Patrisse Cullors - NBC News "When Black lives matter, Black trans people must be freed from discrimination and violence"

NBC News | June 9, 2020

“During President Barack Obama’s town hall, Reimagining Policing in the Wake of Continued Police Violence, on June 3, he mentioned Tony McDade, the Black transgender man who was shot and killed by police in Tallahassee, Florida. It was a somber moment, but also one where many Black trans men felt seen. Too often the violence against Black transgender people at the hands of the police are ignored when, in fact, transgender people are seven times more likely to experience physical violence when interacting with the police than non-trans people according to the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs. And, according to a 2011 report from the National Center for Transgender Equality, nearly half of all Black transgender people have been incarcerated. This is a direct result of Black transgender people being marginalized within our own community and beyond.This movement for Black lives must include us too.

Not only have Black transgender people borne the brunt of the violent police system, we’ve fought against it as well. Black queers, from the civil rights leader Bayard Rustin, who helped organize the 1963 March on Washington, to the co-founders of Black Lives Matter, Patrisse Cullors and Alicia Garza,have helped shape and organize some of the most effective strategies and movements for the equality of Black people.”

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