A Thank You to Black Trans Women

By Jasmine Tasaki, Executive Director of WeCareTN

Thank you Black trans women for your struggle and commitment to live and walk in your truth. Thank you for all of the times that you stood for everyone else and their beliefs. Thank you for going through the trouble.

The possibilities are endless when you set your mind to any goal. That twinkle in your eye is the sign that you can do whatever you choose. So, thank you for loving unconditionally and letting the world be your muse.

Thank you, sis, for your shade and all the times that you would read. It was the rehearsal for life. You know it’s way worse in the streets.

Thank you for living out loud, living Black and free. Thank you for showing me how to be me.

Ooh child! I thank ya for the sacrifices you made, especially for those times you called a spade a spade.

Thank you for crying tears of love, sadness, and joy. Thanks, sister, for the relationships you did not let me destroy. Thank you for navigating me through some of the toughest times in life. Thank you for giving me happiness and love that doesn’t come with a “price”. Thank you for the fight that you continue to fight. Thank you, sister, for showing the world it is not wrong to be who you are, but that it’s right!

Thank you for your beauty and grace, from the depths of your soul, to your chocolate face. Thank you for the fullness of your spirit, it is with intentionality that I am always near it!

Many can’t express the thank you that Black trans women deserve, So let me start the curve.

Thanks for the will to be a beautiful Black trans woman in a time where our sanity, freedom, and future are at risk. Thanks for the spiritual connection that goes back centuries. Thank you for the blood you have shed from senseless acts of rage. Thank you for protecting me, even from being put in a cage. Thank you for being as Black and proud as you can be. Did you know you continuously pull the Blackness out of me?

I hope to return the love and strength given to me. Let me be a light as well. I’m going to live my life in truth. Thank you for your transparency. Seeing you has allowed me to see the greatness in me and realize that I’m a rare. My reflection is one that I’ve never met.

Thank you, sister, for opening the door. This journey will be great! I will see it through. Thank you trans sisters! I only hope to be like you.

art by Eileen Jimenez, courtesy of amplifier.org