Transgender views existed well before Trump to a point that I feel he just rode the wave of pre-existing hatred. JK Rawlings is not a Trump supporter, at the same time we see a world wide celebrity promote anti-Transbender views. I would love to have many more of leaders..especially African American leaders, on the Left or the Right say, "Yes Black Lives Matter... and that includes those who are Transgendered." From where I am sitting Black Lives Matter, currently only exist for Cis/Straight Blacks. I say this because in most of the videos, what is equally painful to watch is that often while the Transgender woman is getting beaten .... there is a crowd of African Americans cheering in support of the beating stronger than the shouts at a Make American Great rally when Trump takes the stage.

 

'In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends." Martin Luther King. 

 

Final question ... does any think that any Transgender issues will be presented at the first Presidential debate tonight....

 

[Ivy]

1 hour ago, KMTAL said:

Final question ... does any think that any Transgender issues will be presented at the first Presidential debate tonight....

I doubt it.

 

Myself, I am careful about where I go and when.  But I realize that I do have white privilege.  The majority of those being murdered are POC.

 

I don't know….  A lot of people just seem to need somebody to hate on.  To be honest, I don't expect things to get better.

 

Hell, I don't know what to say.  Every time I see this I feel more helpless.  And I know I don't see the half of it.

[Carolyn Marie]

1 hour ago, KMTAL said:

'In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends." Martin Luther King. 

 

 

 

Eloquent words from Rev. King, and a moving and thoughtful post from you, KMTAL.  Thank you for your words.

 

HUGS

 

Carolyn Marie