Another Black trans woman was found murdered the other day. The details of her death are so similar to the other deaths, that I avoided reading about it for a while. Articles like that upset me for many reasons and once I get drawn in, its hard for me to surface again with hope.
But I cannot run forever.
So I read the articles. And of course there was mispronouning, using wrong names, using mug shots, delving into her past that might be relevant as to why she was murdered (i.e. the fact that she was harassed and brutalized by the police) but completely missing the point and only serving to further dehumanize her.
Even in death, the way we are spoken about by the mainstream cishet world is traumatizing and violent. Even in death, trans women of color cannot escape the trauma of colonialism and genocide. And I can’t help but think about trans day of remembrance which is almost always all white trans women organizing and present for it and almost all trans women of color dead and being “remembered”.
Our bodies are exploited by white trans and queer folks to further their assimilation into colonial power. They use our deaths to justify their inclusion in heteropatriarchy.
I can’t help but make connection between this and May Day. May Day is International Workers Day. It is a day that marks the successes of the Labor Movement here and internationally. It is a recognition that globalization and capitalism exploits billions of people for the benefit of very few.
The bodies of trans women of color are exploited in a similar manner. We do not own our own labor, our own deaths. The labor of our deaths are exploited by the mainstream queer rights movement to prove why assimilation, inclusion the military and the strengthening of the prison industrial complex will keep white queers safe. Our deaths are exploited to sell shit like marriage equality. We are not allowed the dignity to determine what our deaths will mean.
It is amazing to me just how different forms of oppression intersect and interact with each other. I’m constantly learning just how deep this shit goes and it confirms for me even more that we will not be free unless we take down all of these systems simultaneously.
A Trip to the "Morg" 
May 10th, 2013 at 12:58 pm
“Our bodies are exploited by white trans and queer folks to further their assimilation into colonial power. They use our deaths to justify their inclusion in heteropatriarchy.”
Hi there. I’m new to your blog. I’m also (embarrassingly conscious of being) one of the mentioned above people: a white, highly educated, middle class genderqueer person. I hope there’ll be a day when what you write above won’t be what I do, but now I just feel that I don’t even know how I could know what it is I do to the effect you describe.
I know how irritating it is to educate people who already should know better. So, I’m not asking you to – that’s what the Internet is for, and it’s my job to use it. Just wanted to say thanks for pointing me in a direction I might not have thought of myself.
May 13th, 2013 at 9:02 am
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