00:00It's been 17 black trans women who have been killed and, I'm sorry, I don't want to cry on this, but that's really ridiculous.
00:14I'm so glad that there's so much more awareness and visibility of black trans women, but we also know that that makes them that much more vulnerable and puts a greater target on their back.
00:24You know, until we are able to all walk around free and liberated in our full selves, in the essence of who we are, then none of us are free.
00:32I'm not shaming no one who is of a specific race, but I don't see a lot of women who are Caucasian getting killed out here.
00:37I see a lot of women of color, and most of it is due by the hands of African-American men.
00:43So we have to fix that. We have to make sure we turn that around.
00:45And the way we start that is speaking to the younger ones.
00:49They are the ones who are going to influence. They're going to be changers.
00:52We have to stop demonizing being trans. We have to stop criminalizing it.
00:57We just had Malaysia who called out after being attacked. It went viral.
01:03And then three weeks later, she was murdered.
01:06Here's one big thing that we can do right now that Essence can help us do right now.
01:12Essence Fest is coming up. It's always in New Orleans.
01:16I shot the first season of Claws in New Orleans.
01:18And while I was there, I was scared to step outside my hotel room because three trans women were killed there.
01:24If we as a black community can set the stage, say at Essence Fest,
01:30and have the conversation about cis and trans women,
01:35and how not only we can become each other's supporters,
01:38and understand that we are all victims of misogyny and misogynoir.
01:42Why are we actually attacking trans women?
01:46What is it about us that we do not feel comfortable with?
01:51What is it about our men of color that we put into these categories that force them
01:59to not be able to love the people that they love?
02:03And I think it starts with the young African-American men.
02:05We have to instill in them that they shouldn't be afraid,
02:07or they shouldn't feel like their sexuality is challenged,
02:10when they're just having a conversation with women like us.
02:12And if there's something wrong, make sure that you protect us.
02:16We just had our eighth killing of a black trans woman in 2019.
02:20And it's just like, you know, things, what is going to have to happen
02:23is that the community has to step the f*** up.
02:25Step the f*** up.
02:26Because what it's going to allow everybody else to do
02:29is realize they're not taking us for granted.
02:30What's important is that black folk realize that black LGBT folk are black people too.
02:36And so we say that we're standing up for our people,
02:38we're standing up for all our people,
02:40and we show up all the way for each and every body,
02:43each and every name, each and every story.
02:45We need to have more organizations that are including women and men of trans experience
02:49to let them know that they have support,
02:51to let them know that they don't have to be out and feel unsafe or feel unprotected.
02:57I'm really interested in seeing, like, Black Lives Matter
03:00get more proactive in, like, you know, talking about the death of black trans people.
03:06I think, like, what are we if we don't hold our own community accountable
03:10for the violence that happens within it?
03:12And we can't keep doing it by ourselves because a lot of us are leaving.
03:17My life is at stake just as much as these girls are at stake.
03:20And it does not matter if you're famous or not.
03:23Like, we will be at the helm of somebody's hand grip or we will be murdered.
03:28Trans people are a part of your families, have been forever loving you and being loved by you.
03:33And I think, like, it just doesn't make any sense.
03:37Like, we, we look at us.
03:49Tell me about you.
03:54And I think, like, what?
03:55Yeah.
03:56So if you're up to me?
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