My African descended trans sisters have to deal with not only the brunt of the anti-trans discrimination and violence directed at us as we painfully get reminded of every November, but with erasure from inside and outside our community.
And like our African descended cis sisters, we have to deal with the 'unwoman' meme disproportionately deployed against all women of color.
So on this centennial International Women's Day know that I'm thinking about you. I wrote this open letter back in July 2010 to my young African descended transsisters, and it's even more apropos on this day to repost it.
I'm a Phenomenal Transwoman evolving to be the quality Black woman I strive to be. I'm aware that many of you consider me a role model, and it's a role that I embrace with pride.
As you continue to embark upon your various feminine journeys, keep these words from a 1988 Diana Ross ESSENCE magazine interview close to your hearts.
'I never considered it a disadvantage to be a Black woman. I never wanted to be anything else. We have brains. We are beautiful. We can do anything we set our minds to.'So stand tall, embrace being you and your evolving Black womanhood. You are beautiful, intelligent, talented women who have had to fight tooth and nail just to get to this point in your lives. We may not have been born with female bodies at birth, but we tried to get here as fast as we could.
Love and embrace that beautiful woman you see staring back at you in the mirror. Know that for every hater that surfaces spouting ignorance, we have more cissisters who are supportive of us and cognizant of the fact that we are their sisters, and are willing to help us become those finer specimens of Black womanhood we strive to be.
Happy International Women's day, my African descended trans sisters.
