Pride was started by black trans women.
With COVID-19 cancelling parades and parties throughout the country and racial justice demonstrations bringing activism to the top of everyone’s minds, this year’s Pride month and celebrations are quite different from any in the past 50 years.
And as we are unable to attend Pride events as we may have wanted this year, it’s the perfect time to direct our attention toward supporting the people who started the movement in the first place.
Ianne Fields Stewart is an actor, activist and the founder of The Okra Project, a collective that provides home-cooked meals to black trans people experiencing food insecurity. She was also one of the organisers of the Brooklyn Liberation march for black trans lives, which drew 15,000 attendees protesting both the murders of Dominique “Rem’mie” Fells and Riah Milton and the Trump administration’s recent reversal of trans healthcare protections.
Fields Stewart reminds members of the LGBTQ 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 trans people is to exert influence over your own community, rather than by trying to insert yourself into black and trans spaces.
Of course, monetary donations are always welcome. Here are some black trans-run organisations that Fields Stewart recommends supporting:
- For the Gworls
- Black Trans Travel Fund
- BTFA Collective
- The Okra Project (and accompanying Nina Pop and Tony McDade Mental Health Recovery Funds)
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