We Cannot Allow Ourselves to be Numb

Say Their Names

Brazil Johnson 

Mya Regina Allen 

Deidrick Cross 

Cashay Henderson 

And Chyna Long 

These are the black women of trans experience that have been killed in Milwaukee, WI, in just 2 years. In just two years, we have gone from a record number of years of black trans murders not happening in our state to a full-blown epidemic. As an organizer and as a new Health Ambassador, I want to implore our Milwaukee community not to let the politicization of these cases desensitize us to the issue of anti-trans hate. We cannot allow ourselves to become numb. As I am called upon to organize and lead the 6th vigil centering the lives and stories of these victims, I cannot let myself become numb, numb to the media coverage, to the subtle misgendering and deadnaming of these victims, to organizing and holding space for those that we have lost or to continue to push and seek justice for each of these cases. We had a period of almost ten years since there had been a black woman of trans experience murdered in our community. I know that we can get back to a place where my sisters and I do not have to live endangered by the same community, specifically the same men who participate in a culture that dehumanizes, sexualizes, and criminalizes us. In those ten years, there have been multiple shootings, missing persons, moments of crisis, and pleas for help posed to the community before we got to this place. We are witnessing the trickle-down effect of the tokenization of trans folx as we become more of a hot-button issue. 

Hundreds of anti-LGBTQ bills have been proposed and passed throughout the country, as popular media figures and platforms choose to put hate and ignorance to us. We, as the black community, have entrusted to them just to project their hate, ignorance, and bias onto us, reinforcing the notion that QTPOC are not a part of the larger Black community. When we talk about black Queer and Black Trans issues, we are talking about black issues that should activate and mobilize the whole Black community. When our cisgender allies experience loss and hardship, we are there in support and solidarity. Myself and other black women of trans experience here in Milwaukee have experienced increased threats, threats that even include the names of these most recent victims. Our sisters Mya Allen and Cashay Henderson were SHEBA members. Mya, a founding Sheba member, and Cashay, our sister, were active in the group as recently as 2022. These are heavy losses in our community; they both specifically inspired many girls to pursue transition. They both were survivors of extreme violence and had seen the worst sides of the community long before their lives took such tragic turns. How can we be proactive when, as a community, we are taught to accept less, to minimize ourselves, and to be held emotionally hostage? Remember that these victims' lives took a tragic turn; there was life in them, there was love and hope and talent and laughter in them, there was fight in them. 

I have worked for the last 3 years to create The Paris Ticca Mahone Memorial Transition Fund, providing laser hair removal treatments to black trans women. I hope to build the fund to support more rounds of laser hair removal and other gender-affirming procedures and to build out a memorial space for those we’ve lost in the community to murder, fentanyl-related deaths, car accidents, HIV/AIDS, and youth suicide. It would honor me and those we've lost for you to support the transition fund and the work of TRANCE Consulting.

Written by Elle Halo