Precious Brady-Davis’ memoir, I Have Always Been Me

By: W.D. Foster-Graham Book Review Editor

I Have Always Been Me

A Memoir

By Precious Brady-Davis

The LGBTQ+ community is multifaceted. Some of those facets are the nonbinary, the gendernonconforming, and the transgendered. In the early days of LGBTQ rights, we had Marsha P. Johnson. Today, we have Black transwomen celebrities like Janet Mock and Laverne Cox. Here in the Twin Cities, we have the political voice of Andrea Jenkins. That being said, to conclude my Pride Month reviews, I have the honor of sharing another voice of trans visibility in the form of Precious Brady-Davis’ memoir, I Have Always Been Me.

Born Nathaniel Paul Holbert, Jr. in Omaha, Nebraska, biracial Precious’ childhood was uprooted when her birth mother lost custody of her and her two siblings due to neglect and mental health issues. With her birth father now dead, after a series of foster homes, they were adopted by her grandparents Clyde and Ethne Davis.

Because Brady-Davis presented as a feminine boy, the growing dogmatic religious fanaticism in her home after her grandparents’ divorce, coupled with physical and emotional abuse, left her with struggles in reconciling her faith with her sexual identity. In standing up for herself in the face of this repressive homophobic environment, Precious was kicked out of Ethne’s home.

Moved to her uncle’s home and then another foster home, now a teenager, Precious thrives in her gift for the performing arts at school, and a trip to Anytown becomes a pivotal experience in her life and in embracing her identity as a queer person of color.

From her college years in Lincoln to her adult years in Chicago, Brady-Davis takes us on her journey through the world and the art of drag and her drag persona Precious Jewel, her awakening to her authentic identity, her transitioning process, her commitment to social justice and activism, and meeting the love of her life in transman Myles Brady. Her road was by no means easy; it forced her to examine the internalized beliefs and prejudices she grew up with in order to let go of them and become the fully actualized African American transwoman she is today. One quote in her memoir stood out for me in addressing injustice: “If you are neutral in situations of injustice, then you have chosen the side of the oppressor. If an elephant has its foot on the tail of the mouse, the mouse will not appreciate your neutrality.” terrible. That’s very disturbing because we know our residents who are most affected by serious crime and violence, who are afraid to allow their kid to walk to the corner store, are nervous that a bullet might come through the window. Those are the same residents that oftentimes are most affected by policing itself. And so people should know that we are very serious and very committed about trying to earn their trust and to get this right. We’re not here to just talk about this stuff and move on. This is real. We’re going to put in the time, we’re going to put in the work, and any instance where an officer is disrespectful or does not handle something appropriately will absolutely be dealt with.

She examines the problems within the LGBTQ community and outside it, as well as the marginalization of transgender individuals of color in the course of her memoir. Through it all, she does it with the fierceness and strength of one who has not only examined herself but is true to herself. She recognizes that the families we create can be stronger and more empowering than families of origin.

In addition to being a diversity advocate, Brady-Davis is a communications professional and a public speaker. I Have Always Been Me is available through Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and her website, www. preciousbradydavis.com. Visibility matters. Identity matters. Inclusivity matters. Representation matters. Thank you, Precious, for the gift that you are to so many by living your authentic life. If we don’t share our stories, who will?

Al McFarlane: You mentioned hurdles and roadblocks that lie ahead. One that I think exists is qualified immunity. And that’s a small question, but core of the question is the negotiation between the department and the police officers union. How do you see navigating to a system and process that fosters accountability, that removes what some people believe is an immunity and a go-card for an officer that wants to be a rogue and do whatever he or she wants to do because there’s no consequence for bad acting? So that’s the first question. The second is what about the culture? Chief, you came out of Newark and that community has gone through a consent decree. I’d like to hear about what is different through that process? But we’re here in 2023 and the question of the MAGA Right is looming large in everybody’s mind. How does what happened in January and the emergence of the conservative, evangelical, right wing voice play into the mindset of both the Officers and a certain element of our community that seem to want what I call repression and oppression as the symbol of law and order versus an inclusive, open, inviting and educating relationship between and among all of us for a common and greater good?

Chief O’Hara: Qualified immunity applies to more than just police. It applies to people who act on behalf of government. So I think first off, if there were reforms to qualified immunity, it should apply to all government actors across the board. I think in general with qualified immunity, any officer whose actions are criminalshouldbe held criminally accountable. They need to be charged in court and face a jury like anyone else for committing a crime.

But I do think for

Officers who are objectively reasonable and that are taking actions in good faith, should have some form of qualified immunity available to protect them because eliminating that completely would present a huge amount of challenges that would make, I just think, the situation that much more difficult. But what people need to understand is the way the courts interpret qualified immunity today is problematic. It is not as easy as saying that an officer who acted objectively reasonable would be granted it. I think the way the courts interpreted it does provide cover in situations where it shouldn’t. And that’s something that our elected officials should look at and should be willing to make some reforms. Newark is a different city. It’s a majority Black community. It’s a community with a lot more serious challenges around crime. And I think universally, people who have been there for decades, people who have been protesting police would tell you, “Yeah. Today, things are different.” And that’s just a sign that over a couple of years, if you are intentional about this, if you have a community that’s willing to work with you and to be a part of the process. And if you have people from the police department who are willing to engage, it really is possible to make change real.

Mayor Frey: There are a host of inequities that have been instilled in our city and in our nation over decades and generations. There’s 300 years worth of injustices that we’re talking about here… everything from a lack of fair housing, a lack of fair unemployment opportunities, redlining, restrictive covenants that run with the land, intentional segregation that has separated out communities from some of their most vital assets. And yes, it’s the judicial system in law enforcement. And so to just look at this through one narrow lens of correction will not see a corrective action in full. And that’s why we’re tackling this not just from a Policing standpoint, which is critical, but from a housing, from an economic inclusion standpoint, from an environmental justice standpoint as well, that’s where a lot of the work happens.

Jiahong Pan: So with regard to the officers who were identified in the report committing misconduct, what’s going to happen to those officers?? Are they under investigation? Are they going to be fired?

Chief O’Hara: I don’t know specifics because I haven’t been afforded the opportunity to go through this thing, but that’s definitely something that we will be doing.

David Pierini: A question again about numbers. My understanding in Newark, because there’s always been this debate about how many police officers we really need in the city, and my understanding from Newark is it actually took more officersChief O’Hara: When I became a Newark Police Officer, we had 1,500 police officers. They found that if you don’t have enough Police Officers for the demand, which is a situation that we’re in right now, we have to triage things. There’s no way we’re going to change the perception against Police in some neighborhoods where kids grow up with a very, very negative perception of police. We’re not going to change people’s perception, especially young people if the only time they see us, we’re there to do something negative… we’re there to stop somebody… we’re there to arrest someone on a domestic violence call. We need have enough officers that we’re able to handle the emergencies and the investigations that we have to be able to.And regular street cops should have enough time to do some meaningful engagement each day.