[Wamvan] Facing and Fighting Transphobic Violence

[Joanna Chiu]

Thanks for sharing, Meenakshi. Are there Canadian orgs doing actions around
transphobic violence? And are there any groups based in Vancouver?



On Sun, May 6, 2012 at 11:56 AM, Meenakshi Mannoe <
meenakshi.mannoe at gmail.com> wrote:

> Facing and Fighting Transphobic Violence for Both the Living and the Dead:
> CeCe McDonald and Brandy Martell
>
> *by Ianna Hawkins Owen*
>
> *Cross-posted from Tikkun Daily<http://www.tikkun.org/tikkundaily/2012/05/02/facing-and-fighting-transphobic-violence-for-both-the-living-and-the-dead-cece-mcdonald-and-brandy-martell/>
> .*
>  <http://www.tikkun.org/tikkundaily/wp-content/uploads/memorial2.jpg>
>
> The corner of 13th and Franklin in Oakland, California, has become a
> makeshift memorial site for Brandy Martell. Credit: Photo by A.M. (
> http://transfeminism.tumblr.com).
>
> It is not easy to mourn the dead, it’s an assignment without hope of
> closure. Nor is it easy to defend the living, but for other reasons. The
> living pose questions that we hesitate to answer: Whose bodies are
> grievable? Are our responses sustainable? How much do we have to give, for
> whom, and for how long? We do not sign up for shifts of pain, they spirit
> us away. But we do we have a choice to show up – in myriad ways, to make
> eye contact, to pack the court, to pick up the phone. We must not remember
> the dead at the expense of the living but instead balance our dedication to
> freedom.
>
> Just three nights ago here in downtown Oakland Brandy Martell<http://transgriot.blogspot.com/2012/05/brandy-martell-killed-in-oakland.html>,
> a trans woman of color, was murdered. There were a lot of people gathered
> at an emergency vigil on Sunday night at the site of her passing on 13th
> and Franklin. Friends, community members, and family spoke and witnessed,
> shouted and cried. An Occupy Oakland street medic, who happened to be out
> late that night responding to another shooting (despite a curfew order),
> described trying to save Brandy’s life with CPR and pressure applied to her
> bullet wounds while the police came late and stood idly by as she died.
>
> Not having known Brandy or her friends, I showed up because, among other
> reasons, this happened in my neighborhood. The next day when I woke up, I
> read that CeCe McDonald <https://supportcece.wordpress.com/>’s trial was
> just beginning. Having survived a racist and transphobic attack, she is
> facing not justice but two counts of “second degree murder” for defending
> herself. Today she has taken a plea and as her supporters there are things
> that we must do and things we mustn’t do. We must respect her decision.
> Yet, we must not allow the state to gaslight her determination to live.
> CeCe still needs our support. She needs our energy and efforts not only as
> she awaits sentencing, not only if/as she moves through the system, not
> only in the days when she is free again. As the old saying goes, “the heart
> is a muscle the size of your fist”; so long as it flexes within you, pray
> with it for Brandy, fight with it for CeCe, and speak from it with one
> another.
>
> Are you hurting? We shall be free.
>
> Visit ColorLines<http://colorlines.com/archives/2012/05/report_cece_mcdonald_takes_plea_deal_in_minneapolis_murder_case.html> for
> an update on CeCe’s plea.
>
> Here’s what out-of-towners can do<http://freececemcdonald.tumblr.com/post/22012029427/out-of-towners-we-need-yr-help-supporting-cece?og=1> to
> support CeCe (still relevant).
>
> *Ianna Hawkins Owen **is a graduate student in African Diaspora Studies
> at UC Berkeley. **In New York she organized with All City and the Audre
> Lorde Project. Her research interests include failure, desire, and
> abolition.*
>
> *To read more pieces like this, sign up for Tikkun Daily’s free newsletter<http://www.tikkun.org/dailydigest>,
> sign up for Tikkun Magazine emails <http://www.tikkun.org/mail> or visit
> us online <http://www.tikkun.org/>. You can also like Tikkun** on Facebook<http://www.facebook.com/Tikkun.Magazine> and
> follow us on Twitter <https://twitter.com/tikkunonline>.*
>
>
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>
>


-- 
How can media literacy help end violence against women?
I'm contributing analysis, strategies and profiling media activists all
week at:
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---
Joanna Chiu
www.joannachiu.com <http://www.joannachiu.com%20>
twitter.com/joannachiu
Ph: 917 767 6145
WAM! Vancouver <http://www.wamvancouver.wordpress.com%20>
 <http://twitter.com/joannachiu>
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